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Journal ArticleDOI

Exploring the Social and Emotional Representations Used by the Elderly to Deal With the COVID-19 Pandemic

27 Jan 2021-Frontiers in Psychology (Frontiers Media SA)-Vol. 11, pp 586560-586560
TL;DR: In this paper, a free association exercise elicited by the word "COVID-19" was completed by 115 participants (age range: 60-85 years) from the North of Spain.
Abstract: Spain has become one of the European epicenters of coronavirus (COVID-19), a virus that particularly affects the elderly, since this group accounts for the majority of hospitalized cases and has the highest mortality rates. Therefore, the aim of this research is to understand how elderly people represent and emotionally cope with COVID-19 during the days when the pandemic emerged in Spain. Using a qualitative methodology, a free association exercise elicited by the word "COVID-19" was completed by 115 participants (age range: 60-85 years) from the North of Spain. Lexical analysis was used to analyze the content. The results revealed that the government and the mass media are criticized for failing to communicate a clear message, and for giving out information that is both insufficient and contradictory. However, participants are clear that it is essential to follow the guidelines of the scientists and doctors, which are represented as credible sources. However, when the state of alarm and the lockdown of all citizens was declared, most of the participants represented the risk as being associated with the elderly and the pandemic became something that might also affect their families. Due to these circumstances, negative emotions appear such as fear, nervousness, uncertainty, restlessness, and insecurity. Feelings of solitude and loneliness also emerged, and these are represented as being linked to death. These results indicate the need for governments to manage the current situation with the elderly by placing greater emphasis on social and inclusive policies to help alleviate the possible effects of the pandemic and the lockdown.

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TL;DR: In this article , the authors look beyond the pandemic to future research contexts where such forms of virtual interviewing may confer unique advantages: supporting researcher and participant populations with mobility challenges; enhancing international research where researcher presence or travel may be problematic.
Abstract: COVID-19 has required researchers to adapt methodologies for remote data collection. While virtual interviewing has traditionally received limited attention in the qualitative literature, recent adaptations to the pandemic have prompted increased discussion and adoption. Yet, current discussion has focussed on practical and ethical concerns and retained a tone of compromise, of coping in a crisis. This paper extends the nascent conversations begun prior to the pandemic to consider the wider methodological implications of video-call interviews. Beyond the short-term, practical challenges of the pandemic, these adaptations demonstrate scope for longer-term, beneficial digitalisation of both traditional and emergent interview methods. Updating traditional interview methods digitally has demonstrated how conversion to video interviewing proves beneficial in its own right. Virtual focus-group-based research during COVID-19, for example, accessed marginalised populations and elicited notable rapport and rich data, uniting people in synchronous conversation across many environments. Moreover, emergent interview methods such as the Grid Elaboration Method (a specialised free-associative method) demonstrated further digitalised enhancements, including effective online recruitment with flexible scheduling, virtual interactions with significant rapport, and valuable recording and transcription functions. This paper looks beyond the pandemic to future research contexts where such forms of virtual interviewing may confer unique advantages: supporting researcher and participant populations with mobility challenges; enhancing international research where researcher presence or travel may be problematic. When opportunities for traditional face-to-face methods return, the opportunity for virtual innovation should not be overlooked.

28 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors investigated children and adolescents' explicit and spontaneous representation of the COVID-19 pandemic and their related emotions, cognitions, and coping strategies, and found a significant association between children's self-reported levels of harmful effects of the pandemic, and perceived adverse effects on their families.
Abstract: The present research investigated children and adolescents’ explicit and spontaneous representation of the COVID-19 pandemic and their related emotions, cognitions, and coping strategies. We explored the self-reported protective factors and coping mechanisms, in addition to similar attributional emotional experiences, i.e., the ways participants evaluated others’ pandemic experiences. Our sample consisted of 155 children and adolescents aged 10 to 13 (M = 10.70, SD = 0.85, 56.1% females). We designed a 12-item survey and analyzed our data using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Our findings suggested that most children and adolescents associated masks with the thought of the novel coronavirus, and the most frequently associated emotion was sadness (45.2%), followed by fear (17.4%). Generally, participants reported a medium level of perceived adverse effects of the pandemic, mainly because their regular physical school classes moved to the online setting. We also found a significant association between children’s self-reported levels of harmful effects of the pandemic and perceived adverse effects on their families. Most participants expressed their dissatisfaction concerning online school classes, primarily due to poor online interaction. In our sample, the children and adolescents reported positive thoughts and family relationships as their primary coping mechanisms during the pandemic, suggesting similar perceived coping mechanisms in the others around them. Finally, more than half of the participants considered that the COVID-19 pandemic had no positive effects, while 40% considered the increased time spent with their families the primary positive consequences following the COVID-19 health crisis. Results are discussed regarding their implications concerning healthcare, social, and educational policies.

5 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the authors investigated the social representations of coronavirus/COVID-19 among the Italian population by means of an online questionnaire, and identified four social representations: citizens driven by social representations anchored to factual Covid-19 pandemic data, with lower vaccine hesitancy and conspiracy beliefs, and greater faith in science.
Abstract: From the societal approach of the Theory of Social Representations, this study aimed to investigate the social representations of coronavirus/COVID-19 among the Italian population. By means of an online questionnaire, 599 individuals participated in the research, with a mean age of 38.09 years (SD = 14.44), 62.1% being women. The instrument was composed of sociodemographic questions, free association technique for the inductive term “coronavirus/COVID-19” and scales on conspiracy beliefs, vaccine hesitancy, and psychological dimension. The results allowed us to identify four social representations: “Citizens driven by Social Representations anchored to factual Covid-19 pandemic data,” with lower vaccine hesitancy and conspiracy beliefs, and greater faith in science; “Citizens with low confidence in anti-pandemic preventive measures by government,” with lower agreement with restriction measures; “Emotional people,” with higher agreement with restriction measures and expression of psychological distress; and “Minority group of Citizens driven by denial of Covid-19,” with higher vaccine hesitancy and conspiracy beliefs. We discuss the different social representations identified from the psychological and psychosocial anchoring processes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

4 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the authors identify local reactions to COVID-19 in community-based tourism destinations using social representation theory (SRT) as a framework for analysis and use Q methodology to shed light on residents' reactions.
Abstract: ABSTRACT As COVID-19 has spread throughout the world, it has caused unprecedented disruption to community-based tourism (CBT). The purpose of this study is to identify local reactions to COVID-19 in CBT destinations using social representation theory (SRT) as a framework for analysis. Furthermore, this paper uses Q methodology to shed light on residents’ reactions to COVID-19. A demonstration of this method is used to analyze a Q set of 36 statements and a P set of 30 respondents working in the CBT business in Seochon Village, Seoul, Korea from 10 May to 21 May in 2021. As a result of the analysis, three distinct clusters are identified: fear of stigmatization as a plague spreader, maladaptation to environmental change, and threats to livelihoods. Based on the findings, the theoretical and practical implications are discussed to aid the local community to build a more sustainable and safer CBT during and after the pandemic.

1 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the authors used a mixed method study design including quantitative data from one of the universities (University of Agder) from a national Norwegian survey of baccalaureate nursing students and qualitative data from focus-group interviews from the same university.
Abstract: Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic mandated the reconstruction of educational programs globally. For nursing students in need of practical learning and training as a part of their curriculum, the pandemic also caused restrictions and alterations in practical placements and limited access to simulation training at campuses. The aim of this study is therefore, to describe and explore how the COVID- 19 pandemic influenced baccalaureate nursing students’ experiences of learning and their social life as a student. Method We used a mixed method study design including quantitative data from one of the universities (University of Agder) from a national Norwegian survey of baccalaureate nursing students and qualitative data from focus-group interviews from the same university. The quantitative survey included 396 baccalaureate nursing students (response rate, 46%). We arranged five focus groups with a total of 23 students (15 females and 8 males). The students took part in one of the focus-group interviews. The quantitative data were analyzed using chi-square test for categorical data and ANOVA tests for continuous data, while the qualitative data were analyzed using Systematic Text Condensation and an editing analysis style. Results Most students (70%) were concerned about the quality of the education program. In clinical placement, 83% of students had cared for patients with confirmed COVID-19 or unclear COVID-19 status. The qualitative data revealed three main themes: missing the social dimension of learning; worries and challenges in clinical placement; and experiencing normal instructive days in clinical placement. The general picture emerging from our analysis is the importance of social interactions for learning. Conclusion As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, our findings of students’ worries about the quality of the education program and not reaching learning outcomes must be taken into consideration. Social interaction is considered crucial and fundamental for student learning. A follow-up study following baccalaureate completion is necessary to explore the consequences over time of disrupted education.

1 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Jianyin Qiu1, Bin Shen, Min Zhao1, Zhen Wang1, Bin Xie1, Yifeng Xu1 
06 Mar 2020
TL;DR: This study is the first nationwide large-scale survey of psychological distress in the general population of China during the COVID-19 epidemic, which triggered a wide variety of psychological problems, including panic disorder, anxiety and depression.
Abstract: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic emerged in Wuhan, China, spread nationwide and then onto half a dozen other countries between December 2019 and early 2020. The implementation of unprecedented strict quarantine measures in China has kept a large number of people in isolation and affected many aspects of people's lives. It has also triggered a wide variety of psychological problems, such as panic disorder, anxiety and depression. This study is the first nationwide large-scale survey of psychological distress in the general population of China during the COVID-19 epidemic.

2,938 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The theory of social representations occupies a place apart in social psychology both by the problems it raises and the scale of the phenomena with which it deals as mentioned in this paper, which provokes many a criticism and misunderstanding.
Abstract: The theory of social representations occupies a place apart in social psychology both by the problems it raises and the scale of the phenomena with which it deals. This provokes many a criticism and misunderstanding. Such a theory may not correspond with the model of social psychology as it is defined at present. One attempts however to show that it answers important social and scientific questions, in what it differs from the classical conception of collective representations and, from the very beginning, adopts a constructivist perspective which has spread in social psychology since. Several trends of research have confirmed its vision of the relations between social and cognitive phenomena, communication and thought. More detailed remarks aim at outlining the nature of social representations, their capacity to create information, their function which is to familiarize us with the strange, according to the categories of our culture. Going farther, one insists on the diversity of methodological approaches. If the experimental method is useful to understand how people should think, higher mental and social processes must be approached by different methods, including linguistic analysis and observation of how people think. No doubt, social representations have a relation with the more recent field of social cognition. But inasmuch as the former depend on content and context, i.e. subjectivity and sociability of people, they approach the phenomena differently from the latter. Referring to child psychology and anthropology, one can contend, despite appearances, that it is also a more scientific approach. There is however much to be learned from criticisms and there is still a long way to go before we arrive at a satisfactory theory of social thinking and communication.

1,727 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The role that risk, and especially the perception of risk, its communication and management, played in driving the economic impact of SARS is examined and the potential for the rapid spread of infectious disease is not necessarily a greater threat than it has always been, but the effect that an outbreak can have on the economy is, which requires further research and policy development.

676 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The study on the public psychological states and its related factors during the COVID-19 outbreak is of practical significance and should pay attention to the psychological states of the public.
Abstract: Background: As COVID-19 occurs suddenly and is highly contagious, this will inevitably cause people anxiety, depression, etc. The study on the public psychological states and its related factors du...

552 citations