Exercise as a coping strategy and its impact on the psychological well-being of Japanese community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study

This study aimed to examine the prevalence of exercise as a coping strategy among Japanese community-dwelling older adults and its impact on their psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2019 (baseline [BL]), 720 community-dwelling older adults living in an urban area in Japan participated in a comprehensive health survey. Of these, 618 responded to a mail survey (follow-up [FL]) in June 2020, after the first state of emergency was lifted. Their psychological well-being was assessed using the WHO-5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5). Exercise as a coping strategy during the stay-at-home period was determined at FL by asking respondents whether they had engaged in 1) walking and 2) at-home exercise and strength training to maintain their physical and mental health. Each type of exercise’s impact and the effective exercise combinations were examined. Time and group interaction effects on the WHO-5 scores were investigated using a two-way analysis of covariance. Of the final sample, 65.1% engaged in walking. The WHO-5 mean scores at BL and FL were 16.7 and 15.4 for the walking group and 16.7 and 14.5 for the non-walking group, respectively; interaction for time and group was significant. Additionally, 56.4% of the participants engaged home training. The WHO-5 mean score at BL and FL were 17.5 and 15.5 for the home training group and 15.7 and 14.5 for the no home training group, respectively; there was no significant interaction. Older adults who engaged in both walking and home training received higher score on the WHO-5 than those who engaged in only one activity at FL. The decline in psychological well-being was most attenuated in the walking only group compared to the at-home exercise and strength training groups. Exercise as a coping strategy during the stay-at-home period was associated with psychological well-being, with different impacts observed depending on the type of activity.     

关于流行性感冒大流行的几个问题

流行性感冒(流感)大流行的发生是有其生物学和社会学基础的,从现在至未来很长的时间内,流感大流行的再现是不可避免的。但是人类在疫灾面前没有必要恐慌,主动、积极、科学的应对,可以把流感大流行对人类和人类生活的危害程度减至最低。     

全球流感大流行与共建和谐社会

科学家预测:新一轮流感大流行不可避免。通过总结历史教训,分析目前可能引起流感大流行的原因,展开预防流感大流行与共建和谐社会关系的讨论。     

甲型H1N1流感大流行2周年记

2009年4月,墨西哥暴发甲型H1N1流感疫情,并迅速蔓延至全球。2009年6月11日,世界卫生组织宣布进入流感大流行,直到2010年8月10日世卫组织宣布世界步入流感大流行后期。自流感暴发已经2年过去了,回顾整个过程我们从中可以学到许多经验和教训,并随时准备应对将来可能发生的新的流感疫情。     

Cognitive Training via a Mobile Application to Reduce Obsessive-Compulsive-Related Distress and Cognitions During the COVID-19 Outbreaks: A Randomized Controlled Trial Using a Subclinical Cohort

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a persistent psychiatric disorder causing significant impairment in functioning. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated OCD-related symptoms and interrupted access to treatment. Recent research suggests mHealth apps are promising tools for coping with OCD symptoms. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effects of a CBT-based mobile application designed to reduce OCD symptoms and cognitions in community participants considered at high risk of developing OCD symptoms. Following initial screening (n = 924), fifty-five community participants scoring 2 standard deviations above the OCI-R mean were randomized into two groups. In the immediate-app use group (iApp; n = 25), participants started using the application at baseline (T0), 4 min a day, for 12 days (T0–T1). Participants in the delayed-app group (dApp; n = 20) started using the mobile application at T1 (crossover) and used the app for the following 12 consecutive days (T1–T2). Intention to treat analyses indicated that using the app for 12 consecutive days was associated with large effect-size reductions (Cohen’s d ranging from .87 to 2.73) in OCD symptoms and maladaptive cognitions in the iApp group (from T0 to T1) and dApp group (from T1 to T2). These reductions were maintained at follow-up. Our findings underscore the usefulness of brief, low-intensity, portable interventions in reducing OCD symptoms and cognitions during the pandemic.     

Why do U.S. conservatives take fewer COVID-19 precautions? The role of worry,perceived risk,and governmental trust

Research suggests a U.S. political ideology gap for taking COVID-19 precautions, but we do not know the role of cognitive risk (assessed here as perceived risk) and affective risk (assessed here as worry) in explaining why conservative Americans participated in fewer recommended precautions (e.g., mask wearing) and whether governmental trust attenuates the effect. We predicted that conservatives (compared with liberals) would take fewer precautions because they thought they were less at risk and were less worried about COVID-19, but that this would be more pronounced for those with low governmental trust. In this study, U.S. adults (representative sample: N = 738; M_age = 46.8; 52% women; 78% white) who had not had COVID-19 took two online surveys 2 weeks apart during the first wave of the pandemic (April 2020). Participants reported ideology, perceived risk of getting or dying of COVID-19, worry about COVID-19, and trust in the CDC and state officials at baseline. At follow-up, participants reported on COVID-19 precautions: (1) prevention behavior participation (e.g., mask wearing) and (2) behavioral willingness for future behaviors (e.g., vaccination). Results showed that, politically conservative Americans took fewer precautions due to lower worry (but unexpectedly not due to lower perceived risk). As predicted, when trust was high, the ideology gap was muted for predicting precautions as well as for predicting perceived risk and worry. In sum, conservatives worried less about COVID-19 which predicted fewer precautions, but trust in governmental institutions reduced this ideological gap. Improving governmental trust could be one fruitful path to increasing COVID-19 precautions.     

传染病大暴发期间的临床研究：理论合理性和实践可行性

试图从治疗和研究在伦理基础及政策导向上的差异入手,分析在流行病大暴发期间扩大临床试验性治疗和缩短研究进程等策略的不足,指出其局限性及不可行性;阐明知情同意的伦理原则和预警的监管原则是衡量临床研究规范化和安全性的基准。论文得出结论,阶梯式群试验是流行病大暴发期间较为合宜的研究性治疗策略,它可以确保知情同意的伦理原则和预警的监管原则在不动摇的前提下,使研究性治疗及时为患者所得。     

新冠肺炎疫情下科学家的社会责任问题研究

科学家的社会责任问题存在“科学价值中立说”与“科学家的普遍社会责任说”之争。新冠肺炎疫情下的风险社会中,科学家不能持有“事不关己”的“价值中立”态度,而应担负“普遍责任”,他们是疫情防治中的重要行动者。但是,在一些国家出现了科学研究不严谨、科学研究政治化等科学家社会责任缺失现象。需加强科学理性与价值理性的统一、建立重大疫情科学决策咨询制度、改革科技评价方式、精英决策与民主决策相结合、保持科学研究与政治之间的合理张力。     

1918年流感世界大流行病毒株溯源

发生于1918年的第一次世界流感大流行夺走至少两千万人的生命,这场灾难赋予了科学家探求其来源的巨大责任感。病毒学家发挥了严谨而又富有创造性的科研精神,使流感病毒的真实面目得以逐步揭开。这些研究成果加深了我们对流感病毒本身的认识,更为重要的是,为下一次流感世界大流行的防治提供了若干有价值的信息。     

Romantic relationship quality during the COVID-19 pandemic: The longitudinal associations with relationship loneliness and depression

The COVID-19 pandemic created significant strain on both mental health and romantic relationships. Therefore, we examined longitudinal associations between romantic relationship quality, relationship loneliness, and depressive symptoms over 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed 122 couples (n = 244 individuals) in approximately May, September, and November 2020. Using a dyadic mediation model, findings indicated that relationship quality at Time 1 was positively associated with depression at Time 3 for men, but not for women. A significant indirect effect of relationship quality on depression via relationship loneliness at Time 2 was found for both men and women. Self-mastery, or feeling in control of one's life circumstances, was an important covariate of women's depressive symptoms. Overall, these findings highlight relationship loneliness as particularly salient for mental health and demonstrate the importance of high-quality relationships for promoting well-being during stressful events, such as global pandemics.