Having a point of declining schooling and speaking English as an additional language reduced resilience and hindered people’s ability to cope, suggesting a new study from the University of California, Davis, based on surveys that began in April, just a few weeks after the blockade began in the United States.
“This is one of the first pieces of data we have on COVID-19 resistance,” said Clare Cannon, assistant professor in UC Davis’ Department of Human Ecology and co-author of the study. “Our hypothesis, for our ongoing research, is that the scenario is getting worse. The more time passes, the less resilient we will be. “
Cannon and Tulane University scholars surveyed 374 other people online, social media, websites and other media, most commonly in the United States, during a 10-week era starting in April. More studies are planned as the pandemic progresses.
Respondents were asked about past experience of the disaster, their ability to recover, perceived stress, existing prestige with respect to COVID-19, and non-public and family circle demographics. Qualtrics’ online survey lasted approximately 10 minutes.
Respondents in this study had completed the questionnaires before the masks were mandatory, before closures spread, before significant task losses occurred and before they learned of the global situation through a global economic recession and a fatal public health crisis, he added. at the time of the investigation he had suffered from a circle of familiar illness and loss due to COVID-19, as would be the case now and in long-term research, Cannon said.
The authors of the study sought to read about the role of perceived stress, evaluate demographic variables and enrich literature on disasters, infectious diseases and resilience, his paper published this month in the journal Sustainability.
Contact with others is stressful
Historically, environmental errors (such as hurricanes), others find comfort in asking for and getting help from their neighbors and friends; however, this type of dependence and interaction increases the tension of respondents, Cannon said. In case of pandemic, contact with others increases their threat and fear of getting sick, he said.
“It turns out to be a genuine contagion concern,” Cannon said. “There is something unique about it being an infectious disease in the sense that other people pose a threat to others. If we want other people’s things, it increases our stress. “”
“The more others understand stress, the less resilient they are. “
Research on pandemics and their effects on others is rare, as a pandemic of the duration of COVID-19 has occurred over a century. In addition, very few studies have taken a position as a pandemic, according to the researchers.
Population uncertainty
Effects showed that 28 days, on average, after the onset of the pandemic, two-thirds of respondents reported moderate to high stress levels. Most of the respondents were women (75%), well-educated, white and hired at the time.
“This raises the question,” the researchers wrote in their paper, “if populations with less equity and fewer monetary resources would report even higher degrees of tension and lower degrees of resilience. “
The authors said the studies highlight the need for responses for a population facing so much uncertainty.