Who are climate activists and why do they risk so much?

Our research has investigated why people engage in non-violent direct action about the climate and ecological crisis and how this affects their wellbeing. This blog provides an overview of our early impressions of our interviews around key questions

Financialisation and private equity in early childhood care and education in England

The Government in England contributes an estimated £3.9 billion funding to support childcare and education for three- and four-year olds and for some two-year olds. A significant proportion of this money is spent on private sector childcare. However, little is known about how the money paid to companies providing private sector childcare is used. Through a cross-case analysis, the financial accounts of a sample of medium-to large private ‘for-profit’ childcare groups were compared with some ‘not-for-profit’ childcare providers. We found that for the for-profit companies, a considerable amount of money is being extracted for debt repayment and relatively little goes into staff wages. We found that large private for-profit nursery groups predominately use ‘private equity’ models which are characterised by borrowings and debt, with a focus on short-term financial returns. This ‘for-profit’ financial operating model arguably risks the sustainability of provision in the sector. Reformed regulation and transparency in the accounting of such providers and a consideration of alternative ‘not-for-profit’ financial models could provide greater stability and resilience

Intake of lead (Pb) from tap water of homes with leaded and low lead plumbing systems

Methods of quantifying consumer exposure to lead in drinking water are increasingly of interest worldwide, especially those that account for consumer drinking habits and the semi-random nature of water lead release from plumbing systems. A duplicate intake protocol was developed in which individuals took a sub-sample from each measured drink they consumed in the home over three days in both winter and summer. The protocol was applied in two different water company regional areas (WC1 and WC2), selected to represent high risk situations in England, with the presence or absence of lead service pipes or phosphate corrosion control. Consumer exposure to lead was highest in properties with lead service pipes, served by water without P dosing. The protocol indicated that a small number of individuals in the study, all from homes with lead service pipes, consumed lead at levels that exceeded current guidance from the European Food Standards Agency. Children's potential blood lead levels (BLLs) were estimated using the Internal Exposure Uptake Biokinetic model (IEUBK). The IEUBK model predicted that up to 46% of children aged 0–7 years old may have elevated BLLs (>5 μg/dL) when consuming the worst case drinking water quality (>99%ile). Estimating blood lead levels using the IEUBK model for more typical lead concentrations in drinking water identified in this study (between 0.1 and 7.1 μg/L), predicts that elevated BLLs may affect a small proportion of children between 0 and 7 years old

Understanding effects of COVID‐19 on undergraduate academic stress, motivation and coping over time

The rapid and unprecedented shift from face-to-face instruction to remote online learning as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on teaching and learning in Higher Education: students had to adapt to a new way of learning, away from typical campus settings and their peers, and to new forms of assessments. This study examined academic stress, learning strategies, motivation and ways of coping from a sample of 177 unique students from a large London university, collecting primary data via survey at three time points during the academic year 2020/21 when teaching was remote and online only. Our findings show how patterns in academic stress, learning strategies, motivation and coping vary over the course of the academic year giving novel insight into how student learning and adaptation to the situation changed over time. We also report on differences in these patterns according to year group and for those students who are the first-in-family to attend university and those who are not. Based on these findings we identify priority areas where higher education institutions should support undergraduate students and provide evidence that some groups of students may need more and targeted support to secure their ongoing learning and well-being

Childrens emotional outcomes : the role of coping style and maternal and family factors

Although a conceptually problematic construct, coping has been found to play an important role in development and wellbeing. Coping in children remains, however, a relatively sparsely researched area of study. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between children's coping styles and emotional outcomes, with particular reference to family factors, and maternal mental health and coping. Based on a review of the literature, it was hypothesised that particular coping styles would be associated with aspects of family functioning and children's symptoms. A new instrument designed to assess children's coping as a multidimensional construct was designed for use in this study. Results indicated that, as hypothesised, there were consistent relationships between family factors, such as maternal mental health, parentchild relationship quality and parent relationship quality, and children's coping, and also between children's coping and children's anxiety and somatic symptoms. In line with hypotheses, deficits in thought and emotion regulation were associated with greater anxiety and somatic symptoms, while strategies associated with self efficacy and constructive strategies were associated with lower symptom levels. Girls were more likely than boys to respond with preoccupation and perseveration and feelings of helplessness, while boys were more likely to report a positive outlook and feel capable of managing negative emotions. Better maternal mental health, positive parent-child relationships and harmonious parental relationships were associated with a more constructive coping style in children, while poorer ratings of maternal mental health, negative parent-child relationships and discordant parent relationships were associated with poor emotion and thought regulation in children. Aspects of mothers' coping were found to be associated with children's coping response styles, providing some support for the role of modelling in the development of children's coping. Contrary to expectation however, there were very few direct associations observed between family factors and children's anxiety and somatic symptoms. These results are discussed in the context of previous research. Limitations of the research are discussed and a number of potentially fruitful areas for future research and implications for interventions and practice are described.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo