Social distancing without emotional distancing?1

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ava Hunt ◽  
Roger Wooster

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of society and no more so than in educational applications of theatre for children in schools. This article explores the complexities of what applied theatre/drama offer the young to think critically and develop empathetic human relationships crucial to sound mental health. The article’s authors reaffirm ways in which applied theatre/drama and TIE have contributed to healthy social development through contributions to the Personal, Social and Health Education curriculum. Cited are recent projects with compromised praxis in the face of the pandemic. Identified is a shift in educational priorities that are returning to traditional approaches in place of wider heuristic social education. Consequent moves to online teaching and imposition of social distancing has led to concerning levels of social distancing potentially impacting negatively on mental health of the young. However, applied theatre/drama disciplines play a particular role in facilitating emotional maturity through critical thinking.

2020 ◽  
pp. 216769682096869
Author(s):  
Barrett Scroggs ◽  
Heather A. Love ◽  
Chelsey Torgerson

The coronavirus pandemic that began in December 2019 (COVID-19) quickly spread globally with an increased transmission in the United States beginning in March 2020. Social distancing guidelines were instituted across the country, limiting contact individuals could have with others. This compared the mental health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) emerging adults who completed the survey before ( n = 1,190) many social distancing guidelines went into effect with those who completed the survey after ( n = 705). Participants who participated in the survey after social distancing guidelines were initiated reported lower levels of hope for the future, higher levels of alcohol use, a lower sense of connection to and pride regarding the LGBTQ community, and a lower sense of minority stress. Results indicate a detrimental response to social distancing in the days immediately following the onset of such guidelines as confusion reigned and expectations changed day to day.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Hayes ◽  
Laura Clerk

This research assessed fatalism toward COVID-19 and its role in behavioral intentions to support mitigation efforts (e. g., social distancing) and mental well-being. A COVID-19 fatalism measure was developed, and a messaging manipulation (fatalistic vs. optimistic vs. no message) was created to examine causal links between fatalism scores. Support for mitigation efforts and negative affect (anxiety, fear, depression, and insecurity) were measured to examine the consequences of fatalism toward COVID-19. Results showed that the fatalistic messaging condition increased fatalism whereas the optimistic message reduced it. The effects of the messaging manipulation were also apparent in the downstream measures of support for mitigation and negative affect through the mediator of fatalism toward COVID-19. Specifically, fatalism negatively predicted intentions to support mitigation. Regarding mental health, fatalism was positively associated with depression but negatively associated with fear and insecurity. Implications for COVID-19 mitigation efforts and mental health in the face of the coronavirus pandemic are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Hayes ◽  
Laura Clerk

This research assessed the causal effect of hope for a COVID-19 vaccine on behavioral intentions to support mitigation efforts (e.g., social distancing) and emotional well-being during the coronavirus pandemic. Two studies (N=1297) tested the hypothesis that experimentally manipulated hope for a vaccine would increase mitigation intentions and emotional well-being by reducing fatalism toward COVID-19. In Study 1, hope for the vaccine manipulated with an article that promoted (vs. undermined vs. control) the likelihood that a vaccine would be developed to stop the pandemic. In Study 2, hope was manipulated with real news emerging from vaccine developers indicating that two vaccines highly effective and were nearing ready. Both manipulations reduced COVID-19 fatalism and thereby increased mitigation intentions and emotional well-being. Study 2 furthermore found that positive vaccine news increased people’s intentions to get vaccinated. Implications for COVID-19 mitigation efforts and mental health in the face of the coronavirus pandemic are discussed.


Author(s):  
Shaden A. M. Khalifa ◽  
Mahmoud M. Swilam ◽  
Aida A. Abd El-Wahed ◽  
Ming Du ◽  
Haged H. R. El-Seedi ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious challenge for societies around the globe as entire populations have fallen victim to the infectious spread and have taken up social distancing. In many countries, people have had to self-isolate and to be confined to their homes for several weeks to months to prevent the spread of the virus. Social distancing measures have had both negative and positive impacts on various aspects of economies, lifestyles, education, transportation, food supply, health, social life, and mental wellbeing. On other hands, due to reduced population movements and the decline in human activities, gas emissions decreased and the ozone layer improved; this had a positive impact on Earth’s weather and environment. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic has negative effects on human activities and positive impacts on nature. This study discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different life aspects including the economy, social life, health, education, and the environment.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 3046
Author(s):  
Shervin Minaee ◽  
Mehdi Minaei ◽  
Amirali Abdolrashidi

Facial expression recognition has been an active area of research over the past few decades, and it is still challenging due to the high intra-class variation. Traditional approaches for this problem rely on hand-crafted features such as SIFT, HOG, and LBP, followed by a classifier trained on a database of images or videos. Most of these works perform reasonably well on datasets of images captured in a controlled condition but fail to perform as well on more challenging datasets with more image variation and partial faces. In recent years, several works proposed an end-to-end framework for facial expression recognition using deep learning models. Despite the better performance of these works, there are still much room for improvement. In this work, we propose a deep learning approach based on attentional convolutional network that is able to focus on important parts of the face and achieves significant improvement over previous models on multiple datasets, including FER-2013, CK+, FERG, and JAFFE. We also use a visualization technique that is able to find important facial regions to detect different emotions based on the classifier’s output. Through experimental results, we show that different emotions are sensitive to different parts of the face.


Author(s):  
Mohammad Paydar ◽  
Asal Kamani Fard

More than 150 cities around the world have expanded emergency cycling and walking infrastructure to increase their resilience in the face of the COVID 19 pandemic. This tendency toward walking has led it to becoming the predominant daily mode of transport that also contributes to significant changes in the relationships between the hierarchy of walking needs and walking behaviour. These changes need to be addressed in order to increase the resilience of walking environments in the face of such a pandemic. This study was designed as a theoretical and empirical literature review seeking to improve the walking behaviour in relation to the hierarchy of walking needs within the current context of COVID-19. Accordingly, the interrelationship between the main aspects relating to walking-in the context of the pandemic- and the different levels in the hierarchy of walking needs were discussed. Results are presented in five sections of “density, crowding and stress during walking”, “sense of comfort/discomfort and stress in regard to crowded spaces during walking experiences”, “crowded spaces as insecure public spaces and the contribution of the type of urban configuration”, “role of motivational/restorative factors during walking trips to reduce the overload of stress and improve mental health”, and “urban design interventions on arrangement of visual sequences during walking”.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Catching ◽  
Sara Capponi ◽  
Ming Te Yeh ◽  
Simone Bianco ◽  
Raul Andino

AbstractCOVID-19’s high virus transmission rates have caused a pandemic that is exacerbated by the high rates of asymptomatic and presymptomatic infections. These factors suggest that face masks and social distance could be paramount in containing the pandemic. We examined the efficacy of each measure and the combination of both measures using an agent-based model within a closed space that approximated real-life interactions. By explicitly considering different fractions of asymptomatic individuals, as well as a realistic hypothesis of face masks protection during inhaling and exhaling, our simulations demonstrate that a synergistic use of face masks and social distancing is the most effective intervention to curb the infection spread. To control the pandemic, our models suggest that high adherence to social distance is necessary to curb the spread of the disease, and that wearing face masks provides optimal protection even if only a small portion of the population comply with social distance. Finally, the face mask effectiveness in curbing the viral spread is not reduced if a large fraction of population is asymptomatic. Our findings have important implications for policies that dictate the reopening of social gatherings.


2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Coll

Infant Observation is a valuable training experience for workers in child and adolescent mental health, helping both to conceive the infantile experience of the children under their care, and to understand the parents' accounts of a child's history. It is an experience that gives trainees a unique opportunity to observe the development of an infant, systematically and practically from birth, in the child's natural setting, thus facilitating the acquisition of a meaningful understanding of how human relationships emerge and develop. Infant Observation gives the trainee a clear focus on the baby and his family, whilst remaining as a participant observer, and spontaneously encouraging problem-free talk.


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