Former research has shown a strong relationship between anxiety and various negative reactions to trauma, including widespread traumatic events such as natural disasters, war, and pandemics. COVID-19 has been an ongoing, potentially traumatic event for individuals all over the world. Even individuals who have not experienced serious traumatic consequences because of the pandemic have likely had some negative experiences regarding the mandated quarantine and social distancing. This study seeks to find possible personality predictors for negative reactions, whether they be behavioral or cognitive. Participants completed several questionnaires that test personality constructs, including trait anxiety, need for affiliation, extraversion, and autonomy. Following this, the participants completed a questionnaire divided into two subscales evaluating cognitive and behavioral reactions to quarantine, developed from the list of immediate and delayed reactions to trauma created by the Center for Abuse Treatment in the United States. The most significant finding from this study is the correlation between these negative reactions- both cognitive and behavioral- and trait anxiety. Along with this, extraversion was found to correlate with negative behavioral reactions, and a need for affiliation was found to correlate with negative cognitive reactions. Each item within the reactions scale was tested in correlation with these three constructs which showed significance. These items provide implications that could potentially allow us to prevent these negative thoughts and behaviors provided that the pandemic continues extensively or in the event that another widespread traumatic event occurs in the future.

No description available.

This dissertation consists of three essays in Health Economics relating to the recent challenges in the U.S. The first essay studies the impact of retirement on subsequent health and investigates the mediation effect of social network in the relationship between retirement and health. Findings reveal that retirement adversely impacts physical and mental health outcomes and a considerable portion of these effects are explained by social network changes post-retirement. In particular, shrinkage in the size of social network post-retirement deteriorates physical health and increases depression in retirees. In the second essay, we assess the differential effect of social distancing on the daily growth rate of COVID-19 infections in the US counties by considering the spatial pattern of COVID-19 spread. We also conduct a comparative analysis of the effect on urban versus rural counties, as well as low versus high socially vulnerable counties. Our analysis illustrates that a high level of social distancing compliance is needed in urban counties and in socially vulnerable areas to achieve the largest impact at curve flattening, whereas moderate-compliance is enough in reaching the peak marginal impact in rural regions and counties with low social vulnerability. In the third essay, by combining multiple data sources, we investigate how racial disparities in access to healthcare contribute to the disparity in COVID-19 infections and mortality in black versus white sub-groups. The multilevel analysis demonstrates that a higher probability of having health insurance significantly reduces disparity in COVID-19 mortality in black sub-group while it has no impact on the disparity in whites. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation uses various quantitative methods to investigate policy-relevant questions regarding the recent challenges in the U.S. economy. In the first chapter, we explore how the physical and mental health of individuals changes by retirement. The results show that retirement decreases physical health while increases depression and anxiety. We also analyze how social network changes after retirement might cause changes in the health of retirees. We find that retirees may experience worse physical and mental health than non-retirees due to losing some of their relationships after retirement. In particular, the loss of contacts increases depression and deteriorates general health. In the second chapter, we investigate how compliance with social distancing within a typical county and its neighbor counties can reduce the spread of COVID-19. We examine this question for urban versus rural counties in the US and socially vulnerable versus socially not vulnerable counties. We find a high compliance level of social distancing is needed in urban counties and in socially vulnerable areas to reach the highest impact at slowing down the COVID-19 virus spread. In the third chapter, we examine whether healthcare access inequalities (e.g., having health insurance) increase the risk of COVID-19 infections and mortality for black communities. Our results show that having health insurance decreases COVID-19 mortality in communities of color but not whites.

No description available.

Reappraisal is a cognitive emotion regulation strategy that induces a reduction in the arousal response elicited by both unpleasant and pleasant stimuli.One form of reappraisal is that of temporal distancing. Temporal distancing is the cognitive tool that allows the individual to perceive the stimuli in a broader temporal perspective.Reappraisal’s impact on the arousal response can be measured by assessing the amplitude of the event-related potential (ERP) component the late positive potential(LPP), a centro-parietal slow-wave ERP beginning around 350 ms post-stimulus and sustaining for up to several seconds. The aim of this study was to test various temporal-related perspectives in order to see their effect on the LPP. The analysis of the data suggests that a decrease in the amplitude of the LPP in response to emotionally unpleasant facial stimuli corresponds to adopting a temporal distancing strategy, regardless of the exact temporal distance chosen.

No description available.

This is a qualitative study that explores elderly Syrian immigrants’ experiences of using smartphones for information and social interaction during the coronavirus pandemic in Gavle, Sweden. The sample used in this study consists of five elderly Syrian immigrants from Gavle city. The data was collected through five semi-structured online interviews; the social capital theory was used together with previous research to analyze the results. The results show that the use of smartphones had a very important role in the social interaction of Syrian immigrants during the Coronavirus pandemic. The use of smartphones during the Coronavirus crisis reduced the negative effects of the social distancing policy, facilitated communication and interactions with family and friends, and communication with health and social services. Moreover, smartphones are a renewed source of scientific information regarding the Coronavirus pandemic worldwide. The results of this study show some simple challenges faced by this sample of elderly Syrian immigrants while using smartphones for social interactions.

The current global food system is market-driven and depends on the exploitative commodification of our basic need to eat. It has been consistently condemned for its incapacity to account for justice, sustainability, welfare, and health. Developing alternative food system strategies is a necessary step towards creating a more sustainable and just reality. By conducting a comparative analysis using semi-structured interviews and virtual mapping between a rural area and an urban city in Ontario, Canada, the relationship between food geographies and the development of diagnostic (problem-oriented) and prognostic (solution oriented) framings within the corporate food regime is explored. Considering the influences of socio-geographical context (i.e. urban or rural), and the impacts of cognitive and physical food distancing adds new perspective and considerations to the existing literature. The results found that the urban participants had more robust diagnostic and prognostic framings than the rural participants. They also found that the impacts of food distancing were represented by the participants differently; The urban participants experienced more significant cognitive and physical distancing, but were mostly worried about the impacts of cognitive food distancing, whereas the rural participants were mostly focused on the impacts of physical distancing and were less affected by both types of distancing.

This paper describes the development of a brief self-report screening measure of adherence to social distancing and self-protective behaviors in pandemic situations. It provides initial statistical evaluations of correlations between social distancing behaviors and two trait measures (social desirability and trait empathy). Items measures were designed to quantify behaviors recommended by the CDC as primary strategies to prevent and reduce the spread of the COVID-19 infection. An item pool of 29 questions was generated with the aim of estimating the frequency of specific behaviors and were written to avoid confounding the description of behavioral actions with evaluative judgements. Responses were collected from 401 young adults using an anonymous online survey. An Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted with the purpose of item reduction and subscale development. A 14-item Social Distance Scale (SDS) emerged, consisting of 4-subscales: Isolation from Community (IC), Work from Home (WH), Family Contact (FC), and Protective Behaviors (PB). The initial psychometric evaluation of the scales indicated adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The Social Distance Scale is a promising new instrument which may be applied at the population or individual level. It may be used in conjunction with COVID-19 testing to measure interactions between social distancing factors and transmission. In addition, a reliable screening measure has utility for health service providers to assess patient risk and to provide education/counseling. A secondary purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between trait empathy and social distancing. A MANCOVA was performed using the four subscales of the SDS v.1 with Empathy Group and Gender Group as fixed factors and the Socially Desirable Response Set (SDRS-5) as a covariate. The SDRS-5 was found to be a significant covariate for both the IC and PB subscales of the SDS v.1 , where higher levels of socially desirable responding lead to higher scores on IC and PB. It was hypothesized that participants high in self-reported trait empathy would demonstrate higher levels of social distancing. Indeed it was found that a significant main effect for Empathy Group emerged, where Empathy Group was significantly related to IC, WH, and PB. In line with expectations, participants in the High Empathy Group scored higher on these three dimensions of social distancing than those in the Low Empathy Group. A significant main effect for Gender Group was obtained for PB. Women were found to be significantly more likely to engage in protective behaviors such as hand washing, mask wearing, and maintaining 6 feet of distance than men.

For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. In this brief note written during a global pandemic, we consider some of the important ways this historical moment is altering the religious landscape, aiming our investigative lens at how religious institutions, congregations, and individuals are affected by the social changes produced by COVID-19. This unprecedented time prompts scholars of religion to reflect on how to strategically approach the study of religion in the time of “social distancing,” as well as moving forward. Particularly important considerations include developing heuristic, innovative approaches for revealing ongoing changes to religion, as well as how religion continues to structure social life across a wide range of contexts, from the most intimate and personal to the most public and global. Although our note can only be indicative rather than exhaustive, we do suggest that the initial groundwork for reconsiderations might productively focus on several key analytical themes, including: Epidemiology, Ideology, Religious Practice, Religious Organizations and Institutions, as well as Epistemology and Methodology. In offering these considerations as a starting point, we remain aware (and hopeful) that inventive and unanticipated approaches will also emerge.