Impact of COVID-19 Related Stress on Sexual Desire and Behavior in a Canadian Sample

This study aimed to assess the traumatic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and to explore the contribution of fatalism to a) psychological distress and b) pandemic-related behavior change. Data for the study were collected via an anonymous online survey. The survey included questions about demographic characteristics, health status, pandemic-related stress, impact of COVID-19 on health and behavior, posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and fatalism. The sample included 465 participants from 30 countries (mean age = 36.87, SD = 13.39, age range = 18 – 76; 80% female). While none of the study participants have been diagnosed with COVID-19, almost 25% knew someone who had received the diagnosis. The overwhelming majority (79%) had to make changes to their daily routine, and 48.82% of the sample reported moderate to severe PTSS. Fatalism was found to be a statistically significant predictor of PTSS in a multiple regression model and was also associated with lack of behavior changes in response to the pandemic. Our findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic is a traumatic event with a potential to affect mental health and well-being of individuals and communities. Fatalism may contribute to severity of psychological distress and diminish individuals’ ability to engage in health-protective behaviors.

Download Full-text

Habituation to Transport Helps Reducing Stress-Related Behavior in Donkeys During Loading

Frontiers in Veterinary Science ◽

10.3389/fvets.2020.593138 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

Author(s):

Francesca Dai ◽

Silvia Mazzola ◽

Simona Cannas ◽

Eugenio Ugo Luigi Heinzl ◽

Barbara Padalino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Management Strategies ◽

Cortisol Concentration ◽

Physiological Indicators ◽

Treatment Groups ◽

Time Frequency ◽

Animal Management ◽

Loading And Unloading ◽

Related Stress ◽

And Behavior ◽

And Control

Adopting proper animal management strategies, including training, might reduce to a substantial extent the adverse effects of transport-related stress in animals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of habituation to transport on stress-related behaviors and physiological indicators during loading and unloading in donkeys. Fourteen donkeys were recruited and divided in two treatment groups: Habituation (H; M = 5, F = 2) and Control (C; M = 5, F = 2). H donkeys were gradually habituated to be transported, traveling together with their mothers and other adult donkeys well-accustomed to transport, while C donkeys had never been transported before. Loading and unloading phases were video recorded and behavior was analyzed. Saliva samples for cortisol concentration determination were collected at rest and after unloading. Latency time to load was significantly shorter for H donkeys than C donkeys (Mann-Whitney; p = 0.004). C donkeys also showed significantly more stress-related behaviors (Mann-Whitney; p = 0.026) and required a higher but not statistically significant number of human interventions to load. Cortisol concentration increased in both groups, but no differences were found between them (Mann-Whitney; p > 0.05). These results suggest that habituation to transport could mitigate stress during loading procedures in donkeys reducing loading time, frequency of stress-related behaviors and diminishing the need of human intervention.

Download Full-text

Impact of menstruation-related stigma and behavior on female employee performance in Bangladesh: mediating role of non-work related stress

South Asian Journal of Business Studies ◽

10.1108/sajbs-08-2020-0274 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Raisa Tasneem Zaman ◽

Md.Fazla Mohiuddin

Keyword(s):

Employee Performance ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Content Type ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Female Employee ◽

Women Employees ◽

Related Stigma ◽

Related Stress ◽

And Behavior

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how menstruation specific stigma and behavior impacts female employee performance in Bangladesh. Besides, it aims to investigate if nonwork-related stress has any mediating role in the menstruation-related stigma–employee performance and menstruation-related behavior–employee performance relationship.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model is developed and tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) 25. A total of 400 respondents participated in a self-administered survey, of which 375 questionnaires were retained after discarding questionnaires with incomplete responses.FindingsStigma and behavior related to menstruation were found to have a significant negative effect on female employee performance. Menstruation specific nonwork-related stress was found to partially mediate between menstruation-related stigma–employee performance and menstruation-related behavior–employee performance relationship.Originality/valueThis is the first study to link menstruation specific stigma and behavior and female employee performance using SEM in the context of the Bangladeshi women employees. It is also the first study to investigate the mediating role of nonwork-related stress in the menstruation specific stigma–employee performance and menstruation specific behavior–employee performance relationship in the context of Bangladeshi women employees.

Download Full-text