Developmental antecedents of young adults' solidarity during the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of sympathy, social trust, and peer exclusion from early to late adolescence

The societal responses to COVID-19: Evidence from the G7 countries

This paper provides a picture of how societies in the G7 countries have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our point of departure is to examine the effects of the pandemic in terms of four fundamental normative sources for well-being: Solidarity (S; willingness for social cooperation), Agency (A; empowerment to shape one's prospects through one's own efforts), GDP (G), and Environmental Performance (E)-SAGE for short. The normative foundations of SAGE are communitarianism, classical liberalism, materialistic utilitarianism, and ecoethics. We find that although G and E responded predictably and uniformly to the pandemic (such as G declining and carbon emissions improving), the societal responses were strikingly different. Societies that are cohesive and empowered (high S and A) may be expected to cope with the pandemic better than those that are fragmented and disempowered (low S and A). Furthermore, the pandemic has had diverse effects on S and A; while some societies became cohering and empowering (rising S and A), others became fragmenting and disempowering (falling S and A), and yet others became fragmenting and empowering. We also show that most G7 countries experienced greater tribalization (measured as the difference between inward S and outward S) during the pandemic. These trends are a matter of concern since they suggest that the willingness and perceived ability to address collective challenges collectively have waned. The analysis also suggests that governments' social policies may have an important role to play alongside economic and health policies in coping with the pandemic.

Familiäre Unterstützung als Schutzfaktor für Jugendliche während der COVID-19-Pandemie

Zusammenfassung. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Die Familie stellt in Krisen einen zentralen Schutzfaktor für Jugendliche dar. Fragestellung: Diese Studie untersuchte die Zusammenhänge zwischen familiärer Unterstützung, der Sorge um die Gesundheit anderer und der psychischen Belastung von Jugendlichen. Methode: Daten einer Online-Studie zum Ende des 1. Lockdowns 2020 in Österreich und der Schweiz wurden mittels eines Strukturgleichungsmodells analysiert. Ergebnisse: Familiäre Unterstützung hing positiv mit der Sorge um die Gesundheit anderer und negativ mit psychischer Belastung zusammen. Die Schweizer Jugendlichen berichteten höhere Sorge um die Gesundheit anderer sowie eine geringere psychische Belastung. Diskussion und Schlussfolgerung: Die familiäre Unterstützung spielt eine wichtige Rolle im Befinden und Erleben von Jugendlichen während der Pandemie.