ABSTRACT
Long-COVID, or the persistence of COVID-19 symptoms for months after initial infection, has been shown to impact the lives of those affected. The current study sought to investigate the relationships between long-COVID, COVID-19 related stress, depression, anxiety, and comorbid depression and anxiety outcomes. Data were collected in Winter 2021-2022 from a population of adults enrolled in at least one course across multiple City University of New York (CUNY) campuses. Frequencies and chi-square tests were computed to assess for demographics and relationships to probable diagnoses of depression and anxiety, and binary logistic regressions were computed to assess for the odds of probable comorbid depression and anxiety based on demographics, stressors, and long-COVID. Women participants reported higher odds of probable depression outcomes, and stressor levels were significant correlates of probable anxiety outcomes. Women participants, 3.2 [1.5-6.9], as compared to men, lower-SES participants, 2.16 [1.1-4.2], as compared to higher-SES participants, participants with higher COVID-19 related stress levels, 4.8 [2.0-12.0], as compared to those with low levels, and participants with long-COVID, 3.7 [1.9-7.0], as compared to those without, all had higher odds of probable comorbid depression and anxiety. Findings highlight the importance of social location, stress, and long-COVID, in tandem, as correlates of psychological health during the shifting pandemic.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic fully exposed the vulnerability of the global agri-food system to shocks and stresses, highlighting the need for transformation and action to make it more resilient and inclusive. This paper offers a unique insight into the global nature of the COVID-19 pandemic by examining impacts and responses in the agri-food sector within three very distinct contexts, namely the United States, Norway, and China. Focusing on small, diversified farms, the study builds on prior research with the same farmers and support organizations from an on-going collaboration. Firstly, we conducted a short review of policy adaptations to understand how governments, the private sector, non-profit organizations, and communities "stepped up" to provide emergency relief, specialized training, and recovery support for farmers, support that was instrumental in preventing more devastating impacts in all three countries. Secondly, drawing from in-depth interviews with farmers (23) and government and non-governmental support organizations (19), we mapped the vulnerability and resiliency of selected farmers to shocks that severely disrupted traditional supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected on both the negative and positive impacts of the pandemic to farmer inputs, including labor, operations, and markets, how these changed from the initial lockdowns in early 2020 and through 2021, and on farmer adaptive responses to these impacts. In some contexts, innovation and adaptive responses counteracted negative impacts. We saw diversifying markets, catering to consumer safety concerns, switching to direct and e-markets, hiring in more labor or relying on family labor, and switching to high demand crops and products as the most prominent adaptive responses. Farmers who lacked access to information and government programs, in large part because of language, technology and institutional barriers, missed out on pandemic related opportunities and suffered the most. As we enter the post-pandemic new normal it is important to take stock of lessons learned, and to continue to support those initiatives and innovations that were pivotal not only for weathering the storm, but for building a more inclusive and resilient agri-food system in the long-run.