Bouncing back from COVID-19: A Western Australian community perspective

Introduction: This study explored the behavioral profiles of residing Western Australians during a COVID-19 lockdown period and transitions in behavior post-lockdown. Methods: A total of 313 participants (76% female, age: M = 50.1, SD = 15.7 years) completed behavioral and mental health questionnaire items ~2 months after a 3-month COVID-19 lockdown in October 2020, using a retrospective recall to assess their experience during the lockdown period. Latent transition analysis (LTA) was used to identify behavioral profiles and transitions. Indicators were identified by assessing during–post-lockdown group differences (Kruskal–Wallis, chi-square tests) and profiles described using qualitative open-ended questions. Results: Significant indicators included changes in physical activity, leisure screen time, alcohol intake, psychological distress, and loneliness, but not fast food consumption. The significant indicators were used to form LTA models. The five latent class model showed the best model fit (Log-likelihood = −1301.66, AIC = 426.12, BIC = 609.68). Approximately one in four participants reported a change in their behavior profiles after the lockdown ceased. Key differences between the profiles were age, household income, education, resilience, sense of control, existing mental health issues, and social relations. Washing hands and social distancing were the most recalled and effective health campaigns across the classes, with health campaigns encompassing physical activity/alcohol consumption, or domestic violence having the least attention. Discussion: Overall, while most participants recovered relatively well after the lockdown period, LTA did identify subgroups such as those who were inactive and lonely experienced more difficulties than other groups, and engagement with public health campaigns differed. The results provide important insights for future public health campaigns on how these campaigns might be diversified to effectively target more people and particular groups to maximize engagement for maintaining people\u27s mental health with additional focus on physical activity, alcohol consumption, and domestic violence

Subjective mental well-being among higher education students in Finland during the first wave of COVID-19

Aims: Increased mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic have become a major concern among young adults. Our aim was to understand which COVID-19-related questions predicted mental well-being during the outbreak. Methods: Two cross-sectional datasets were used. The primary dataset was collected in May 2020 (n = 1001), during the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and the secondary in April 2019 (n = 10866), before the pandemic. Mental well-being was assessed with the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. Relationships between mental well-being and COVID-19-related questions were investigated with lasso regression. As an exploratory analysis, two-way ANOVAs were used to compare mental well-being before and during the outbreak. Results: Higher levels of mental well-being were associated with lower levels of academic stress and COVID-19-related worry, along with a higher satisfaction with the procedures and information provided by the higher education institutions and the government. COVID-19-related symptoms and infections did not have an impact on students' mental well-being during the outbreak. Small to moderate effect sizes across the time points were detected, indicating an overall decrease in mental well-being across age and gender during the outbreak. Conclusions: COVID-19 had an impact on higher education students' mental well-being. Higher education institutes may play a crucial role in protecting their students' well-being during uncertain times.Peer reviewe