scholarly journals Longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement during and following the first national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feifei Bu ◽  
Hei Wan Mak ◽  
Jessica K Bone ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Social Study ◽  
Growth Trajectories ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
Longitudinal Changes ◽  
Growth Mixture ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Public Health Campaigns ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Arts Engagement ◽  
Over Time

Aims: This study aimed to examine potential heterogeneity in longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement during the first national lockdown and following gradual easing of restrictions in the UK. Further, it sought to explore factors that were associated with patterns of longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement. Methods: Data were from the UCL COVID-19 Social Study. The analytical sample consisted of 29,147 adults in the UK who were followed up for 22 weeks from 21st March to 21st August 2020. Data were analysed using growth mixture models. Results: Our analyses identified five classes of growth trajectories. There were two stable classes showing little change in arts engagement over time (64.4% in total), two classes showing initial increases in arts engagement followed by declines as restrictions were eased (29.8%), and one class showing slight declines during strict lockdown followed by an increase in arts engagement after the easing of restrictions (5.9%). A range of factors were found to be associated with class membership of these arts engagement trajectories, such as age, gender, education, income, employment status, and health. Conclusions: There is substantial heterogeneity in longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement. For participants whose engagement changed over time, growth trajectories of arts engagement were related to changes in lockdown measures. These findings suggest that some individuals may have drawn on the arts when they needed them the most, such as during the strict lockdown period, even if they usually had lower levels of arts engagement before the pandemic. Overall, our results indicate the importance of promoting arts engagement during pandemics and periods of lockdown as part of public health campaigns.

scholarly journals Longitudinal changes in physical activity during and after the first national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feifei Bu ◽  
Jessica K Bone ◽  
John J Mitchell ◽  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Physical Inactivity ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Growth Trajectories ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Longitudinal Changes ◽  
Growth Mixture ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Reduced Physical Activity ◽  
Over Time

AbstractBackgroundRecent studies have shown reduced physical activity at early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is a lack of investigation on longitudinal changes in physical activity beyond lockdowns and stay at home orders. Moreover, it is unclear if there is heterogeneity in physical activity growth trajectories. This study aimed to explore longitudinal patterns of physical activity and factors associated with them.MethodsData were from the UCL COVID -19 Social Study. The analytical sample consisted of 35,915 adults in England who were followed up for 22 weeks from 24th March to 23rd August 2020. Data were analysed using growth mixture models.FindingsOur analyses identified six classes of growth trajectories, including three stable classes showing little change over time (62.4% in total), two classes showing decreasing physical activity (28.6%), and one class showing increasing physical activity over time (9%). A range of factors were found to be associated the class membership of physical activity trajectories, such as age, gender, education, income, employment status, and health.InterpretationThere is substantial heterogeneity in longitudinal changes in physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a substantial proportion of our sample showed persistent physical inactivity or decreasing physical activity. Given the well-established linked between physical activity and health, persistent or increased physical inactivity is likely to have both immediate and long-term implications for people’s physical and mental health, as well as general wellbeing. More efforts are needed to promote physical activity during the pandemic and beyond.FundingNuffield Foundation, UK Research and Innovation, Wellcome Trust

scholarly journals Longitudinal changes in physical activity during and after the first national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Feifei Bu ◽  
Jessica K. Bone ◽  
John J. Mitchell ◽  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Physical Inactivity ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Growth Trajectories ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Longitudinal Changes ◽  
Growth Mixture ◽  
Gender Education ◽  
Reduced Physical Activity ◽  
Over Time

AbstractRecent studies have shown reduced physical activity at early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is a lack of investigation on longitudinal changes in physical activity beyond lockdowns and stay-at-home orders. Moreover, it is unclear if there is heterogeneity in physical activity growth trajectories. This study aimed to explore longitudinal patterns of physical activity and factors associated with them. Data were from the UCL COVID-19 Social Study. The analytical sample consisted of 35,915 adults in England who were followed up for 22 weeks from 24th March to 23rd August 2020. Data were analysed using growth mixture models. Our analyses identified six classes of growth trajectories, including three stable classes showing little change over time (62.4% in total), two classes showing decreasing physical activity (28.6%), and one class showing increasing physical activity over time (9%). A range of factors were found to be associated the class membership of physical activity trajectories, such as age, gender, education, income, employment status, and health. There is substantial heterogeneity in longitudinal changes in physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a substantial proportion of our sample showed persistent physical inactivity or decreasing physical activity. Given the well-established link between physical activity and health, persistent or increased physical inactivity is likely to have both immediate and long-term implications for people’s physical and mental health, as well as general wellbeing. More efforts are needed to promote physical activity during the pandemic and beyond.

scholarly journals Predictors and impact of arts engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic: analyses of data from 19,384 adults in the COVID-19 Social Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hei Wan Mak ◽  
Meg Fluharty ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
Coping Styles ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Network Size ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Home Based ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Arts Engagement

Objectives. The global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 heavily affected the arts and creative industries due to the instigation of lockdown measures in the UK and closure of venues. However, it also provided new opportunities for arts and cultural engagement through virtual activities and streamed performances. Yet it remains unclear (i) who was likely to engage with the arts at home during lockdown, (ii) how this engagement differed from patterns of arts engagement prior to COVID-19, and (iii) whether home-based arts engagement was related to people’s ability to cope with their emotions during lockdown. This study was therefore designed to address these questions. Methods. We used data collected in late May from the UK COVID-19 Social Study run by University College London. Multivariate regressions were used for the analysis (N=19,384). Identified confounders included demographic factors, socio-economic position, psychosocial wellbeing and health conditions, adverse events/worries, and coping styles.Results. Four types of home-based arts engagement were identified during the COVID-19 pandemic: digital arts & writing, performing arts, crafts, and reading for pleasure. Our results show that the strongest predictors of the engagement were age, education levels, social support, social network size, and trait emotion-focused or supportive coping styles. In particular, younger adults (aged 18-29), non-keyworkers, people with greater social support, and those with a trait emotion-focused coping style were more likely to have increased arts engagement during lockdown. Arts activities were used as approach and avoidance strategies to help cope with emotions, as well as to help improve self-development. Conclusions. Overall, our study suggests that some people who engaged in the arts during the COVID-19 pandemic were those who typically engage under normal circumstances. However, there were also some heterogeneity across social, cultural and economic groups when comparing normal circumstances and the pandemic. Additionally, this study highlights the value of the arts as coping tools during stressful situations.

scholarly journals Loneliness during lockdown: trajectories and predictors during the COVID-19 pandemic in 35,712 adults in the UK

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feifei Bu ◽  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Growth Trajectories ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Growth Mixture ◽  
Growth Mixture Modelling ◽  
The Uk

AbstractThere are increasing worries that lockdowns and “stay-at-home” orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a rise in loneliness, which is recognised as a major public health concern. But profiles of loneliness during the pandemic and risk factors remain unclear.Data from 35,712 UK adults in the UCL COVID-19 Social Study (a panel study collecting data weekly during the pandemic) were analysed from 21/03/2020-03/05/2020. The sample was well-stratified and weighted to population proportions of gender, age, ethnicity, education and geographical location. Growth mixture modelling was used to identify the latent classes of loneliness growth trajectories and their predictors.Analyses revealed four classes, with the baseline loneliness level ranging from low to high. In the first six weeks of lockdown, loneliness levels increased in the highest loneliness group, decreased in the lowest loneliness group, and stayed relatively constant in the middle two groups. Younger adults (OR = 2.17–6.81), women (OR = 1.59), people with low income (OR = 1.3), the economically inactive (OR = 1.3–2.04) and people with mental health conditions (OR = 5.32) were more likely to be in highest loneliness class relative to the lowest. Further, living with others or in a rural area, and having more close friends or greater social support were protective.Perceived levels of loneliness in the first few weeks of lockdown during COVID-19 were relatively stable in the UK, but for many people these levels were high with no signs of improvement. Results suggest that more efforts are needed to address loneliness, especially amongst young people.

scholarly journals Trustworthiness of Doctors from Public Health Campaigns

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Koed Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Message Content ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analyses ◽  
Ethical Stance ◽  
Public Health Campaigns ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
The Impact

Previous research concerning the effectiveness of public health campaigns have explored the impact of message design, message content, communication channel choice and other aspects of such campaigns. Meta analyses reported in the literature reveal, however, that the choice of endorsers in health campaigns remains unexplored. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by studying what makes doctors from public health campaigns appear trustworthy in the eyes of the receiver. The present research examines propensity for trust as well facets of trustworthiness of such expert doctors based on a survey carried out in the UK (155 respondents). Underlying factors of trustworthiness are explored to gain more insight into the understanding of how trust may affect the public’s belief updating and the formation of intentions. Exploratory factor analyses suggest four dimensions of trustworthiness. Multiple regression analyses demonstrate that these factors explain almost 70% of the variance in the participants’ expressed trust in doctors from public health campaigns. Doctors’ ethical stance and their care for the health of the general population appear to be more important for perceived trustworthiness than their actual professional background, although their abilities and competences are closely related to ethics and benevolence. For policy makers this has important implications when selecting endorsers for public health campaigns in order to design effective health related communication, for example to combat obesity.

scholarly journals Comparison of Experiences in Two Birth Cohorts Comprising Young Families with Children under Four Years during the Initial COVID-19 Lockdown in Australia and the UK: A Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 9119
Author(s):  
Lisa Y. Gibson ◽  
Bridget Lockyer ◽  
Josie Dickerson ◽  
Charlotte Endacott ◽  
Sally Bridges ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Economic Disadvantage ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Public Health Campaigns ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Families With Children

This study aims to understand the experience and impact of the initial COVID-19 lockdown in young families with children aged below 4 years. Free text questions were administered to participants in the ORIGINS (Australia) and Born in Bradford (UK) cohort studies to collect qualitative information on worries, concerns and enjoyable experiences during the pandemic. A total of 903 (400 for ORIGINS and 503 for BiB) participants completed the two surveys during April 2020. Despite varying in geography, levels of socio-economic disadvantage and their situational context during the pandemic, respondents from both cohorts reported similar worries and challenges during the lockdown period, including: employment/finances, health anxiety, mental health and social isolation, caring for children and child development. Families across the globe experienced both positive and negative immediate impacts of COVID-19. Population-based data can be used to inform the development of support services, public health campaigns and universal interventions to assist families in future health crises.

scholarly journals Using Artificial Intelligence-enabled analysis of social media data to understand public perceptions of COVID-19 contact tracing apps (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathrin Cresswell ◽  
Ahsen Tahir ◽  
Zakariya Sheikh ◽  
Zain Hussain ◽  
Andrés Domínguez Hernández ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
Social Media Analysis ◽  
Public Health Campaigns ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Effective Public Health

UNSTRUCTURED We here report on an exploratory analysis of the suitability of AI-enabled social media analysis of Facebook and Twitter to understand public perceptions of COVID-19 contact tracing apps in the UK. We extracted over 10,000 relevant social media posts and analysed these over an eight month period, from 1st of March to 31st of October 2020. Overall, we observed 76% positive and 12% negative sentiments, and discuss how the government's decision to move from a centralised to a decentralised contact-tracing model is likely to have influenced sentiment trends. In doing so, we demonstrate how AI-enabled social media analysis of public attitudes in healthcare can help to facilitate the implementation of effective public health campaigns.

scholarly journals Growth mixture models of adaptive behavior in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder

Autism ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 1472-1484
Author(s):  
Brianne Tomaszewski ◽  
Leann Smith DaWalt ◽  
Samuel L Odom
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Adaptive Behavior ◽  
School Quality ◽  
Growth Mixture Modeling ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Growth Trajectories ◽  
Growth Mixture ◽  
Adolescents With Autism ◽  
Over Time

This study examined growth trajectories of teacher-reported adaptive behavior in a diverse sample of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. The participants were 244 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 21 years who were assessed at up to four time points across two and a half years of high school. Demographic variables (age, sex, race, maternal education), phenotypic characteristics (intelligence quotient, autism severity) and school factors (location of the school, school quality) were collected. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify distinct classes of growth trajectories in communication, daily living skills, and socialization domains of adaptive behavior. Two distinct classes were identified for each domain. The first class had moderately low adaptive behavior scores and demonstrated growth of adaptive behavior over time and the second class had low adaptive behavior scores and did not demonstrate change over time. Adolescents within the moderately low adaptive behavior classes were younger at enrollment in the study, had higher IQs, and lower autism symptom severity. Logistic regressions were performed, and aspects of school quality predicted the likelihood of being in the moderately low classes above and beyond autism symptoms.

scholarly journals Exploration of attitudes regarding uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among vaccine hesitant adults in the UK: A qualitative analysis.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Denford ◽  
Fiona Mowbray ◽  
Lauren Towler ◽  
Helena Wehling ◽  
Gemma Lasseter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vaccine Uptake ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
First Results ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
The Government ◽  
Public Health Campaigns ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk

Abstract Background The aim of this work was to explore barriers and facilitators to uptake of COVID-19 vaccines and to explore views and reactions to efforts to improve vaccine uptake among those who were vaccine hesitant. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with people between the age of 18-29 years who had not had a COVID-19 vaccine, and those between 30-49 years who have not received a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine (more than 12 weeks after receiving a first). Results A total of 70 participants took part in the study, 35 participants had received one dose of the vaccine, and 35 had not received any vaccine. Participants described a possible willingness to be vaccinated to keep themselves and those around them safe, and to avoid restrictions and return to normal. Barriers to uptake included: 1) perceived lack of need for COVID-19 vaccinations, 2) concerns about the efficacy of vaccinations, 3) concerns about safety 4) access. Uptake appeared to be influenced by the age and health status of the individual, trust in government and knowledge and understanding of science. Introduction of vaccine passes may provide a motive for having a vaccine but may also be viewed as coercive. Conclusion Participants were hesitant, rather than opposed, and had questions about their need for, and the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. Young people did not consider themselves to be at risk of becoming ill from COVID-19, did not think the vaccination was effective in preventing infection and transmission, and did not think sufficient research had been conducted with regard to the possible long-term side-effects. These concerns were exacerbated by a lack of trust in the government and misunderstanding of science. In order to promote uptake, public health campaigns should focus on the provision of information from trusted sources that carefully explains the benefits of vaccination and addresses safety concerns more effectively. To overcome inertia in people with low levels of motivation to be vaccinated, appointments must be easily accessible.

scholarly journals Predictors and Impact of Arts Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analyses of Data From 19,384 Adults in the COVID-19 Social Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hei Wan Mak ◽  
Meg Fluharty ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Coping Styles ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Creative Industries ◽  
Psychosocial Wellbeing ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Arts Engagement

ObjectivesThe global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 heavily affected the arts and creative industries due to the instigation of lockdown measures in the United Kingdom and closure of venues. However, it also provided new opportunities for arts and cultural engagement through virtual activities and streamed performances. Yet it remains unclear (i) who was likely to engage with the arts at home during lockdown, (ii) how this engagement differed from patterns of arts engagement prior to COVID-19, and (iii) whether home-based arts engagement was related to people’s ability to cope with their emotions during lockdown. This study was therefore designed to address these questions.MethodsWe used data collected in late May from the United Kingdom COVID-19 Social Study run by University College London. Multivariate regressions were used for the analysis (N = 19,384). Identified factors included demographic factors, socio-economic position, psychosocial wellbeing and health conditions, adverse events/worries, and coping styles.ResultsFour types of home-based arts engagement were identified during the COVID-19 pandemic: digital arts and writing, musical activities, crafts, and reading for pleasure. Our results show that the strongest predictors of the engagement were age, education attainment, social support, and emotion-focused or supportive coping styles. In particular, younger adults (aged 18–29), non-keyworkers, people with greater social support, people who had lost work, those who were worried about catching the virus, and those with an emotion-focused, problem-focused or supportive coping style were more likely to have increased arts engagement during lockdown. Arts activities were used as approach and avoidance strategies to help cope with emotions, as well as to help improve self-development.ConclusionOverall, our study suggests that while some people who engaged in the arts during the COVID-19 pandemic were those who typically engage under normal circumstances, the pandemic has also created new incentives and opportunities for others to engage virtually. Additionally, this study highlights the value of the arts as coping tools during stressful situations.

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