The impact of COVID-19 social isolation on aspects of emotional and social cognition

Declines in social-emotional skills in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction

The present study investigated whether social-emotional skills in first year college students differed before and after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdowns.

Methods

Participants (N = 1,685) consisted of first year college students (mean age 18.53 years) selected from a broader cohort enrolled in a longitudinal study on college mental health at liberal arts colleges in the United States. In a cohort-sequential design, participants completed an online survey assessing social-emotional skills in January of 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022. Using analysis of covariance, we examined mean differences in social-emotional skills between students who were first years before (January 2018-2020) and after the lockdowns (January 2022), controlling for sociodemographic variables.

Results

The post-lockdown group scored significantly lower on emotional control and expressivity and marginally higher on social sensitivity compared to the pre-lockdown group. No group differences in social/emotional expressivity or social control were detected.

Discussion

These findings indicate that the COVID-19 lockdowns impaired some, but not all, social-emotional skills in first year college students. Addressing social-emotional skills in college may help to reduce the COVID-19 mental health burden.

Types of Client Perceptions Regarding Counselling Experiences at Psychological Counselling Centres: Utilising Q Methodology

This study used Q methodology to explore the various types and characteristics of clients' subjective perceptions concerning their experiences at psychological counselling centres. We selected 33 Q samples from a Q population of 135; of the Q sample, 31 P samples underwent Q sorting. Subsequently, we analysed the data using the Quanl Program. The study categorised perception into four distinct types. Type 1 values therapeutic counselling relationships, Type 2 prioritises counselling services, Type 3 values counsellor assignment, and Type 4 prioritises the counselling structure. This study provides valuable basic data to clients, counsellors, and counselling institutions.

Trends of fear and anger on YouTube during the initial stage of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most widespread and threatening health crisis experienced by the Korean society. Faced with an unprecedented threat to survival, society has been gripped by social fear and anger, questioning the culpability of this pandemic. This study explored the correlation between social cognitions and negative emotions and their changes in response to the severe events stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea.

METHODS

The analysis was based on a cognitive-emotional model that links fear and anger to the social causes that trigger them and used discursive content from comments posted on YouTube's COVID-19-related videos. A total of 182,915 comments from 1,200 videos were collected between January and December 2020. We performed data analyses and visualizations using R, Netminer 4.0, and Gephi software and calculated Pearson's correlation coefficients between emotions.

RESULTS

YouTube videos were analyzed for keywords indicating cognitive assessments of major events related to COVID-19 and keywords indicating negative emotions. Eight topics were identified through topic modeling: causes and risks, perceptions of China, media and information, infection prevention rules, economic activity, school and infection, political leaders, and religion, politics, and infection. The correlation coefficient between fear and anger was 0.462 (p < .001), indicating a moderate linear relationship between the two emotions. Fear was the highest from January to March in the first year of the COVID-19 outbreak, while anger occurred before and after the outbreak, with fluctuations in both emotions during this period.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirmed that social cognitions and negative emotions are intertwined in response to major events related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with each emotion varying individually rather than being ambiguously mixed. These findings could aid in developing social cognition-emotion-based public health strategies through education and communication during future pandemic outbreaks.

Benefits of a Dual-Task Training on Motor and Cognitive Functions in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Controlled Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study is to verify the effects of a 3-mo dual-task training on motor and cognitive functions in community-dwelling older adults.

DESIGN

In this prospective, single-blinded, controlled clinical trial, a total of 40 participants were allocated to either the experimental or the control (no-exercise) group. The intervention program consisted of a combination of motor and cognitive exercises conducted twice a week on nonconsecutive days. The main outcome measures were postural stability, mobility, fear of falling, and cognitive functions. Multiple analyses of variance were used to assess the impact of the dual-task training. Effect sizes (η 2 p) were reported. Significance was set at 5%.

RESULTS

Compared with the control group, participants who underwent the dual-task training showed positive outcomes in terms of postural stability (η 2 p = 0.298, P = 0.020), mobility (η 2 p = 0.285, P = 0.003), and cognitive functions (η 2 p = 0.536, P = 0.001). No significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of the fear of falling ( P = 0.566).

CONCLUSIONS

Three-month dual-task training was beneficial for postural control, mobility, and cognitive functions in community-dwelling older adults. Based on the present findings, healthcare professionals should consider incorporating dual-task training into clinical practice.

Impact of pandemic mobility restrictions on kidney transplant patients' experience: lessons on quality of care

BACKGROUND

Patient perspectives on their post-operative health are acknowledged as valuable healthcare outcomes and should be scrupulously considered when designing interventions for patient-centered healthcare. Yet, following the COVID-19 lockdown and in the absence of standardized guidelines on how to best provide virtual chronic care to kidney transplant recipients, little is known about how this unique population coped and managed to comply with public health indications during confinement.

METHODS

This study addresses this shortcoming by examining the experiences of patients from a tertiary hospital in Spain during the initial weeks of the lockdown decreed by the national government. Specifically, we focus our attention on the perceptions and experiences of these patients by retrieving robust qualitative and quantitative data: the former based on a thematic analysis of focus group transcripts, the latter obtained from a large-scale survey.

RESULTS

Our findings identify opportunities for improvement in the quality of care and point to the provisions that might be made when facing future pandemics or lockdown-requiring situations.

CONCLUSIONS

As healthcare services navigate evolving landscapes, our findings on the experience of kidney transplant recipients should enable hospital services to improve the quality of care they are able to provide to such patients during periods of restricted mobility, especially those associated with future disease emergencies, and considering that home confinement is often part of the natural course of post-operative care of these patients.

Examining resilience among child protection professionals during COVID-19: A global comparison across 57 countries

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic led to numerous challenges for child protection professionals (CPPs). However, limited research has investigated the interwoven concepts of coping, resilience, and mental distress among CPPs during COVID-19 on a global scale.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to explore CPPs' practice, resilience, and mental distress during COVID-19, the relationship between their resilience and mental distress, the global stability of the Multi-System Model of Resilience (MSMR), and how CPPs' resilience varied according to the Human Development Index (HDI).

METHODS

Data were collected from 420 CPPs in 57 countries across five continents between July and September 2021. Participants completed an online questionnaire on demographics, resilience, mental distress, coping, and perceptions of child protection during the pandemic in their native languages. The analyses compared the countries grouped according to HDI using means comparisons, correlations, and multiple linear regressions. A two-path analysis was also performed to identify variables associated with behavioral resilience engagement and mental distress.

RESULTS

The findings indicated that CPPs' perceptions of COVID-19's impact on child maltreatment varied in correlation with their country's HDI. There were also significant HDI-based differences regarding the perceived opportunity to engage in resilient behavior and its helpfulness. Years of professional experience, internal resilience, and external resilience were shown to be significant predictors of mental distress among CPPs during the pandemic, and resilience mediated how years of experience predicted mental distress.

CONCLUSIONS

This study emphasized the importance of experience and internal resilience for CPPs' psychological well-being. It also provides empirical evidence to support the MSMR theory on a global scale. Additionally, it demonstrates how the perceived changes in child maltreatment during COVID-19 may be associated with regional HDI. Lastly, the opportunities CPPs had to engage in resilient behavior and how much this helped them was associated with regional HDI, but not in the way originally predicted. Study results also hold implications for how practice and policy may be altered to help CPPs cope better during times of crisis and generally.

The Effect of Time Spent on Online Gaming on Problematic Game Use in Male: Moderating Effects of Loneliness, Living Alone, and Household Size

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the association between gaming time and problematic game use (PGU) within a large sample of Korean male gamers and to examine the potential moderating effects of loneliness, living alone, and household size.

METHODS

This study employed data from 743 male gamers from the National Mental Health Survey 2021, a nationally representative survey of mental illness conducted in South Korea. Self-reported data on the average gaming time per day, severity of PGU, loneliness, living alone, and household size were used.

RESULTS

Gaming time was positively associated with PGU and this relationship was significantly moderated by loneliness such that the positive effect of gaming time on PGU was greater when the levels of loneliness were high. The three-way interaction effect of gaming time, loneliness, and living alone was also significant, in that the moderating effect of loneliness on the relationship between gaming time and PGU was significant only in the living alone group. However, household size (i.e., number of housemates) did not moderate the interaction between gaming time and loneliness among gamers living with housemates.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest the importance of considering loneliness and living arrangements of male gamers, in addition to gaming time, in identifying and intervening with individuals at heightened risk of PGU.

Social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with the decline in cognitive functioning in young adults

Coronaviruses have caused widespread disease and death worldwide, leading to the implementation of lockdown measures and the closure of educational institutions in various countries. This research aims to investigate the impact of social isolation on the cognitive functioning of young students. The study included 84 subjects, with 48 being socially isolated and 36 non-isolated individuals. The participants' mental health was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), while cognitive functions were evaluated through attention-switching tasks (AST), pattern recognition memory (PRM), and choice reaction time (CRT) tests utilizing the Cambridge Neuropsychological Automated Battery (CANTAB) software. The socially isolated group had an average age of 21.3 ± 1.1 years, whereas the non-isolated group had an average age of 22.8 ± 2.0 years. The MMSE scores were 25.8 ± 1.6 for the socially isolated group and 28.6 ± 1.3 for the non-isolated group. In terms of cognitive functioning, there were significant differences (p = 0.000) observed in the values of AST correct latency for non-switching blocks (blocks 3 and 5) between the socially isolated group (608.1 ± 139.2) and the non-isolated group (499.5 ± 67.8). Similarly, the AST mean correct latency for switching blocks (block 7) was significantly different (p = 0.012) between the socially isolated group (784.4 ± 212.5) and the non-isolated group (671.8 ± 175.6). The socially isolated group exhibited significantly higher values in AST correct mean latency, AST congruent mean latency, AST incongruent mean latency, and AST percent mean correct trials compared to the non-isolated group. Additionally, the PRM mean percent correct significantly differed (p = 0.000) between the isolated group (81.3 ± 12.0) and the non-isolated group (91.9 ± 9.2). The isolated group also showed a higher CRT correct mean latency (482.4 ± 128.9) than the non-isolated group (451.0 ± 59.0), however the difference was not significant. In conclusion, social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a decline in the cognitive functioning of young students.

The relationship between mindfulness and mental health among Chinese college students during the closed-loop management of the COVID-19 pandemic: A moderated mediation model

To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic on campus, universities in outbreak areas in China can implement closed-loop management.

OBJECTS

This study aimed to explore the relationship between mindfulness and mental health of college students under closed-loop management.

MEASURES

11,939 college students from a university in Changsha, China participated in the online survey during the closed-loop management period. The Chinese version of Perceived Stress Scale, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Cognitive Reappraisal, the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, the 7-item General Anxiety Disorder questionnaire, and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire were administered to the college students.

RESULTS

We found that mindfulness was negative association with mental health during the closed-loop management period. Perceived stress mediated the relationship between mindfulness and mental health. Cognitive reappraisal moderated the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress. Specifically, when the level of mindfulness is the same, individuals with more cognitive reappraisal tend to experience a less perceived stress.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study are of great significance to improve the mental health of college students during closed-loop management period.

Online behavioural activation during the COVID-19 pandemic decreases depression and negative affective bias

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for mental health interventions that can be easily disseminated during a crisis. Behavioural activation (BA) is a cost-effective treatment that can be administered by non-specialists; however, it is unclear whether it is still effective during a time of lockdown and social distancing, when opportunities for positive activity are significantly constrained.

METHODS

Between May and October 2020, we randomised 68 UK participants with mild to moderate low mood to either a 4-week online programme of non-specialist administered BA or to a passive control group. Before and after the intervention, we collected self-report data on mood and COVID-related disruption, as well as measuring emotional cognition as an objective marker of risk for depression.

RESULTS

In comparison to the control group, the BA group showed a significant decrease in depression, anxiety and anhedonia after the intervention, as well as an increase in self-reported activation and social support. Benefits persisted at 1-month follow-up. BA also decreased negative affective bias on several measures of the Facial Emotion Recognition Task and early change in bias was associated with later therapeutic gain. Participants rated the intervention as highly acceptable.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the benefits of online BA that can be administered by non-specialists after brief training. These findings can help inform the policy response towards the rising incidence of mental health problems during a crisis situation such as a pandemic. They also highlight the use of objective cognitive markers of risk across different treatment modalities.

The Influence of Environmental Enrichment on Affective and Neural Consequences of Social Isolation Across Development

Social stress is associated with depression and anxiety, physiological disruptions, and altered brain morphology in central stress circuitry across development. Environmental enrichment strategies may improve responses to social stress. Socially monogamous prairie voles exhibit analogous social and emotion-related behaviors to humans, with potential translational insight into interactions of social stress, age, and environmental enrichment. This study explored the effects of social isolation and environmental enrichment on behaviors related to depression and anxiety, physiological indicators of stress, and dendritic structural changes in amygdala and hippocampal subregions in young adult and aging prairie voles. Forty-nine male prairie voles were assigned to one of six groups divided by age (young adult vs. aging), social structure (paired vs. isolated), and housing environment (enriched vs. non-enriched). Following 4 weeks of these conditions, behaviors related to depression and anxiety were investigated in the forced swim test and elevated plus maze, body and adrenal weights were evaluated, and dendritic morphology analyses were conducted in hippocampus and amygdala subregions. Environmental enrichment decreased immobility duration in the forced swim test, increased open arm exploration in the elevated plus maze, and reduced adrenal/body weight ratio in aging and young adult prairie voles. Age and social isolation influenced dendritic morphology in the basolateral amygdala. Age, but not social isolation, influenced dendritic morphology in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Environmental enrichment did not influence dendritic morphology in either brain region. These data may inform interventions to reduce the effects of social stressors and age-related central changes associated with affective behavioral consequences in humans.

Introduction to Special Issue on Affective Science in Animals: Toward a Greater Understanding of Affective Processes in Non-Human Animals

How should we characterize the affective lives of non-human animals? There is a large body of work studying affective processes in non-human animals, yet this work is frequently overlooked. Ideas about the affective lives of animals have varied across culture and time and are reflected in literature, theology, and philosophy. Our contemporary ideas about animal affect are philosophically important within the discipline of affective science, and these ideas have consequences in several domains, including animal husbandry, conservation, and human and veterinary medicine. The articles contained within this special volume cover several levels of analysis and broad representation of species, from the non-mammalian, to rodents, to primates; but together, these articles are collectively concerned with the topic of affective processes in non-human animals.

Prolonged Lockdown due to COVID-19 Alters Sleep-Wake Timings and Negatively Affects Self-esteem, Personality, Depression and Anxiety in College-Going Indian Students

Purpose

COVID-19 forced the shutdown of colleges and socialization around the world including India and prolonged lockdown could have a significant impact on sleep, mood, emotion and anxiety in students. Here, we designed a survey to assess the effect of lockdown on sleep-wake, self-esteem, depression and anxiety via the survey on 321 Indian college-going students.

Methods

We assessed the effect of lockdown on sleep-wake (wake up, get up, bed and sleep timing, total time in bed and sleep duration) and self-esteem and depression on students via various questions.

Results

We found that students delayed sleep timing by 1 h in lockdown than pre-lockdown days. Specifically, urban male populations were late sleeper than any other group. However, total sleep duration did not differ between groups. In self-esteem questions, most students agreed that they were of no good, felt nervous, displeased, and frustrated about performance in lockdown. Depression and anxiety questionnaire gave more significant results related to mood and mental health. More than 50% of students agreed that they faced a lack of concentration, had been feeling irritated and angry, felt fatigued and tired, and everything had been a failure during lockdown days.

Conclusion

Overall, the survey suggests that lack of social life and prolonged lockdown affect the sleep-wake cycle, self-esteem, anxiety and depression of Indian students.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41782-022-00200-9.

Perception of COVID-19 Testing in the Entire Population

In the Slovak Republic, a mass testing of the entire population was performed. Estimates show that this testing cost more than 400 million EUR and thousands of euros were paid for one positively identified case. Thus, it is possible to state a high cost for such a project, which has been criticized by many parties. On the other hand, from a public health point of view, mass testing has helped fight the pandemic. Both the health and economic perspectives are important in assessing the success of a pandemic strategy, but the social perspective is equally important. In fact, the situation is perceived from the position of public leaders who make decisions, but also from the position of the society that bears individual political decisions. It is not appropriate to forget about the society that is most affected by restrictions, testing, health status, but also the burden on the state budget. The objective of the presented research was to examine the perception of testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the Slovak population. Non-parametric difference tests and correspondence analysis were used for statistical processing. The research sample consisted of 806 respondents and data collection took place in February 2021. The main findings include significant differences in perceptions between the first and the last participation in testing in terms of gender, age, testing experience, and time aspect. The last participation in testing showed lower rates of positive aspects related to the internal motivation to test compared to the first participation. In contrast, external stimulation by government regulations related to restrictions in the absence of a negative result was higher in the last participation in testing. There were also differences between the first and the last test in the level of doubts about the accuracy of the test result, while a higher level was found at the last testing participation. It can be concluded that the frequency of testing and its requirements need to be approached very carefully over time, as it is likely that the positive perceptions may deteriorate. The recommendations include clear and timely government communication, trust building and health education.

Social Isolation-Mediated Exacerbation of Negative Affect in Young Drinkers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Emerging research on psychological adjustment during the COVID-19 outbreak has suggested that young people may be particularly vulnerable to increases in negative affect during the pandemic. However, the association between alcohol use in youth and change in negative affect during this unprecedented time is not clear. Using an online survey, this study obtained scores on negative affect (before and during the COVID-19 pandemic), pandemic-related stress, change in drinking frequency, and traits including resilience, impulsivity and anhedonia, from a sample of drinkers and non-drinkers, up to the age of 21. Young drinkers experienced a greater increase in negative affect during the pandemic compared to non-drinkers, and this differential rise in negative affect was mediated by the pandemic-related stress of social isolation. Young drinkers also experienced a decrease in alcohol use during the pandemic, but this was not associated with a change in negative affect. Interestingly, young drinkers with greater resilience and lower anhedonia reported less increase in negative affect during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taken together, these results show that the greater increase in negative affect that young drinkers experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to their non-drinking counterparts, was mediated by pandemic-related social isolation. Moreover, greater resilience and lower anhedonia may have served as protective factors for mitigating the social isolation-induced worsening of negative affect in young drinkers during the pandemic. These findings may inform future studies investigating potential indicators of maladaptive affective responses to public health crises in vulnerable adolescent populations.

Coping with COVID-19: Insights from cognition and emotion research

Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing efforts to contain its spread have caused major problems with public health, along with social and economic disruptions. This Special Issue addresses how coping with the pandemic has been shaped by the interplay between cognition and emotion. The various contributions to this Special Issue explore the impacts of the pandemic on: (a) How people were confronted with new risks and realities; (b) Active processes of emotional resilience and ruminative coping; and c) Moral decision-making. Taken together, this work shows how research on cognition and emotion can illuminate the social and emotional strains of the pandemic, while helping to identify risk factors that exacerbate these problems and pointing to ways to successfully address and mitigate these problems, such as emotion regulation, social support, and perspective taking. The editorial closes by briefly reporting on the present state of the journal and changes in the editorial team.

Fighting Social Isolation With Nostalgia: Nostalgia as a Resource for Feeling Connected and Appreciated and Instilling Optimism and Vitality During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In two experiments, we tested the influence of bringing to mind a memory of a special moment versus an ordinary moment on nostalgia and whether this elicited nostalgia was related directly to gratitude and the satisfaction of need for relatedness and indirectly to optimism and vitality. Participants from Mexico were first asked to state how the pandemic of COVID-19 has affected their lives. After, participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: Memory of special moment versus memory of ordinary recent moment (study 1) or memory of special moment versus or memory of ordinary moment from the same life period as the special moment (study 2). After, participants completed a battery of questionnaires assessing nostalgia, gratitude and optimism (study 1) or nostalgia, satisfaction of need for relatedness, and vitality (study 2). Results from study 1 showed a positive influence of bringing to mind a special moment on nostalgia. Nostalgia was positively related to gratitude, which was then related positively to optimism. Similarly, results from study 2 showed a positive influence of bringing to mind a special moment on nostalgia. Nostalgia was positively related to satisfaction of need for relatedness, which then had a positive relationship with vitality. In both studies, the indirect sequential effect of bringing to mind a special moment on optimism and vitality was significant.

Racial Health Disparity and COVID-19

The infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and resultant coronavirus diseases-19 (COVID-19) disproportionally affects minorities, especially African Americans (AA) compared to the Caucasian population. The AA population is disproportionally affected by COVID-19, in part, because they have high prevalence of underlying conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, which are known to exacerbate not only kidney diseases, but also COVID-19. Further, a decreased adherence to COVID-19 guidelines among tobacco smokers could result in increased infection, inflammation, reduced immune response, and lungs damage, leading to more severe form of COVID-19. As a result of high prevalence of underlying conditions that cause kidney diseases in the AA population coupled with tobacco smoking make the AA population vulnerable to severe form of both COVID-19 and kidney diseases. In this review, we describe how tobacco smoking interact with SARS-CoV-2 and exacerbates SARS-CoV-2-induced kidney diseases including renal failure, especially in the AA population. We also explore the role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in COVID-19 patients who smoke tobacco. EVs, which play important role in tobacco-mediated pathogenesis in infectious diseases, have also shown to be important in COVID-19 pathogenesis and organ injuries including kidney. Further, we explore the potential role of EVs in biomarker discovery and therapeutics, which may help to develop early diagnosis and treatment of tobacco-induced renal injury in COVID-19 patients, respectively.

The Effects of Anhedonia in Social Context

Purpose of Review

Anhedonia is a transdiagnostic symptom comprising reduced subjective reward or pleasure. Anhedonia influences subjective anticipation and in-the-moment experiences. This review draws together affective learning and engagement evidence for anhedonia affecting subjective experiences of social environments.

Recent Findings

While social engagement is diminished consistently, subjective appraisals of social contexts vary across different mental health disorders. Low positive affect during social experiences or stimuli is reported in PTSD, mood, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders. Diminished neural reward networks underpin the anticipation of social experiences in ADHD, schizophrenia spectrum, and autistic spectrum disorders. Multiple theories exist to explain how anhedonia might interfere with social environments.

Summary

Anhedonia is a barrier to engagement, motivation, and enjoyment of social contexts. While many studies characterize experiences during social contexts, learning theories provide the most promise for developing targeted interventions.