Well-being and working from home during COVID-19

in Information Technology and People (in press)

Purpose – The authors track the well-being of individuals across five European countries during the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and relate their well-being to working from ... [more ▼]

Purpose – The authors track the well-being of individuals across five European countries during the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and relate their well-being to working from home. The authors also consider the role of pandemic-policy stringency in affecting well-being in Europe. Design/methodology/approach – The authors have four waves of novel harmonised longitudinal data in France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Sweden, covering the period May–November 2020. Well-being is measured in five dimensions: life satisfaction, a worthwhile life, loneliness, depression and anxiety. A retrospective diary indicates whether the individual was working in each month since February 2020 and if so whether at home or not at home. Policy stringency is matched in per country at the daily level. The authors consider both cross- section and panel regressions and the mediating and moderating effects of control variables, including household variables and income. Findings – Well-being among workers is lower for those who work from home, and those who are not working have the lowest well-being of all. The panel results are more mitigated, with switching into working at home yielding a small drop in anxiety. The panel and cross-section difference could reflect adaptation or the selection of certain types of individuals into working at home. Policy stringency is always negatively correlated with well-being. The authors find no mediation effects. The well-being penalty from working at home is larger for the older, the better-educated, those with young children and those with more crowded housing. Originality/value – The harmonised cross-country panel data on individuals’ experiences during COVID-19 are novel. The authors relate working from home and policy stringency to multiple well-being measures. The authors emphasise the effect of working from home on not only the level of well-being but also its distribution. [less ▲]

Children’s internalizing behavior development is heterogeneously associated with the pace of epigenetic aging

in Biological Psychology (in press)

Background: Internalizing behaviors are an indicator of children’s psychological and emotional development, predicting future mental disorders. Recent studies have identified associations between DNA ... [more ▼]

Background: Internalizing behaviors are an indicator of children’s psychological and emotional development, predicting future mental disorders. Recent studies have identified associations between DNA methylation (DNAm) and internalizing behaviors. This prospective study aimed at exploring the associations between pace of biological aging and the developmental trajectories of internalizing behaviors. Methods: Participants were children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort (N=974). Measures of DNA methylation were collected at birth, age 7 and ages 15-17. The pace of aging was estimated using the DunedinPoAm algorithm (PoAm). Internalizing behaviors reported by caregivers between ages 4 and 16 using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. To explore heterogeneity in the association between PoAm and internalizing behaviors we use Poisson quantile regression in cross-section heterogeneity and longitudinal latent class analysis over the childhood and adolescence. Results: Internalizing behavior trajectories were identified: low-risk, childhood limited, late onset and early onset (persistent). Accelerated aging at birth was negatively associated with internalizing behaviors in early childhood but positively correlated during adolescence. Higher PoAm at birth increased chance of low-risk profile, while decreasing likelihood of childhood limited trajectory. PoAm at age 15 was negatively associated with childhood limited profile and positively linked to late onset trajectories. Associations were larger at higher values of internalizing symptoms. Conclusions: The heterogeneity in the association between biological age acceleration and internalizing behaviors suggests a complex dynamic relationship, particularly in children with high or increased risk of adverse mental health outcomes. [less ▲]

Measuring COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Consistency of Social Media with Surveys

in Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Social Informatics (2022, October 12)

Personalized neurofeedback: a systematic comparison of self- and externally-paced training in healthy adults

Poster (2022, June 16)

Einleitung

in Heinen, Andreas; Samuel, Robin; Vögele, Claus (Eds.) et al Wohlbefinden und Gesundheit im Jugendalter (2022)

Wohlbefinden und Gesundheit im Kindheits- und Jugendalter haben in den vergangenen Jahren in der sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschung an Bedeutung gewonnen. Im Vordergrund steht dabei vor allem die ... [more ▼]

Wohlbefinden und Gesundheit im Kindheits- und Jugendalter haben in den vergangenen Jahren in der sozialwissenschaftlichen Forschung an Bedeutung gewonnen. Im Vordergrund steht dabei vor allem die Erforschung der Bedingungsfaktoren für die Entwicklung eines „guten“ Wohlbefindens und einer „guten“ Gesundheit bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. Die verschiedenen Fachdisziplinen beschäftigen sich mit Fragen zu Wohlbefinden und Gesundheit von Jugendlichen aus ihrer jeweiligen Perspektive. [less ▲]

Healthy and sustainable food shopping: a survey of intentions and motivations

in Frontiers in Nutrition (2022), 9

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown stringency on loneliness in five European countries

in Social Science and Medicine (2022)

Rationale: The coronavirus pandemic has forced governments to implement a variety of different dynamic lockdown-stringency strategies in the last two years. Extensive lockdown periods could have potential ... [more ▼]

Rationale: The coronavirus pandemic has forced governments to implement a variety of different dynamic lockdown-stringency strategies in the last two years. Extensive lockdown periods could have potential unintended consequences on mental health, at least for at-risk groups. Objective: We present novel evidence on the heterogeneous direct and indirect effects of lockdown-stringency measures on individuals’ perception of social isolation (i.e. loneliness) using panel data from five European countries (Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Sweden), which tracks changes in both in-person and remote social interactions between May 2020 and March 2021. Method: We combine data from the COME-HERE panel survey (University of Luxembourg) and the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT). We implement a dynamic mixture model in order to estimate the loneliness sub-population classes based on the severity of loneliness, as well as the evolution of social interactions. Results: While loneliness is remarkably persistent over time, we find substantial heterogeneity across individuals, identifying four latent groups by loneliness severity. Group membership probability varies with age, gender, education and cohabitation status. Moreover, we note significant differences in the impact of social interactions on loneliness by degree of severity. Older people are less likely to feel lonely, but were more affected by lockdown measures, partly due to a reduction in face-to-face interactions. On the contrary, the younger, especially those living alone, report high levels of loneliness that are largely unaffected by changes in the pandemic after lockdown measures were initially implemented. Conclusions: Understanding the heterogeneity in loneliness is key for the identification of at-risk populations that can be severely affected by extended lockdown measures. As part of public-health crisis-response systems, it is critical to develop support measures for older individuals living alone, as well as promoting continuous remote communication for individuals more likely to experience high levels of loneliness. [less ▲]

Distraction from Pain in Aging – the Impact of Acute Stress

in Heinrichs, Markus; Schönauer, Monika (Eds.) 47. Jahrestagung Psychologie und Gehirn (2022)

While older people report acute and chronic pain more often than younger people, and, therefore, would benefit significantly from non-pharmacological pain treatment, little is known about how age affects ... [more ▼]

While older people report acute and chronic pain more often than younger people, and, therefore, would benefit significantly from non-pharmacological pain treatment, little is known about how age affects psychological strategies of pain modulation. Distraction from pain by cognitive engagement, an efficient pain modulation strategy, relies on the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The PFC, however, is an area affected by age-related cognitive decline, which might lead to reduced pain relief through distraction in older adults. Acute stress, a common concomitant phenomenon of pain, might additionally reduce the pain relief effect by its negative impact on PFC and PFC-based executive functions. Healthy young (18-30 years) and older participants (65+ years) performed a pain distraction task before and after acute stress induction using the Trier Social Stress Test, or a respective control condition. An n-Back working memory task with low and high cognitive load served as the distraction paradigm, during which participants received non-painful and moderately painful stimuli. These stimuli were individually adjusted transdermal electrical pulse trains to the inner forearm and participants rated them regarding their intensity and unpleasantness. Pain-related evoked potentials were recorded with a 64-channel EEG, and several saliva samples were collected to measure hormonal stress responses. First analyses on the currently small sample suggest a negative impact of acute stress on distraction from pain in both age groups. Our final results will contribute to a deeper understanding on the efficacy of pain modulation in aging and potential influencing factors, helping to optimize pain treatments in this population. [less ▲]

A Theory-Informed, Personalized mHealth Intervention for Adolescents (Mobile App for Physical Activity): Development and Pilot Study

in JMIR Formative Research (2022), 6(6), 35118

Background: Evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) during childhood and adolescence is crucial as it usually results in adequate PA levels in adulthood. Given the ubiquitous use of smartphones by ... [more ▼]

Background: Evidence suggests that physical activity (PA) during childhood and adolescence is crucial as it usually results in adequate PA levels in adulthood. Given the ubiquitous use of smartphones by adolescents, these devices may offer feasible means to reach young populations and deliver interventions aiming to increase PA participation and decrease sedentary time. To date, very few studies have reported smartphone-based interventions promoting PA for adolescents. In addition, most available fitness apps do not include the latest evidence-based content. Objective: This paper described the systematic development of a behavior change, theory-informed Mobile App for Physical Activity intervention with personalized prompts for adolescents aged 16 to 18 years. The within-subject trial results provided the first evidence of the general effectiveness of the intervention based on the outcomes step count, sedentary time, and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) minutes. The effectiveness of the intervention component personalized PA prompt was also assessed. Methods: A 4-week within-subject trial with 18 healthy adolescents aged 16 to 18 years was conducted (mean age 16.33, SD 0.57 years). After the baseline week, the participants used the Mobile App for Physical Activity intervention (Fitbit fitness tracker+app), which included a daily personalized PA prompt delivered via a pop-up notification. A paired 1-tailed t test was performed to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. Change-point analysis was performed to assess the effectiveness of a personalized PA prompt 30 and 60 minutes after prompt delivery. Results: The results showed that the intervention significantly reduced sedentary time in adolescents during the first week of the trial (t17=−1.79; P=.04; bootstrapped P=.02). This trend, although remaining positive, diminished over time. Our findings indicate that the intervention had no effect on metabolic equivalent of task–based MVPA minutes, although the descriptive increase may give reason for further investigation. Although the results suggested no overall change in heart rate–based MVPA minutes, the results from the change-point analyses suggest that the personalized PA prompts significantly increased heart rate per minute during the second week of the study (t16=1.84; P=.04; bootstrapped P=.04). There were no significant increases in participants’ overall step count; however, the personalized PA prompts resulted in a marginally significant increase in step counts per minute in the second week of the study (t17=1.35; P=.09; bootstrapped P=.05). Conclusions: The results of the trial provide preliminary evidence of the benefit of the Mobile App for Physical Activity intervention for modest yet significant reductions in participants’ sedentary time and the beneficial role of personalized PAprompts. These results also provide further evidence of the benefits and relative efficacy of personalized activity suggestions for inclusion in smartphone-based PA interventions. This study provides an example of how to guide the development of smartphone-based mobile health PA interventions for adolescents. [less ▲]

Autonomic Dysregulation in Child Social Anxiety Disorder: An Experimental Design Using CBT Treatment

in Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (2022), 47