Re-assessing the social climate of physical (in)activity in Canada.

Social-ecological models suggest that a strategy for increasing population physical activity participation is to reconstruct the "social climate" through changing social norms and beliefs about physical activity (PA). In this study, we assessed whether the PA social climate in Canada has changed over a five-year period after controlling for sociodemographic factors and PA levels. Replicating a survey administered in 2018, a sample of adults in Canada (n = 2,507) completed an online survey assessing social climate dimensions, including but not limited to descriptive and injunctive norms. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and binary logistic regressions were conducted to assess the associations of sociodemographic factors and year of the survey with social climate dimensions. Results suggest some social climate constructs are trending in a positive direction between 2018 and 2023. Physical inactivity was considered a serious public health concern by 49% of respondents, second to unhealthy diets (52%). Compared to those who participated in the 2018 survey, participants in 2023 were less likely to see others walking or wheeling in their neighbourhood (OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.41, 1.78), but more likely to see people exercising (OR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.73, 0.92) and kids playing in their neighbourhood (OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.66, 0.85). No changes were reported between 2018 and 2023 in individuals' perceptions of whether physical inactivity is due to individual versus external factors (OR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.87, 1.13). The findings of this work indicate a modest positive shift in some measured components of the social climate surrounding PA although attributing causes for these changes remain speculative.

Effects of Cooperation and Competition on Performance, Emotion, and Effort: Goal and Means Interdependence.

Social interdependence theory proposes that task structure influences performance via social interaction. Using this framework, we examined sport performance. Fifty-six males performed a basketball task under four conditions: as an individual (individual, perform your best) and as a member of a team of two (cooperation, where teammates sought to better their individual performance; means independent competition, where two teams competed sequentially to outperform the other team; means interdependent competition, where two teams competed simultaneously to outperform the other team). Task performance (points) was better during means independent competition than other conditions. Anxiety and effort peaked during the competitions and enjoyment was greater during competition and cooperation than during the individual condition. Emotions, effort, and actions are discussed as explanations for the performance effects. Social interdependence theory provides a valuable framework to understand emotion, motivation, and performance. Team competition can be used to promote effort and enhance performance in sport.

Relationships between social climate and indoor environmental quality and frequently reported health symptoms among teachers and staff in a suburban school district.

Public school teachers represent one of the largest occupational groups in the United States and are vulnerable to job stress and burnout. School social and physical environments may be adversely impacting the health of teachers and other staff, though few studies have explored these relationships. We partnered with a suburban school district in Colorado to assess the association between school environmental quality, social climate, and staff member health. We modeled the number of self-reported frequent health symptoms (experienced at least once a week) using generalized linear models. School-level predictors of interest included: overall social climate scores (unitless), building operations report card (ORC) scores (unitless), and indoor air quality (IAQ) scores (unitless). In total, we had data from 134 staff members from 11 schools in the district. A majority (62%) of our participants were teachers, who reported a greater number of frequent (i.e., at least once a week) health symptoms (mean = 3.2 symptoms experienced at least once per week) compared to staff in other roles (mean = 2.3 symptoms per week). We found that a one standard-deviation (10.5) increase in the overall social climate score was associated with a 0.77-fold (95% CI: 0.60-0.99) change in the number of frequent health symptoms reported. However, this association was attenuated among teachers compared to other staff members. Our results suggested effect modification by social climate on the relationship between IAQ and health, albeit with some uncertainty. For participants with a school climate score below the mean, a one standard-deviation (10.5) increase in IAQ score was associated with a 0.49-fold (95% CI: 0.35-0.70) change in the number of frequently reported symptoms. Overall, our study suggests school climate may be associated with self-reported health symptoms, but that the benefits of improved school climates may not be as strong for teachers compared to other staff. Future work should assess perceived climate at the individual level to assess how staff roles impact how school environments are associated with health outcomes.

When conflicts get heated, so does the planet: coupled social-climate dynamics under inequality.

Climate dynamics are inextricably linked to processes in social systems that are highly unequal. This suggests a need for coupled social-climate models that capture pervasive real-world asymmetries in the population distribution of the consequences of anthropogenic climate change and climate (in)action. Here, we use evolutionary game theory to develop a social-climate model with group structure to investigate how anthropogenic climate change and population heterogeneity coevolve. We find that greater homophily and resource inequality cause an increase in the global peak temperature anomaly by as much as 0.7°C. Also, climate change can structure human populations by driving opinion polarization. Finally, climate mitigation achieved by reducing the cost of mitigation measures paid by individuals tends to be contingent upon socio-economic conditions, whereas policies that achieve communication between different strata of society show climate mitigation benefits across a broad socio-economic regime. We conclude that advancing climate change mitigation efforts can benefit from a social-climate systems perspective.

Connect through PLAY: a randomized-controlled trial in afterschool programs to increase adolescents' physical activity.

The current study is a randomized controlled trial to test a novel 10-week climate-based intervention within pre-existing afterschool programs, designed to increase moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in underserved (low-income, minority status) middle school youth by addressing youth social developmental needs. Participants (n = 167; 56% female; 62% Black; 50% overweight/obese) enrolled in 6 middle schools were randomized to either the Connect through PLAY intervention or a wait-list control. Process evaluation measures (i.e., observations of external evaluators; staff surveys) indicated that essential elements were implemented with fidelity, and staff endorsed implementation ease/feasibility and acceptability. Regression analysis demonstrated that participation in the intervention (vs. control) was associated with an increase of 8.17 min of daily accelerometry-measured MVPA (56 min of additional weekly MVPA) at post-intervention controlling for baseline MVPA, school, gender, and weight status. The results provide support for social-motivational climate-based interventions for increasing MVPA in underserved youth that can inform future school-based health initiatives.Trial Registration: NCT03850821: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT03850821?term=NCT03850821&rank=1.

Urban Design Factors Influencing Surface Urban Heat Island in the High-Density City of Guangzhou Based on the Local Climate Zone.

Surface urban heat island (SUHI) depicts the deteriorating thermal environment in high-density cities and local climate zone (LCZ) classification provides a universal protocol for SUHI identification. In this study, taking the central urbanized area of Guangzhou in the humid subtropical region of China as the study area, the maps or images of LCZ, land surface temperature, SUHI, and urban design factors were achieved using Landsat satellite data, GIS database, and a series of retrieval and classification algorithms, and the urban design factors influencing SUHI were investigated based on 625 samples of LCZs. The results show that on the 18 September 2016 at the local time of 10:51 a.m., the land surface temperature (LST) varied greatly from 26 °C to 40 °C and the SUHI changed with a wide range of -6 °C to 8 °C in the LCZs of the study area. Seven and five urban design factors influencing the summer daytime SUHI were identified for the two dominant LCZs of LCZs 1-5 (LCZ 1 to LCZ 5) and the mixed LCZ (containing at least three types of LCZs), respectively, in which vegetation cover ratio, floor area ratio, ground emissivity, and complete surface area ratio showed negative correlations and building density showed positive correlations. The summer daytime SUHI prediction models were obtained by using the step-wise multiple linear regression, with the performance of R2 of 0.774, RMSE of 0.95 °C, and the d value of 0.91 for the model of LCZs 1-5, and the values of 0.819, 0.81 °C, and 0.94 for the model of the mixed LCZ, indicating that the models can effectively predict the changes of SUHI with LCZs. This study presents a methodology to efficiently achieve a large sample of SUHI and urban design factors of LCZs, and provides information beneficial to the urban designs and regenerations in high-density cities.

Assessing the social climate of physical (in)activity in Canada.

BACKGROUND: Ecological models suggest that a strategy for increasing physical activity participation within a population is to reconstruct the "social climate". This can be accomplished through 1) changing norms and beliefs, 2) providing direct support for modifying environments, and 3) implementing policies to encourage physical activity. Nevertheless, surveillance efforts have paid limited attention to empirical assessment of social climate. This study responds to this gap by assessing the social climate of physical activity in Canada. METHODS: A representative sample of Canadian adults (n = 2519, male/female = 50.3%/49.7%, Mage = 49.1 ± 16.3 years) completed an online survey asking them to assess social climate dimensions including social norms of physical (in)activity, perceptions of who causes physical inactivity and who is responsible for solving physical inactivity, and support for physical activity-related policy. Descriptive statistics (frequencies) were calculated. Multinomial logistic regressions were constructed to identify whether demographic variables and physical activity participation associated with social climate dimensions. RESULTS: Physical inactivity was considered a serious public health concern by 55% of the respondents; similar to unhealthy diets (58%) and tobacco use (57%). Thirty-nine percent of the respondents reported that they often see other people exercising. Twenty-eight percent of the sample believed that society disapproves of physical inactivity. The majority of respondents (63%) viewed the cause of physical inactivity as both an individual responsibility and other factors beyond an individuals' control. Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported physical inactivity as being both a private matter and a public health matter. Strong support existed for environmental-, individual-, and economic-level policies but much less for legislative approaches. The social climate indicators were associated with respondents' level of physical activity participation and demographic variables in expected directions. CONCLUSION: This study is the first known attempt to assess social climate at a national level, addressing an important gap in knowledge related to advocating for, and implementing population-level physical activity interventions. Future tracking will be needed to identify any temporal (in)stability of these constructs over time and to explore the relationship between physical activity participation and indicators of the national social climate of physical activity.

How Early do Social Determinants of Health Begin to Operate? Results From the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study.

PURPOSE: From a life course perspective, important insights about how social determinants of health operate can be gained by analyzing the various forms that social climate can take in different life periods. For children, a critical aspect of social climate is exposure to bullying. Bullying can serve as a proxy for power imbalance and social exclusion analogous to adult social climate of discrimination and racism. DESIGN AND METHODS: We used the Year 9 follow-up data of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N=3301) that, for the first time included interviews with the children. We drew on a national sample of children and their families, which allowed us to account for broader contextual variables and represented a broad range of geographic areas and schools. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the effects of exposure to bullying on self-rated health among primarily 9- to 10-year-old children while controlling for socio-demographic and diagnosed health-conditions. RESULTS: Both frequency and forms of bullying were positively associated with lower odds of reporting excellent, very good or good health. The effect of forms of bullying on children's self-rated health fell on a gradient. Subgroup analysis indicated a significant effect on self-rated health for children who experienced peer rejection but not for those who experienced physical aggression. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study provide new evidence that the harmful health consequences of power imbalance and discriminatory practices may extend to children in early development. It also accentuates the need to study social determinants of health from both an ecological/contextual and a developmental angle. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Echoing a plethora of nursing literature on the critical role of psycho-social pediatric care, this study further encourages pediatric nurses to expand their assessment and intervention priorities beyond a familial and developmental perspective, and to consider the evident physical health consequence of a child's overall social climate determinants.

Psychometric Properties of the Essen Climate Evaluation Schema (EssenCES) in a Sample of General Psychiatric Wards.

OBJECTIVE: The questionnaire EssenCES (Essen Climate Evaluation Schema) is a widely used instrument to assess social climate in forensic psychiatric and correctional institutions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the EssenCES in a general psychiatric setting, where it had not previously been evaluated. DESIGN: 648 staff members and 551 patients from 47 general psychiatric wards across 16 hospitals in Germany completed the EssenCES. Factor-, correlation- and scale-analyses were carried out to inspect the questionnaire's properties. RESULTS: The proposed three-dimensional factor structure of the instrument was confirmed. Results indicated that the EssenCES subscales Patients' Cohesion and Experienced Safety had high internal consistency, whereas elimination of item 16 would improve the internal consistency of Therapeutic Hold. Correlations between the EssenCES subscales and other measures supported the validity of the questionnaire. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the EssenCES is suitable for usage in general psychiatric settings. Along with its brevity, it seems useful as an economic and valid screening instrument for a ward's social climate. Reasons are given why item 16 should be retained.

Institutionalized Discontent.

Examining past experiences of student activism at Berkeley this article suggests that the present storm of political correctness sweeping American universities represents more than just another of the periodic crusades that have disrupted academic life over the years. The current wave of activism is different largely because the ever-present minorities of militant faculty and student activists have gained significant reinforcements in their struggle to transform the culture and mission of higher education. Over the last several decades federal regulations and funds have created an alternative bureaucracy within universities that is devoted, not to the core academic mission of teaching and research, but to improving the social climate of university life. The legitimacy and power of the social climate bureaucracy depend on heightening the perception that academic life involves a dangerous environment, from which students need protection - a service provided through creating safe spaces, helping students to recognize micro-aggressions, training them in sexual assault prevention, conducting sensitivity training for faculty and the like. Devoted to heightening this perception of the university campus as a hostile environment, the climate bureaucracy has become a source of institutionalized discontent.

The effects of team-based learning techniques on nursing students' perception of the psycho-social climate of the classroom.

Background: Team-based learning is a structured type of cooperative learning that is becoming increasingly more popular in nursing education. This study compares levels of nursing students' perception of the psychosocial climate of the classroom between conventional lecture group and team-based learning group. Methods: In a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design 38 nursing students of second year participated. One half of the 16 sessions of cardiovascular disease nursing course sessions was taught by lectures and the second half with team-based learning. The modified college and university classroom environment inventory (CUCEI) was used to measure the perception of classroom environment. This was completed after the final lecture and TBL sessions. Results: Results revealed a significant difference in the mean scores of psycho-social climate for the TBL method (Mean (SD): 179.8(8.27)) versus the mean score for the lecture method (Mean (SD): 154.213.44)). Also, the results showed significant differences between the two groups in the innovation (p<0.001), student cohesiveness (p=0.01), cooperation (p<0.001) and equity (p= 0.03) sub-scales scores (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study provides evidence that team-based learning does have a positive effect on nursing students' perceptions of their psycho-social climate of the classroom.

'A ward full of emotional, aggressive people': Social climate and interpersonal relationships in forensic settings caring for patients with borderline personality disorder.

Therapeutic relationships play a central role in maintaining a positive social climate in forensic settings. The interpersonal difficulties characteristic of Borderline Personality Disorder, alongside the secure environment of forensic wards, can make developing positive therapeutic relationships with this patient group challenging. Qualitative interviews aimed to explore how ward staff understand and experience the interaction of interpersonal relationships and social climate when caring for patients with Borderline Personality Disorder on forensic wards. Interviews with 11 staff members working across UK forensic inpatient settings were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis and reported following COREQ guidelines. Six interrelated themes were generated; three describe relational cycles that occur between ward staff and patients with Borderline Personality Disorder and three describe systemic factors that influence the context in which ward staff operate. From these themes, an integrative model was developed to summarise how factors in the wider forensic system and the interpersonal relationships between staff and patients with Borderline Personality Disorder in forensic wards influence one another, affecting staff experiences of the social climate of forensic settings. The model illustrates how complex cycles within the therapeutic relationships with staff and patients with Borderline Personality Disorder can interact with systemic influences in the wider forensic context to influence staff experiences of forensic settings. Clinical implications of the model are discussed, offering recommendations for improving therapeutic relationships and the social climate on forensic wards caring for patients with Borderline Personality Disorder, to better support staff and patient wellbeing.

Using a trauma-informed care framework to explore social climate and borderline personality disorder in forensic inpatient settings.

Tensions between therapeutic and security needs on forensic wards can create a social climate which is challenging for both mental health nurses and patients. Social climate refers to the physical, social and emotional conditions of a forensic ward which influence how these environments are experienced. For patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), previous trauma means that the social climate of forensic settings may be experienced as retraumatising, negatively impacting the outcomes and wellbeing of both patients and mental health nurses. Trauma-informed care (TIC) has been offered as a contemporary framework for mental health nursing in inpatient units which aims to create a therapeutic social climate. In this critical review, we drew widely on literatures examining the social climate in forensic settings, the relationships between patients with BPD and staff (including mental health nurses), and the experiences of patients with BPD in forensic and inpatient settings to draw out the implications of scrutinising these literatures through the lens of TIC. Attending to the physical, social and emotional conditions of social climate in secure settings highlights how forensic wards can mirror trauma experiences for patients with BPD. Implementing TIC in these contexts has the potential to evoke positive shifts in the social climate, thus reducing the risk of retraumatisation and leading to improved outcomes for patients and staff.

Impact of Structural Employee Empowerment on Hospital Ratings: Mediating Role of Social Climate and First-Line Managers' Resilience.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationship between the structural empowerment of first-line health managers and health facility performance, examining the mediating roles of resilience and social climate in shaping the ratings of Slovak hospitals. Additionally, we aim to investigate the deeper mechanisms of this relationship, particularly the impact of resilience and the social climate, which can positively influence it. Materials and Methods: The data collection was conducted through a questionnaire survey in February 2022. Respondents included 540 healthcare managers at the first level of management from 44 Slovak hospitals, all of which were part of the evaluation by the Institute for Economic and Social Reforms (INEKO). The analysis involved the use of the PLS-SEM method to examine the relationships between variables and assess direct and indirect effects, utilizing SmartPLS 3.3 software. Results: The findings reveal a positive association between the structural empowerment of first-level managers and the ranking of health facilities. The hypotheses regarding the mediation of both variables - First-Level Managers' (FLMs) resilience and social climate - are supported, whether considered separately or jointly. In the case of joint mediation, a significant portion of the indirect effect is conveyed through FLMs' resilience, suggesting a potential avenue of support from hospital management to enhance health facility ratings. Conclusion: Structural empowerment of first-line managers establishes the conditions for improving the ratings of health facilities. The total effect is significantly more pronounced in promoting their resilience and fostering a supportive social climate.

Measuring school social climate in Latin America: the need for multidimensional and multi-informant tests - A systematic review.

Introduction: School social climate is central to understanding learning experiences in education environments. Previous studies describe various conceptual and operational definitions around the construct; however, there are no records of reviews focused on Latin America. Aim: This study sought to analyze the available evidence and the quality of school social climate measures in Latin America through a systematic review of the literature based on the PRISMA methodology and the COSMIN checklist to assess the psychometric properties of the instruments. Methodology: The Web of Science, Scopus, Psycinfo, and SciELO databases were consulted. A total of 582 records was identified, of which 27 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and methodological quality to be included in the systematization. Results: The results show that the country with the greatest scientific production on the topic is Chile, the measures are centered mainly on the students' perspective and the most used instrument is the CECSCE. In addition, a common aspect to all the records is that they were not sufficient to capture the complexity of school social climate. Conclusion: Multidimensional and multi-informant measures are needed to adequately assess the construct.

The Impact of a School Dog on Children's Social Inclusion and Social Climate in a School Class.

Animal-assisted pedagogy is well known in classroom practice, but scientific evidence of its impact on teaching and learning conditions is still lacking. At the same time, the biggest challenge in education systems worldwide is the social inclusion of students. In a pre-post design, 30 heterogeneous students (16 f/14 m) from four different school classes (grades 5-8) of two secondary schools and one grammar school were interviewed (in a problem-centered interview) about their social inclusion and their social climate in class before and after being taught selected subjects with a school dog for one school term. At the second measurement point, participants were also asked about their perception of animal-assisted pedagogy. The qualitative data analysis (Kuckartz) showed that the presence of a dog leads to an improved social climate, more social integration and to a change in social roles; therefore, we discussed our findings in the context of role theory (Krappmann). In addition, we found that the mutual perception of the other students and the teacher changes to a more positive and friendlier image. Through animal-assisted pedagogy, a new social role is added to the classroom, where caring and bonding are prioritized. Social interaction and norms are influenced and stereotypical and individual roles can be changed. Therefore, animal-assisted pedagogy can be key to promoting social inclusion in the school environment.

Civic-Moral Education Research in China (1992-2022): A Scoping Review.

Civic-moral education is a topic that has been widely discussed globally. In China, civic-moral education has a long history and presents different characteristics and methods from other countries due to political, economic, and cultural factors. To summarize the current status of research on civic-moral education in China, we identified 715 papers in 30 years (1992-2022) under related topics and selected a total of 72 papers for further analysis. To show the study trend more clearly, we divided the result section into three parts: the historical and cultural resources of education, the current educational approaches, and the existing challenges in civic-moral education. China is rich in historical resources for civic-moral education, which had an impact across generations. Currently, Chinese educators employ many approaches to improve civic-moral education: building a civic-moral curriculum system, transforming the social climate, and making the most use of the campus. The emphasis on intelligence over morality and the emphasis on knowledge over action, however, may undermine the effectiveness of civic-moral education. To conclude, China attaches great importance to civic-moral education and has come up with many approaches inspired by ancient cultural resources.

Concerns about the social climate, finances, and COVID-19 risk on depression and anxiety: An analysis on U.S. young adults across two waves.

Concerns regarding contracting COVID-19 and finances may be risks to mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social climate concerns may be another risk, given U.S. protests taking place during this period. We tested the hypothesis that concerns about COVID-19 risk, finances, and social climate would predict clinically significant levels of depression, anxiety, and comorbid depression and anxiety in young adults. A total of 782 U.S. young adults (18-30 years), initially recruited through convenience sampling (social media, email listservs), completed online surveys at Wave 1 (April-August 2020) and Wave 2 (September 2020-March 2021). The primary outcomes included scoring above the cut off for depressive (PHQ-8 ≥ 10) or anxiety symptoms (GAD ≥10). Approximately 41% reported depression and 47% reported anxiety at Wave 1; rates did not differ at Wave 2. Individuals with greater financial concerns were 14% more likely to score high on depressive symptoms; those with COVID-19 risk concerns and social climate concerns were 21% and 54% more likely, respectively, to score high on generalized anxiety. Those with social climate and financial concerns were 52% and 15% more likely, respectively, to score high on comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms. Analyses controlled for Wave 1 symptoms. We provide evidence highlighting the roles of social climate and COVID-19 risk concerns on anxiety, and financial concerns on depression in young adults. Public health campaigns should acknowledge broader societal issues that have taken place as a source of mental health distress, beyond those driven by the pandemic (e.g., isolation and lockdowns).

Social climate in university classrooms: A mindfulness-based educational intervention.

There is a limited number of studies on the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on university students and their positive effect on collective experiences of shared flow. The aim of the present study was to explore the effectiveness of mindfulness training in terms of reducing stress and enhancing well-being, experiences of shared flow and classroom climate (engagement and affiliation). The intervention and control groups were matched by age and sex (n = 125; M = 20.71, SD = 4.60, 68% women). The intervention group comprised mindfulness exercises performed in the classroom over the course of 7 weeks. The principal variables were measured at pretest and posttest, and shared flow was also measured in the intervention group. In comparison with the control group, statistically significant differences were observed in the intervention group in relation to mindfulness, perceived stress, and classroom climate (affiliation). Furthermore, the perception of shared flow among students increased from the beginning to the end of the program. Mindfulness skills were found to mediate improvements in perceived well-being and stress. It is concluded that mindfulness practice can turn learning into a challenging and shared task. The study highlights the importance of fostering programs that enhance the development of competencies related to mindfulness among university students.

I Am Not Supposed to Be Treated Like This: Associations Between Age Discrimination, Perceived Social Respect for Older Adults, and Depressive Symptoms in Korean Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES: This study examines the relationships between age discrimination, perceived social respect for older adults as a proxy of perceived social climate, and depressive symptoms in older adults in Korea. In doing so, it clarifies whether and how age discrimination has a differential effect on mental health, depending on the level of perceived social respect. METHODS: This study uses multiple regression analyses to examine the data obtained from the 2020 National Survey of Older Koreans, a nationally representative survey. RESULTS: Findings show that age discrimination was positively associated with depressive symptoms, whereas perceived social respect for older adults was negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Older respondents exhibited fewer depressive symptoms if they felt that older adults were respected in Korea. The results also revealed a significant interaction between age discrimination and perceived social respect; age discrimination had a more harmful impact on depressive symptoms in older adults with a higher level of perceived social respect. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that a positive social climate for older adults is beneficial to their mental health, but ironically, it may form a more stressful context for older adults who experience age discrimination that is characteristically opposite from their subjective evaluation of that social climate. The gap between the expected social climate and individual discriminatory experiences may have a deleterious effect on the mental health of older adults.