The association between insecurity and subjective well-being among youth during the COVID-19 outbreak: A moderated mediation model

Food insecurity and affective well-being during COVID-19 in the Middle East and North Africa

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic and climate crises have led to unprecedented food insecurity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with ramifications for people's affective well-being. The aim of the study is to explore the relationship between food insecurity and affective well-being in Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt, considering varied social protection responses across these countries.

METHODS

We analyzed data from the COVID-19 MENA Monitor Household Panel Survey (2020-2021) and employed hybrid mixed-effects models to differentiate within-person and between-person associations between food insecurity and affective well-being.

RESULTS

The findings show that higher food insecurity is associated with worse affective well-being, with significant cross-country differences. In Jordan, where extensive social protection was enacted during the pandemic, there is no significant within- or between-person association between food insecurity and affective well-being. By contrast, significant between-person associations are found in Morocco and Egypt, while within- and between-person associations are evidenced in Tunisia. These associations hold strong after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and household circumstances.

LIMITATIONS

Given COVID-19 restrictions, the sample was limited to the universe of working-age (18-64) mobile phone users, a demographic that often corresponds to higher levels of education and income. Therefore, the results of this study likely provide conservative estimates of the association between food insecurity and affective well-being in the full population.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings emphasize the critical role of food security in maintaining affective well-being, particularly in non-Western contexts during global crises. They underline the importance of integrating food security considerations into mental health care strategies and interventions.

Physical activity and life satisfaction among adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and distance education has significantly affected adolescents' lives. The restrictive policies negatively affected their physical and mental health and life satisfaction. It is therefore desirable to look for ways to eliminate similar negative impacts on adolescents in the future. This study aimed to identify the differences in the association between physical activity and life satisfaction in Polish adolescents before and during the pandemic. The study included 1541 participants (891 before the pandemic and 650 during the pandemic) aged 15-19 years. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Long Form questionnaire was used to assess physical activity, and the Bern Subjective Well-Being Questionnaire was used to evaluate life satisfaction. The objectivity of data collection and analysis before and during the pandemic was ensured by the web application the International Database for Research and Educational Support. During the pandemic, we found lower physical activity and life satisfaction in both boys and girls compared to before the pandemic. Girls with low and high physical activity levels showed significantly lower life satisfaction during the pandemic than they did before. Low life satisfaction was associated with lower physical activity, and high life satisfaction was associated with greater total physical activity. Both boys and girls with low and high life satisfaction achieved significantly fewer physical activity recommendations during the pandemic. High life satisfaction increased the likelihood of meeting the recommendations for physical activity before and during the pandemic. This study provides new insights into the differences and associations between life satisfaction and physical activity in adolescent boys and girls before and during the pandemic. It provides suggestions for the prevention of possible future restrictions in the school settings. Support for post-pandemic life satisfaction in adolescents should focus mainly on increasing vigorous physical activity and improving adolescent participation in organized physical activity settings.

Practices regarding the COVID-19 outbreak and life satisfaction: A moderated mediation model of psychological distress and fear of Covid-19

Increasing attention has been recently paid to the influences of the COVID-19 outbreak on the human psyche due to its potentially detrimental after-effects. However, little is known about the effects of practices introduced to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, such as social isolation and lockdowns, on individuals' psychological problems and well-being, or how a fear of COVID-19 amplifies or reduces these effects. Using a sample of 2680 Vietnamese adults, data were collected between 15 August and 15 November 2021 through an online-based survey. This study adopted a moderated mediation model. Remarkably, the fear of COVID-19 was not only found to significantly exacerbate the adverse effects of psychological distress on life satisfaction, but it also significantly decreased the impact of COVID-19 practices on satisfaction with life. The fear of COVID-19 significantly moderated the mediation effect of psychological distress on the relationship between COVID-19 practices and life satisfaction. This study makes significant and novel contributions to our extant knowledge about the destructive consequences of COVID-19. The findings of our study can benefit policymakers and practitioners and include valuable recommendations on how to avert psychological crises and increase individuals' well-being during or after a pandemic.

Investigating Functioning Profile of Adolescents with Anorexia before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study on Mentalizing, Alexithymia, and Impulsiveness

Anorexia nervosa (AN) usually emerges in adolescence when important changes occur in cognitive, emotional, and social processes. Mentalizing, alexithymia, and impulsiveness represent key dimensions for the understanding and interpretation of psychological difficulties in AN. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted adolescents with AN, showing a worsening of the disease. The main aims of the present paper are (1) to compare adolescents with AN before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) to explore the relationship between mentalizing, alexithymia, impulsiveness, and psychological difficulties related to eating disorders in adolescents with AN during the COVID-19 pandemic. One hundred and ninety-six AN female adolescents (N = 94 before COVID-19; N = 102 during COVID-19) participated in this study. The results show that adolescents with AN during the COVID-19 pandemic had a more impaired functioning profile than the before COVID-19 group. Mentalizing, alexithymia, and impulsiveness had a predictive role on psychological difficulties related to eating disorders in adolescents with AN during the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, our data reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic has likely represented a stress condition that affects mental health; worsening the severity of adolescents with AN clinical condition. Lastly, predictive patterns suggest the existence of a link between difficulties in the ability to face the problems of the present time using effective strategies and the severity of psychological symptoms.

Exploring the Impacts of Urban Community Leisure on Subjective Well-Being during COVID-19: A Mixed Methods Case Study

Participating in community leisure activities has become an important way for the public to pursue good health and a high quality of life. However, few studies have focused on the health and welfare effects of participating in urban leisure activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this gap in the literature, this study drew on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) theory to examine the effects of community leisure on subjective well-being during the pandemic from the perspective of urban residents. A sample of 1041 urban residents in Beijing, China, was empirically analyzed by applying partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The PLS-SEM results revealed the net effects of the pandemic influence, leisure satisfaction, leisure environment, and community identity on subjective well-being. The fsQCA provided causal methods for realizing subjective well-being and a necessary condition analysis supplemented the necessary antecedents. The results showed that (1) higher levels of pandemic influence and leisure environment increased leisure satisfaction; (2) pandemic influence, leisure environment, and leisure satisfaction had a positive effect on community identity; (3) pandemic influence, leisure satisfaction, and community identity also combined with leisure environment and leisure time to positively influence subjective well-being; and (4) leisure satisfaction and community identity mediated the impacts of pandemic influence and leisure environment on subjective well-being. This paper contributes not only to empirical evidence but also to theory by constructing and enriching the research models of community leisure and subjective well-being. The practical implications for the public, community managers, and policymakers are also discussed.

Emerging adults facing the COVID-19 pandemic: emotion dysregulation, mentalizing, and psychological symptoms

Settled in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the present short-term longitudinal study aims to investigate the relation between emotion dysregulation, mentalizing (both certainty and uncertainty about mental states), and psychological symptoms in a sample of 83 emerging adults (Mage = 22.18 years, SD = 4.36) over a continuous period started with COVID-19 spreads. Results display significant positive associations between psychological symptoms and both emotion dysregulation and uncertainty about mental states, while an inverse association with certainty about mental states was found. A moderation model was also performed, showing a significant negative association between emotion dysregulation and psychological symptoms at low levels of uncertainty about mental states. Conversely, a marginally significant positive association occurs at high levels of uncertainty about mental states. In other words, the presence of individual impairments in perceiving one's own/others mind may increase the negative consequences of emotion dysregulation on reported psychological symptoms. To sum up, our findings highlight the importance of considering mentalizing as a possible key factor for the promotion of emerging adults' mental health also in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Sustaining the Benefits of Social Media on Users’ Health Beliefs Regarding COVID-19 Prevention

During the COVID-19 pandemic, social media has facilitated the efficient and effective dissemination of healthcare information and helped governments keep in touch with their citizens. Research has indicated that social media can exert negative and positive influences on users’ mental health. One negative effect is social media fatigue caused by information overload. However, under the current pandemic, comprehensive research has yet to be executed on the effect exerted by social media on users’ health beliefs and subjective well-being (SWB). Consequently, we conducted our research to probe the influence of social media on users’ perceptions of COVID-19 prevention. This study established a research model based on 340 valid responses to an online questionnaire survey from Taiwan. SmartPLS 3.0 was used to verify the developed measurement and structural models. We found social media users’ incidental and focused knowledge gain positively related to their social media intensity. In addition, social media intensity positively correlated with health beliefs and SWB. Accordingly, we can determine that proper social media use can enhance health beliefs. Based on our derived findings, we propose a set of practical recommendations to leverage social media effectively and sustainably during, and after, the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unraveling the effect of ambivalence over emotional expression on subjective wellbeing in Chinese college students in romantic relationships: A multiple mediation model

The sudden and unpredictable outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has severely threatened young adults' physical and mental health and damaged the quality of relationships. As a critical stage of development, their well-being is more vulnerable to adverse environments which may lead to profound negative long-life mental health status. The current study aimed to investigate the mediation effects of fear of intimacy and attachment avoidance in the association between ambivalence over emotional expression and subjective wellbeing. A sample of 555 Chinese college students who are currently involved in romantic relationships (Mean age = 19.69, SD age = 1.36, 52% females) completed anonymous questionnaires regarding ambivalence over emotional expression, fear of intimacy, attachment avoidance, and subjective wellbeing. The findings revealed that ambivalence over emotional expression can predict negative subjective wellbeing of college students in romantic relationships significantly, and fear of intimacy and attachment avoidance played a sequentially mediating role in the association between ambivalence over emotional expression and subjective wellbeing. Surprisingly, when considering attachment avoidance independently, we found it had an inhibitory action on the link between ambivalence over emotional expression and subjective wellbeing. The present study contributes to a better understanding of how ambivalence over emotional expression can decrease subjective wellbeing, and also has implications for the intervention of students' subjective wellbeing and closeness during the period of COVID-19.