Musical achievement during a lockdown: The parental support miracle

The quality of parental support is recognized as a crucial factor in the early stages of a student's development, and particularly in instrumental music education. At the start of 2020, the outbreak of a global pandemic crisis posed new and unprecedented challenges to education, forcing families to stay at home to prevent contagion. This investigation was conducted during the period of a COVID pandemic lockdown in Portugal. We explored whether parental support, provided during the lockdown period, was associated with their child's achievement as reported by their instrumental music teacher. For this study, 39 parent-teacher dyads of first-grade students of an instrument music course were recruited from two public music conservatories. Parents supplied information on the frequency in which they provided student-support-related attitudes and actions in the home context. Simultaneously, teachers provided information about the student's achievement during the lockdown compared with the previous in-person performance period. Results indicate a strong relationship between parental support and musical achievement, with students who received higher levels of supportive parental involvement performing better than before the pandemic crisis. The findings are discussed in relation to the importance of parental involvement in a child's instrumental music education. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

"Antibodies": Investigating the effects of social media usage and psychological distress on body dissatisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: The COVID-19 outbreak has changed the habits of people all over the world. Several hours in front of computer screens, along with the inherent instability and uncertainty produced by the pandemic, have compromised people's psychological well-being. This study investigates the impact of the frequency of social media usage and psychological distress on the levels of body dissatisfaction before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: A total of 289 Portuguese (n = 167) and British (n = 122) young women aged 18-35 participated in the study. Levels of body dissatisfaction, stress, depression, anxiety, and frequency of social media usage were assessed using self-report questionnaires before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Student's t test and linear regression were used for the data analysis. Results: The Portuguese group presented a higher level of body dissatisfaction before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to the British. Both groups showed increased levels of body dissatisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic, explained by the widespread use of social media and high levels of psychological distress. Conclusions: Our study reveals that high levels of negative affect and excessive social media usage have a deleterious effect on Portuguese and British young women during the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides a theoretical foundation to motivate the design of new tools to reduce body-related distress and help moderate social media use for similar future situations. These efforts will prevent eating disorders and low self-esteem, both consequences strongly linked to body dissatisfaction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement Public Significance Statement-Higher levels of distress and social media consumption had a deleterious effect on British and Portuguese young women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study encourages professionals to design tools to help people concerned about their bodies to have adaptative thoughts and behaviors, manage stress, and reduce the amount of social media use. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Coffee Consumption during the COVID Pandemic in a Portuguese Sample: An Online Exploratory Study.

BACKGROUND: Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages worldwide and is part of the Portuguese lifestyles. This study aims to describe coffee consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, the change in consumption, the relation between work and familiar pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic and coffee consumption, and the reasons for this consumption pattern. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study conducted by an online questionnaire (n = 463) between March and June 2020. During the data collection phase, information about coffee consumption and socio-demographic characteristics were gathered. RESULTS: All respondents were and are coffee consumers. The coffee average intake before the COVID-19 pandemic was 2.40 ± 0.84 cups of coffee per day, and the average consumption during the COVID-19 confinement was 2.68 ± 0.88 cups. Consumption increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a correlation between the consumption changes and the familiar or work pressure was not found. The general reasons for the increase in the coffee consumption were "social/cultural" (27%), "the search for energy "boost"" (22.9%), "to feel awake" (22.7%), "to deal with stress" (22.7%) and "the taste" (21.8%). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest the ever-increasing popularity of coffee consumption. Respondents also highlighted that some situations make them more prone to consume coffee consumption, such as when they face stress and the need to control tiredness. The COVID pandemic depleted a change in behaviors.

Anxiety and Coping Stress Strategies in Researchers During COVID-19 Pandemic.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has affected the whole world, leading to changes in one's personal and working life. Researchers have undergone extensive changes in their roles, mainly in the area of health care, with research into the virus now the priority. Aim: To assess the anxiety, depression, stress, fears, and coping strategies of Portuguese researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants and Methods: A total of 243 researchers, with an average age of 37.9 ± 9.6, participated in an online questionnaire. The study was performed between 1 June 2021 and 11 August 2021. The questionnaire included depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21), fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), and coping inventory for stressful situations (CISS). Results: The findings suggest being female and younger seem to be related to more significant fears. Singles and younger researchers showed higher values of stress, depression, and anxiety. Research areas, such as medical and health sciences, presented higher levels in the DASS-21 depression and stress scale (p < 0.05). Also, the results showed a moderate or moderate strong significant positive linear relationship between the scales (p < 0.001): DASS-21 stress, DASS-21 anxiety, and DASS-21 depression (r > 0.70); CISS-21 emotional-oriented with DASS-21 stress (r = 0.683), DASS-21 depression (r = 0.622), and DASS-21 anxiety (r = 0.557); and emotional fear and cognitive fear (r = 0.652). Conclusion: The findings of this study support the growing concern for the psychological well-being of researchers and the need for intervention with more extensive and diverse studies.

Anxiety and Coping Stress Strategies in Researchers During COVID-19 Pandemic

The current COVID-19 pandemic has affected the whole world, leading to changes in one's personal and working life. Researchers have undergone extensive changes in their roles, mainly in the area of health care, with research into the virus now the priority. Aim To assess the anxiety, depression, stress, fears, and coping strategies of Portuguese researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants and Methods A total of 243 researchers, with an average age of 37.9 ± 9.6, participated in an online questionnaire. The study was performed between 1 June 2021 and 11 August 2021. The questionnaire included depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21), fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), and coping inventory for stressful situations (CISS). Results The findings suggest being female and younger seem to be related to more significant fears. Singles and younger researchers showed higher values of stress, depression, and anxiety. Research areas, such as medical and health sciences, presented higher levels in the DASS-21 depression and stress scale (p < 0.05). Also, the results showed a moderate or moderate strong significant positive linear relationship between the scales (p < 0.001): DASS-21 stress, DASS-21 anxiety, and DASS-21 depression (r > 0.70);CISS-21 emotional-oriented with DASS-21 stress (r = 0.683), DASS-21 depression (r = 0.622), and DASS-21 anxiety (r = 0.557);and emotional fear and cognitive fear (r = 0.652). Conclusion The findings of this study support the growing concern for the psychological well-being of researchers and the need for intervention with more extensive and diverse studies.

Musical achievement during a lockdown: The parental support miracle

The quality of parental support is recognized as a crucial factor in the early stages of a student?s development, and particularly in instrumental music education. At the start of 2020, the outbreak of a global pandemic crisis posed new and unprecedented challenges to education, forcing families to stay at home to prevent contagion. This investigation was conducted during the period of a COVID pandemic lockdown in Portugal. We explored whether parental support, provided during the lockdown period, was associated with their child?s achievement as reported by their instrumental music teacher. For this study, 39 parent?teacher dyads of first-grade students of an instrument music course were recruited from two public music conservatories. Parents supplied information on the frequency in which they provided student-support-related attitudes and actions in the home context. Simultaneously, teachers provided information about the student?s achievement during the lockdown compared with the previous in-person performance period. Results indicate a strong relationship between parental support and musical achievement, with students who received higher levels of supportive parental involvement performing better than before the pandemic crisis. The findings are discussed in relation to the importance of parental involvement in a child?s instrumental music education.