Group Identity as a Prognostic Factor of Mental Health in Preschool Children

Introduction. Victim stance of an individual may arise due to negative social relationships (Chojnacka, 2020) and may be associated with the experience of loneliness (Barbaro, 1999); lack of close friends and rejection by peers; lack of play partner and negative relationships in childhood (Chase, 1999). However, studies investigating the peculiarities of group identity development and the problem of loneliness in preschool children are insufficiently presented in the modern scientific literature. In this article, the phenomenon of victimhood, the experience of acceptance or rejection by a group of peers are considered in the context of preschooler’s mental health genesis. Purpose. The aim of the study is to determine the features of group identity development in preschool children in kindergartens based on the examples of children and the memories of adults. Materials and methods: an anonymous survey with open-ended and closed-ended questions was used (n = 247). The participants of the survey were parents of preschoolers attending modern preschool educational institutions (n = 140) and respondents who attended kindergarten as children (n = 107, aged 12 to 55). They were asked to evaluate the organization of groups in kindergarten; the features of interpersonal interaction of children; meeting the needs of children in child-care facilities; the main functions of the kindergarten and their level of trust in educators. Results: Kindergarten is a second important environment where a child continues to develop his group identity and ego-identity, and not just a place where children stay when parents are at work. Children who have difficulty interacting with their peers often face aggression from peers, experience feelings of loneliness, but not always receive help from their teachers. The majority of respondents (75.7%) answered that the experience of communication in kindergarten influenced their emotional state, self-esteem and communicative competence at school. Conclusions: The peculiarities of children's group identity in the preschool period are experiences of interest in interaction with a certain group of peers, the desire to be accepted and at the same time hostility towards or lack of interest in other peers. A significant percentage of experienced loneliness among modern children (35.5%) and adults (27.1%) who attended kindergarten more than 30 years ago indicates that this problem has existed for decades and requires more attention from scientists. Absence of play partners and frequent conflicts with peers lead to low self-esteem, fear of communication with children, other toxic experience and, as a consequence, to the risks of victimization in the future

Presentation of a participatory approach to develop preventive measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission in child care

Background It can be suspected that work in child care facilities is associated with an elevated exposure risk towards SARS-CoV-2 infections. It is still unclear under which conditions employees in those facilities can safely pursue their work. Preventive workplace-related measures to reduce transmission dynamics in this work environment need to be developed. These measures need to build on a solid scientific foundation and be ready for practical use at the same time. Therefore, the aim of the study is to present a participatory approach to identify, minimize, and eliminate workplace-specific COVID-19 transmission within child care. The approach presented combines quantitative as well as qualitative elements and includes a screening of critical workplace conditions and the development of preventive measures to foster a safe workplace design. Methods First, 428 employees of different child care facilities in a large German city reported their subjective risk of infection, fear of infection, and support received by the employer. Second, the participants commented in detail about high risk conditions during work. Third, employees provided suggestions for preventive measures. We conducted a qualitative analysis of free text answers to evaluate which aspects are perceived as critical from an employee perspective. Results Participants provided valuable and practicable ideas on how to design and improve preventive measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission in child care dealing with structural conditions, the interaction with the parents, the implementation of preventive measures and recommendations for policy makers. Conclusions These new insights help to organize pandemic risk management in order to align theoretical based measures with the practical realization. We encourage researchers to adapt the approach presented to other work areas in order to foster participation of employees in work design to reduce COVID-19 transmission.

Characteristics and Outcomes of Pediatric COVID-19 Patients in Osaka, Japan

The epidemiological information on characteristics, in-hospital treatments, and outcomes of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among pediatric patients has not been fully evaluated in Japan. This was a retrospective observational study conducted in the Osaka Prefecture, Japan, and we enrolled laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients aged ≤ 19 years old from January to November in 2020. Of 14,846 COVID-19 eligible patients, 1240 pediatric patients (8.4%) were registered during the study period; 329 were children aged 0–9 years (26.5%) and 911 were adolescents aged 10–19 years (73.5%). The majority of the patients exhibited mild symptoms at diagnosis (872, 70.3%), some were asymptomatic (296, 23.9%). Cluster infections occurred in child-care facilities (26, 7.9%) among children and in universities (27, 3.0%) and schools (18, 2.0%) among adolescents. The number of close-contact cases was 260 (69.0%) in children and 459 (50.4%) in adolescents. Sixty of the children (18.2%) and 90 of the adolescents (9.9%) were hospitalized. One patient received mechanical ventilation, and none underwent extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. One patient was admitted to the intensive care unit; there were no deaths. These results are useful for recognizing the clinical course from transmission route to outcomes of this infection in pediatric patients.

The Gendered Politics of Pandemic Relief: Labor and Family Policies in Denmark, Germany, and the United States During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified families’ struggles to reconcile caregiving and employment, especially for working mothers. How have different countries reacted to these troubling circumstances? What policies have been implemented to alleviate the pernicious effects of the pandemic on gender and labor inequalities? We examine the policies offered in Denmark, Germany, and the United States, three countries that represent distinct welfare regimes. We find important differences among the policy solutions provided, but also in the “cultural infrastructures” that allow policies to work as intended, or not. In Denmark, a social-democratic welfare state, robust federal salary guarantee programs supplemented an already strong social safety net. The country was among the first to lock down and reorganize health care—and also among the first to reopen schools and child care facilities, acknowledging that parents’ employment depends on child care provisioning, especially for mothers. Germany, a corporatist regime, substantially expanded existing programs and provided generous subsidies. However, despite an ongoing official commitment to reduce gender inequality, the cultural legacy of a father breadwinner/mother caregiver family model meant that reopening child care facilities was not a first priority, which pushed many mothers out of paid work. In the U.S. liberal regime, private organizations—particularly in privileged economic sectors—are the ones primarily offering supports to working parents. Patchwork efforts at lockdown and reopening have meant a lengthy period of limbo for working families, with disastrous consequences for women, especially the most vulnerable. Among such varied “solutions” to the consequences of the pandemic, those of liberal regimes seem to be worsening inequalities. The unprecedented nature of the current pandemic recession suggests a need for scholars to gender the study of economic crises.

FOOD RATIONS FOR CHILDREN IN ORPHANAGES OF KARELIA IN THE 1920s AND THE FIRST HALF OF THE 1930s

The article considers the issue of food provision to children in orphanages of Karelia in the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s. The problem of child nutrition was addressed in the official documents of the People’s Commissariat for Education of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialistic Republic as well as in the Soviet doctors’ works of recommendatory character. Instructors and doctors of the People’s Commissariat for Education and the People’s Commissariat for Health dealt with various nutrition issues for children in orphanages. They worked on daily food rations and healthy menus for children, measured the amount of useful nutrients needed, etc. The purpose of this article is to compare standards and the actual situation with rations for children in orphanages in the 1920s and the first half of the 1930s. The article was compiled using materials and documents provided by the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the National Archive of the Republic of Karelia, which helped to see not only the food standards approved by the Department of Welfare of the People’s Commissariat for Education, but also the actual provision of food to the child care facilities. Various issues of food provision to children in orphanages which were not entirely resolved stood out during the period of study.