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Blaskovits F, Bayoumi I, Davison CM, Watson A, Purkey E. Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life and learning experiences of indigenous and non-Indigenous university and college students in Ontario, Canada: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health 2023; 23:96. [PMID: 36639672 PMCID: PMC9837757 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-15010-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The years people spend attending university or college are often filled with transition and life change. Younger students often move into their adult identity by working through challenges and encountering new social experiences. These transitions and stresses have been impacted significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to dramatic change in the post-secondary experience, particularly in the pandemic's early months when colleges and universities were closed to in person teaching. The goal of this study was to identify how COVID-19 has specifically impacted the postsecondary student population in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. METHODS The Cost of COVID is a mixed methods study exploring the social and emotional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on families, youth, and urban Indigenous People. The present analysis was completed using a subset of qualitative data including Spryng.io micronarrative stories from students in college and university, as well as in-depth interviews from service providers providing services to students. A double-coded phenomenological approach was used to collect and analyze data to explore and identify themes expressed by postsecondary students and service providers who worked with postsecondary students. RESULTS Twenty-six micronarratives and seven in-depth interviews were identified that were specifically relevant to the post-secondary student experience. From this data, five prominent themes arose. Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of technology was important to the post secondary experience. The pandemic has substantial educational impact on students, in what they chose to learn, how it was taught, and experiences to which they were exposed. Health and wellbeing, physical, psychological and emotional, were impacted. Significant impacts were felt on family, community, and connectedness aspects. Finally, the pandemic had important financial impacts on students which affected their learning and their experience of the pandemic. Impacts did differ for Indigenous students, with many of the traditional cultural supports and benefits of spaces of higher education no longer being available. CONCLUSION Our study highlights important impacts of the pandemic on students of higher education that may have significant individual and societal implications going forward. Both postsecondary institutions and society at large need to attend to these impacts, in order to preserve the wellbeing of graduates, the Canadian labor market, and to ensure that the pandemic does not further exacerbate existing inequalities in post-secondary education in Canada.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farriss Blaskovits
- grid.410356.50000 0004 1936 8331Department of Family Medicine, Queen’s University, 220 Bagot St, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3G2 Canada
| | - Imaan Bayoumi
- grid.410356.50000 0004 1936 8331Department of Family Medicine, Queen’s University, 220 Bagot St, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3G2 Canada ,grid.410356.50000 0004 1936 8331Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen’s University, 62 Fifth Field Company Lane, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 Canada
| | - Colleen M. Davison
- grid.410356.50000 0004 1936 8331Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen’s University, 62 Fifth Field Company Lane, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 Canada
| | - Autumn Watson
- grid.410356.50000 0004 1936 8331Department of Family Medicine, Queen’s University, 220 Bagot St, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3G2 Canada ,Indigenous Diabetes Health Circle, Curve Lake First Nation, Kingston, Ontario K0L 1R0 Canada
| | - Eva Purkey
- grid.410356.50000 0004 1936 8331Department of Family Medicine, Queen’s University, 220 Bagot St, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3G2 Canada ,grid.410356.50000 0004 1936 8331Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen’s University, 62 Fifth Field Company Lane, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 Canada
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Diamond LM, Alley J. Rethinking minority stress: A social safety perspective on the health effects of stigma in sexually-diverse and gender-diverse populations. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 138:104720. [PMID: 35662651 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
For over two decades, the minority stress model has guided research on the health of sexually-diverse individuals (those who are not exclusively heterosexual) and gender-diverse individuals (those whose gender identity/expression differs from their birth-assigned sex/gender). According to this model, the cumulative stress caused by stigma and social marginalization fosters stress-related health problems. Yet studies linking minority stress to physical health outcomes have yielded mixed results, suggesting that something is missing from our understanding of stigma and health. Social safety may be the missing piece. Social safety refers to reliable social connection, inclusion, and protection, which are core human needs that are imperiled by stigma. The absence of social safety is just as health-consequential for stigmatized individuals as the presence of minority stress, because the chronic threat-vigilance fostered by insufficient safety has negative long-term effects on cognitive, emotional, and immunological functioning, even when exposure to minority stress is low. We argue that insufficient social safety is a primary cause of stigma-related health disparities and a key target for intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa M Diamond
- Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
| | - Jenna Alley
- Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
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Zhang D, Li T, Xie Y, Tao S, Yang Y, Zou L, Qu Y, Zhai S, Tao F, Wu X. Interaction between physical activity and outdoor time on allostatic load in Chinese college students. BMC Public Health 2022; 22:187. [PMID: 35086511 PMCID: PMC8796470 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-12518-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 12/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Physical activity (PA) deficiency, outdoor time reduction during college have been associated with higher cumulative physiological burden as measured by allostatic load (AL). Therefore, the present research sought to analyze the independent and interaction effects of PA and outdoor time on AL in college students. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in two universities from April to May 2019. Self-assessment questionnaire and International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Version (IPAQ-SF) were used in the investigation, AL level was assessed according to the results of biochemical examination, blood pressure and human body morphological measurements. Binary Logistic Analysis was used to analyze the relationships between PA, outdoor time and AL. Results The prevalence of low PA, low outdoor time and high AL were 16.3%, 71.1% and 47.6%, respectively. Low PA (OR=1.83, 95%CI: 1.20~2.78) and low outdoor time (OR=1.90, 95%CI: 1.35~2.67) are independently associated with high AL (P<0.05, for each). Interaction analysis indicated that low PA and low outdoor time were interactively associated with high AL (OR=2.93, 95%CI: 1.73~4.94, P<0.05). Conclusions There were the significant independent and interaction effects between PA and outdoor time on AL. In the future, college students’ physical education can be arranged reasonably to reduce the health risks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Zhang
- Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Hefei, China.,NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract, Hefei, China.,Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Tingting Li
- Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Hefei, China.,NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract, Hefei, China.,Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Yang Xie
- Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Hefei, China.,NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract, Hefei, China.,Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Shuman Tao
- The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Yajuan Yang
- School of Nursing, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Liwei Zou
- Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Hefei, China.,NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract, Hefei, China.,Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Yang Qu
- Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Hefei, China.,NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract, Hefei, China.,Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Shuang Zhai
- Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Hefei, China.,NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract, Hefei, China.,Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Fangbiao Tao
- Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.,MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Hefei, China.,NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract, Hefei, China.,Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Xiaoyan Wu
- Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China. .,MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle, Hefei, China. .,NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract, Hefei, China. .,Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health and Aristogenics, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
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