Positive coparenting previous to the COVID-19 pandemic can buffer regulatory problems in infants facing the COVID-19 pandemic

Coparenting can be a development-enhancing or risk-promoting environment for infant regulatory capacity, mainly in the presence of adversity. This study aimed to analyze the association between positive and negative coparenting previous to the COVID-19 pandemic and infant regulatory capacity in the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, an adverse condition. A sample of 71 first-born infants and their mothers and fathers from a longitudinal cohort in Portugal were assessed at 2 weeks postpartum before the COVID-19 pandemic and again at 6 months postpartum, before (n = 35) or during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 36). Parents completed measures of positive and negative coparenting and infant regulatory capacity in both assessment waves. Results revealed that the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic moderates the association between mothers' and fathers' positive coparenting previous to the COVID-19 pandemic and infant regulatory capacity at 6 months. The association between positive coparenting and regulatory capacity was stronger in infants facing the COVID-19 pandemic, than in infants who did not face the COVID-19 pandemic. Positive coparenting previous to the COVID-19 pandemic may be a development-enhancing environment for infant regulatory capacity in the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Positive coparenting may buffer regulatory problems in infants facing adverse conditions.     

Living with suicidal feelings: Japanese non-profit organizations for suicide prevention amid the COVID-19 pandemic

The number of suicides in Japan increased for the first time in 11 years during the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend is particularly high among employed women and students. The Japanese government expanded its budget for providing telephone and social network service (SNS) counseling by prefectures and non-profit organizations (NPOs). On the basis of interviews with the chairman as well as counselors of an NPO in Osaka (Japan) that has provided telephone counseling services on suicide for over 40 years, this study examines suicide and suicide prevention amid the COVID-19 pandemic with a particular focus on how suicidal feelings are accepted. The results clarify that people do not wish to die just because of financial troubles or health problems; rather, they have lost the meaning in their life in the conflicts between social conditions and their personal life histories. Additionally, as volunteer counselors often experience the suicide of close relatives, their empathy for a caller may be based on their experiences of being overwhelmed by the realization of the otherness of others. They do not regard the acceptance of suicidal feelings as a “job,” but act as “friends.” Although modern society conceals death and suicide cases, the key to achieving a society where no one is driven into committing suicide is to place human life and human rights first as well as to talk about suicide and suicidal feelings without making the subject taboo or an aberration.     

Corporate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic by Fortune 500 companies

COVID-19 created a challenging environment both for businesses and individuals. Effects of the pandemic on companies had the potential to create negative public relations as entities attempted to deal with the worldwide crisis and to communicate their situation. Many companies were quick to provide information to customers and employees early in the pandemic about how they were responding to the crisis, while other companies provided limited immediate response to COVID-19. An examination of the top 300 companies listed in the 2020 Fortune 500 found that 186 of those companies communicated their status and plans in press releases posted from January 2020 through May 2020 regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. This study, based on Situational Crisis Communication Theory, qualitatively analyzed the releases via constant comparative method. The analysis resulted in four primary categories that dominated company releases: (1) In This Together, (2) Perseverance Through Strength, (3) We are Here for You, and (4) Fighting for the Team.     

Domestic help and the gender division of domestic labor during the COVID-19 pandemic: Gender inequality among Japanese parents

The enduring COVID-19 pandemic has gradually transformed our everyday lives. This study focuses on changes in work and family arrangements, with particular focus on changes in domestic help, and examines its impact on the division of domestic labor. Using a social survey of work and the family conducted in November 2020 and May 2021, the results show that from January 2020 (pre-pandemic) to May 2021, approximately 40% of respondents experienced a reduced gender gap for housework and childcare, while a large gender gap is still observed in the absolute frequency of undertaking domestic labor. Some lifestyle changes triggered by the pandemic, such as an increase in the use of takeaways or delivery meals, and the expansion of working from home, are found to be able to contribute a shift toward more equal sharing of domestic labor. However, the fact that the access to such lifestyle changes is more common among those with a relatively high income or high educational background suggests that the lifestyle changes imposed by the pandemic may exacerbate class disparities in the gender gap in domestic labor. Furthermore, the results show that decreased kinship support results in a greater childcare burden being placed on women.     

Infant regulation during the pandemic: Associations with maternal response to the COVID-19 pandemic,well-being,and socio-emotional investment

In the transition to parenthood, the COVID-19 pandemic poses an additional strain on parental well-being. Confirmed infections or having to quarantine, as well as public health measures negatively affect parents and infants. Contrary to previous studies mainly focusing on the well-being of school-aged children and their parents during lockdown periods, the present study investigated how mothers of infants respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and whether this is related to maternal well-being, maternal socio-emotional investment, and infant regulation. Between April and June 2021, 206 mothers of infants (M_age = 7.14 months, SD_age = 3.75 months) reported on COVID-19 infections, their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, their well-being, socio-emotional investment, and their infant’s regulation. Exploratory factor analyses yielded five dimensions of maternal response to the COVID-19 pandemic: social distancing, worrying about the child, birth anxiety, distancing from the child, and information on COVID-19-related parenting behavior and support. These dimensions were related to mother-reported infant regulatory problems. Path analyses revealed paths via reduced maternal well-being and maternal socio-emotional investment. Maternal perceptions of infant regulatory problems are related to how the mothers respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Better information about COVID-19-related parenting behavior and support might buffer against these effects.     

The gendered pandemic: The implications of COVID-19 for work and family

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly all the aspects of society since it's onset in early 2020. In addition to infecting and taking the lives of millions of global citizens, the pandemic has fundamentally changed family and work patterns. The pandemic and associated mitigation measures have increased the unemployment rates, amplified health risks for essential workers required to work on-site, and led to unprecedented rates of telecommuting. Additionally, due to school/daycare closures and social distancing, many parents have lost access to institutional and informal childcare support during the COVID-19 crisis. Such losses in childcare support have significantly impacted the paid and unpaid labor of parents, particularly of mothers. In this article, we synthesize recent research on pandemic-related changes to work and family in the United States. Applying an intersectionality lens, we discuss the gendered implications of these changes. Because gender inequality in family and work are connected, COVID-19 has, in many cases, deepened the pre-existing gender inequalities in both realms.     

Play and learn: Children's agency through the COVID-19 pandemic in Mozambique

Social distancing, one of the measures adopted in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, profoundly impacted on the lives of children. The consequences were, however, not homogenous. By focusing on the daily practices of 41 Mozambican children aged 3–10, we consider how differences in socioeconomic backgrounds led children to respond to the social restrictions in ways that made sense to them. Inspired by Abebe (2019), we identify how the interruptions of daily routines enabled specific instances of agency on children's part. These, we argue, produce new forms of continuity.     

Lability of prenatal stress during the COVID-19 pandemic links to negative affect in infancy

The association between prenatal stress and children's socioemotional development is well established. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a particularly stressful period, which may impact the gestational environment. However, most studies to-date have examined prenatal stress at a single time point, potentially masking the natural variation in stress that occurs over time, especially during a time as uncertain as the pandemic. This study leveraged dense ecological momentary assessments from a prenatal randomized control trial to examine patterns of prenatal stress over a 14-week period (up to four assessments/day) in a U.S. sample of 72 mothers and infants. We first examined whether varied features of stress exposure (lability, mean, and baseline stress) differed depending on whether mothers reported on their stress before or during the pandemic. We next examined which features of stress were associated with 3-month-old infants' negative affect. We did not find differences in stress patterns before and during the pandemic. However, greater stress lability, accounting for baseline and mean stress, was associated with higher infant negative affect. These findings suggest that pathways from prenatal stress exposure to infant socioemotional development are complex, and close attention to stress patterns over time will be important for explicating these pathways.     

A transnational lens into international student experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic

We analyse the experiences of international students living in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of transnationalism that understands mobility as broadly uninterrupted, continuing and taken-for-granted, and international student migration (ISM) literature. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, people had to contend with sudden border closures and stringent restrictions on all forms of travel. International students are regarded as the archetypal trans-migrants with frequent mobility and often multiple attachments to place. We interrogate these assumptions of mobility by drawing on interview data from 13 international students in Ontario from April to June of 2020. We found that international students experienced the pandemic transnationally and faced increased challenges, which heightened their reliance on support from transnational families, and generated anxieties about their future career and mobilities. We bring transnational theories into conversation with ISM literature to better understand international students’ lived experiences in Canada during a pandemic.     

Lived experiences of women academics during the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan

This study explores the experiences of women academics while combining the challenging job of online teaching and familial responsibilities during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Pakistan. The aim is to outline the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on women academics. We employed a qualitative research design and collected data through in-depth qualitative telephonic interviews with thirteen women academics in four public sector universities in Pakistan. The findings show that women academics remained overwhelmed by the workload; lacked support; and endured a tiring struggle to manage their official duties and familial responsibilities. They were stressed and stuck in their children and family care and online teaching and had hardly any time for academic writing. The participants expressed being burned out, depressed, exhausted, angry, and in desperate need of personal time. Since women experienced the lockdown differently than men we suggest that they may be compensated at the time of tenure/promotions.     

Quaranteens: Prepandemic relationship quality and changes in adolescent internalizing problems during the COVID-19 pandemic

This preregistered longitudinal study examined changes in adolescents' depressive and anxiety symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic using latent additive piece-wise growth models. It also assessed whether support from and conflict with mothers, fathers, siblings, and best friends explained heterogeneity in change patterns. One hundred and ninety-two Dutch adolescents (Mean age: 14.3 years; 68.8% female) completed online biweekly questionnaires for a year (November 2019–October 2020), consisting of a prepandemic, lockdown, and reopening phase. Depressive symptoms increased following the lockdown and decreased upon reopening. Anxiety symptoms showed an immediate decrease followed by a gradual increase in the reopening phase. Prepandemic family and best friend support and conflict did not explain heterogeneity in depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Urban governance of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan: An Urban political sociological approach to the case of Osaka

In this article, we first review current Japanese urban and regional sociological literature on the COVID-19 pandemic. Some empirical studies of the current conditions, challenges, and difficulties faced by urban communities with the pandemic have loomed large. Although urban governance of infectious disease control has been generally an important research topic in urban studies, there is limited research on this aspect, particularly in Japan. Then, we briefly examine the urban governance of the pandemic in Japan, with a focus on the case of Osaka. Specifically, by analyzing the meeting minutes of Osaka Prefectural Government's countermeasure headquarters, we shed light on what issues were mainly dealt with and what main organizational actors were involved. The results indicate that, in addition to the administrative and political collaboration between central, prefectural, and municipal governments, the involvement of industrial and professional organizations (e.g., medical and economic associations) is particularly salient. This is because the governmental sector in Japan lacks a strong legal framework and a policy implementation capacity for infectious disease control. Consequently, it has requested (through intermediary associations) that residents, businesses, and hospitals cooperate with the government to control the spread of the virus. With regard to the characteristics of the Japanese urban governance of the pandemic, more comparative research between cities and regions in the country and those in other countries will be one of the important issues for future Japanese urban and regional sociology.     

Bear in a Window: Australian children's perspectives on lockdown and experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper examines the reflections of a cohort of Australian children who lived through the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic and experienced being in ‘lockdown’; a state of largely being confined to the home for long periods daily. We report how children reflect on their experiences and illustrate how reflections draw on similar topics focused on localised child concerns regarding health, education, family, digital engagement, mealtimes and food. Further, we argue for the importance of including children's own voices of lived experience in reports regarding life during the pandemic since these perspectives may differ from those reported by adults on children's behalf.     

The social,emotional, and behavioral skill antecedents to college students' volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic

The disruptions to community functioning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred individuals to action. This empirical study investigated the social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skill antecedents to college students' volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 248, Mage = 20.6). We assessed eight SEB skills at the onset of a volunteering program, and students' volunteer hours were assessed 10-weeks later. Approximately 41.5% of the sample did not complete any volunteer hours. Higher levels of perspective taking skill, abstract thinking skill, and stress regulation were associated with more time spent volunteering. These results suggest that strength in particular SEB skills can prospectively predict prosocial civic behaviors.     

Mother-infant emotional availability through the COVID-19 pandemic: Examining continuity,stability, and bidirectional associations

The COVID-19 pandemic may impact the development of infants' social communication patterns with their caregivers. The current study examined continuity, stability, and bidirectional associations in maternal and infant dyadic Emotional Availability (EA) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 110 Israeli mother-infant dyads (51% girls) that were assessed prior to (Mage = 3.5 months) and during (Mage = 12.4 months) the pandemic. At both time points, mother-infant interactions were observed during play (nonstressful context) and tasks designed to elicit infant frustration (stressful context). Maternal and child EA were coded offline. Maternal EA demonstrated no significant mean-level changes from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas infant responsiveness and involvement increased over time. Stability and bidirectional associations in EA differed by context and were evident only in the stressful context. Mothers' perceived levels of social support further moderated these associations. Specifically, infants' pre-pandemic responsiveness and involvement predicted maternal EA during the pandemic only when mothers reported low levels of social support. Our findings suggest that maternal and child EA were not adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, patterns of EA demonstrated moderate-to-no stability over time, suggesting considerable individual differences in trajectories of EA.     

Digitized diaspora governance during the COVID-19 pandemic: China's diaspora mobilization and Chinese migrant responses in Italy

We explore how the Chinese diaspora state during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 managed to transform a severe health crisis into a geo-political opportunity for transnational nation-building through diaspora governance based on extensive use of social media technologies. By adopting a multi-scalar perspective, we analyse the intertwined nature of top-down and bottom-up processes of the Chinese Party-state's diaspora mobilization. Based on discourse and ethnographic analysis, we argue that China's diaspora governance exposed a new and strong capacity for extra-territorial governance. We explore how discursive hegemony, social control and diaspora mobilization were achieved by widely employing the Chinese social media application, WeChat. We also contend that this was facilitated by the Italian government's and media's pro-China attitudes to emphasize the importance of considering transnational embeddedness when studying the implementation and impact of interactive online technology for diaspora governance in an illiberal political context.     

新冠肺炎疫情背景下残疾人社会融合的媒介传播分析

残疾人"平等、参与、融合"的社会融合理念,体现了一个社会的文明程度,也是全面建成小康社会的重要方面.残疾人社会融合的媒介传播是新时代社会融合工作的重要组成部分.新冠肺炎疫情发生以来,残疾人由于身体功能的限制,导致对疫情信息接收的能力不足,隔离措施又进一步缩小了其生活空间,使其在生活、就医、社交、教育、就业等方面受到更大制约,这一形势对残疾人的社会融合构成了较大挑战.本文试图通过对新冠肺炎疫情期间有关残疾人的媒介传播进行分析,探索在当前新闻报道和公众讨论中所反映出的对这一议题的关注焦点、情感态度、发展趋势和影响效果,提出行之有效的舆论传播策略,希望发挥舆论传播的正向引导与监督功能,进一步服务于提高残疾人社会融合水平.