Stigmatization of Chinese and Asian-looking people during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.

BACKGROUND: The outbreak and global spread of COVID-19 was accompanied by an increase in reports of stigmatization of Chinese and Asian-looking people. The behavioral immune system provides a framework for stigmatization in response to infectious disease threats. Specifically, stigmatization might increase with rising levels of infectious disease threat. The present study aimed to examine this hypothesis during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: As part of the "EUCLID" project ( https://euclid.dbvis.de ), a total of 5011 persons from Germany were surveyed via an online-questionnaire between February 2nd and April 3rd, 2020, covering the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic over three time periods which were defined by critical events. RESULTS: There was no evidence for an increase in the stigmatization of Chinese and Asian-looking people across three topics, that is personal proximity, air travel, and medical measures upon arrival from China. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings provide good news in that participants showed an adaptive response to the infectious disease threat rather than displaying increased stigmatization. Further research is necessary to specify the conditions that increase the risk of stigmatization in response to infectious disease threats.

The Relation of Threat Level and Age With Protective Behavior Intentions During Covid-19 in Germany.

To contain the spread of Covid-19, engagement in protective behaviors across the population is of great importance. The present study investigated protective behavior intentions during the early phases of Covid-19 in Germany (February 2-April 3, 2020) as a function of threat level and age using data from 4,940 participants in the EUCLID project. Results indicated that the intention to engage in social distancing increased sharply with threat level. Intentions for personal hygiene also increased, although to a lesser extent. While age only had a small overall effect on behavioral intentions, differential patterns emerged. After the lockdown was introduced, the impact of age decreased for social distancing and hygiene behavior intentions but increased for seeing a doctor. Since containing the Covid-19 pandemic depends on high adoption rates of protective behaviors, future research should track sustained phases of the pandemic, including the easing of restrictions and possible new waves of infections.

Educational Concerns, Health Concerns and Mental Health During Early COVID-19 School Closures: The Role of Perceived Support by Teachers, Family, and Friends.

This study investigated whether school closures and health-related uncertainties in the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic posed risk factors for adolescents' mental health and whether perceived social support by parents, teachers, and friends functioned as protective factors. In particular, we argued that perceived social support would buffer negative associations between educational and health concerns and mental health. Based on a person-centered approach, we first examined resilience profiles. These profiles reflect configurations regarding the levels of these risk and protective factors and levels of mental health. Second, we analyzed whether these risk and protective factors predicted adolescents' mental health differently by using a variable-centered approach. The sample consisted of 1'562 adolescents (Mage = 16.18, SD = 1.48, range = 14-20 years; 72% females) in lower and higher secondary education from three regions: German-speaking part of Switzerland, N = 486; Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, N = 760; and Northern Italy N = 316. Results from the person-centered approach revealed three latent profiles characterized by low (19%), average (47%), or high resilience (34%). Lower resilience was associated with higher educational concerns, lower perceived social support, and lower mental health, while high resilience was characterized by lower concerns, higher support, and higher mental health. Importantly, educational concerns varied more between profiles than health concerns, and perceived teacher and family support varied more than perceived friend support. Corroborating these findings, the variable-centered approach (i.e., a path analysis) revealed that educational concerns were a stronger predictor than health concerns and pointed to a higher relative importance of perceived family support for adolescents' mental health relative to perceived teacher and friend support. Taken together, the findings suggest that adolescents' educational concerns and perceived family support, respectively, were stronger risk and protective factors for their mental health during school closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, adolescents from regions being more exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic, namely, Italian-speaking part of Switzerland and Northern Italy, were more likely classified in the low or the average rather than in the high resilience profile compared to students from the region with lower exposure, that is, the German-speaking part of Switzerland.