A Sentiment Analysis Study on Gender and Racial Inequities in College Students’ Perceptions of the COVID-19 Pandemic

There have been very few investigations of emotional and psychological well-being associated with attitude to certain events, socio-political phenomena, and convictions of students at various stages of education. Therefore, studying emotional and psychological well-being and their predictors in college and university students is important for solving a number of practical problems, which psychological (counseling) services of an educational institution are faced with. The purpose of the present investigation is to carry out comparative analysis of social needs, convictions, satisfaction with various areas of reality, and predictors of emotional and psychological well-being in college and university students. 89 college students and 109 university students (66% females) took part in the investigation. They filled out questionnaires aimed at identification of emotional and psychological well-being and expressiveness of convictions, social needs, and satisfaction with them. Differences in identification of emotional and psychological well-being can be traced at various levels of professional education. Convictions, social needs, and satisfaction of needs determine emotional well-being in college and university students. Tightness of interconnections between psychological well-being and convictions, social needs, satisfaction of needs is significantly higher in university students. Convictions, social needs and satisfaction of needs explain 40% of variations of emotional well-being in college students and 80% of variations of emotional well-being in university students. It is shown that variations in emotional well-being of university students are conditioned by social and political convictions, as well as satisfaction of vital needs, while in college students they are conditioned by satisfaction with life, with oneself and content of education. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s1p528

I am pleased to introduce this special issue of Sociobgical Focus, Sociological Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Inequality in Health and Health Care. Although researchers from a broad set of discipli nes contribute to efforts to answer questions about racial inequality in health and health care, sociologists have the ability to add a vital perspective to this research. We have social theories and methodological approaches that lend insight into the mechanisms that lead to social inequality. The papers in this issue use a variety of theories and methods to illuminate several of the mechanisms associated with racial and ethnic inequality in health and health care. Racial and ethnic groups are socially created and recreated categorizations of people that serve to distribute material and symbolic resources unequally (Bonilla-Silva 1997; Lewis 2004; Orni and Winant 1994). Racial and ethnic inequality can be found on many measures of health status, with non-Hispanic whites having better health than blacks, Native Americans, and Hispanics. For example, Mexican Americans and Native Americans are more than two times more likely than whites to have diabetes. Blacks are 1 .6 times more likely than whites to have diabetes. Based on limited data, it appears that some Asian American subgroups have an increased risk of poor health, while other subgroups have a decreased risk (Centers for Disease Control 2005). Given documentation of inequality in health status, researchers have sought to uncover the sources of racial and ethnic differences in health status. Sociologists contribute to this work by examining how structural forces influence the resources available for health-promoting activities and the likelihood of experiencing health risks. Unequal health status results from a myriad of mechanisms that begin with the system of racial inequality and lead to inequities in many domains-from income inequality to stress associated with interpersonal racial discrimination (Williams and Collins 1995). Sources of inequality in health have often been investigated using large national data sets, which provide a vehicle for effectively assessing national-level inequality on specific measures of health status. In this volume, the research by Lisa A. Cubbins and Tom Buchanan follows this tradition by using the National Health Interview Survey to demonstrate the complex relationship among race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, health behaviors, and health status. The/ report that socioeconomic status and health behaviors help to explain racial and ethnic inequality in health status, but that the benefits of some of these factors vary by race and ethnicity, with non-Hispanic whites garnering greater benefit. Their thoughtful analysis reflects the complexity of the system of racial, ethnic, and class inequality in the United States. One of the complexities of racial, ethnic, and class inequality can be found in the infant mortality rate. This rate is considered an excellent indicator of population health, because it provides an indication of the health of women as well as access to health care. In 2005, the infant mortality rate for babies born to black mothers was 2.4 times higher than for those born to non-Hispanic white women. In contrast, the infant mortality rate for babies born to Hispanic women is lower than that for white women (Mathews and MacDorman 2008). The low infant mortality rate among Hispanics has led to research on the of a socially and economically disadvantaged ethnic group with unexpectedly good health (e.g., de la Rosa 2002). Though, as Toni Terling Watt and Gloria Martinez-Ramos note in this issue, conclusions about an epidemiological paradox should be made cautiously. Watt and Martinez-Ramos challenge the low reported prevalence of development disorders among Hispanic children. They demonstrate that while the prevalence of diagnosis of development disorders is lower among Latinos than among whites, Latino parents are more likely to have concerns about their child's development. …

Racial health inequalities in the USA: The role of social class

Racial inequalities in health: Framing future research

Addressing Social Determinants of Mental Health in Pediatrics During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

This article combines a review of dental studies on race with sociological insights into systemic racism to advance a counter-narrative on the root causes of racial oral health inequities. Taking racism as a form of oppression that cuts across institutional, cultural, and behavioral dimensions of social life, we ask: How pervasive are racial inequities in the occurrence of adverse oral health outcomes? What is the direction and magnitude of racial inequities in oral health? Does the inequitable distribution of negative outcomes persist over time? How can sociological frameworks on systemic racism inform initiatives to effectively reduce racial oral health inequities? The first three questions are addressed by reviewing dental studies conducted in the past few years around the globe. The fourth question is addressed by framing racial oral health inequities around sociological scholarship on racism as a systemic feature of contemporary societies. The paper concludes with a set of practical recommendations on how to eliminate racial oral health inequities, which include engaging with a strong anti-racist narrative and actively dismantling the race discrimination system. Amid the few attempts at moving the field towards improved racial justice, this paper should be followed by research on interventions against racial oral health inequities, including the conditions under which they succeed.

Equally inequitable? A cross-national comparative study of racial health inequalities in the United States and Canada

The present study examined the relationship between self-compassion (SC) and emotional well-being in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical framework for the study was that SC, defined as an understanding and caring response to one’s suffering and limitations, may serve as a protective factor against negative mental health outcomes. A sample of college students (N = 101) completed self-report measures of SC, depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction and subjective happiness. Data were analysed using regression analysis to examine the prediction of emotional well-being variables by SC and moderation analysis to examine the moderating effect of SC on the relationships between emotional well-being variables. The study’s results confirmed the hypothesis that SC would predict emotional well-being. SC significantly predicted all variables examined, including depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction (LS) and subjective happiness (SH). However, SC did not moderate the relationships between these variables. Isolation significantly moderated the relationship between SH and depression among college students. These findings support the idea that SC may serve as a protective factor against negative mental health outcomes and suggest that interventions aimed at increasing SC may improve mental health and overall well-being in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further research is needed to understand these relationships’ mechanisms and the factors that may influence them.

BACKGROUND: Emergence of the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) impacted the population’s health behaviors. The influence of local shut downs and interpersonal regulations on physical activity and sedentary behaviors in college-aged students is not well understood. PURPOSE: To investigate changes in physical activity and sedentary time as well as identify major barriers to leisure-time physical activity among college age students during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We recruited undergraduate and graduate students attending a large University in the Midwest during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020. Physical activity and sedentary time were estimated a week before lockdown and a week during May 2020 using the Activity Questionnaire for Adults and Adolescents (AQuAA). Barriers to physical activity during the pandemic were assessed in May using 8 statements that participants ranked. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Tests were used to examine changes in the AQuAA before and during the pandemic. Frequencies were used to examine the number of respondents citing the same top barrier to physical activity. RESULTS: Student respondents (n = 230) were mostly female (82%) with a median age of 21 years ±5. Median weekly MVPA minutes significantly decreased (7891 ± 7340 vs. 5550 ± 6410) and sedentary time significantly increased (1330 ± 1570 vs. 2415 ± 1770) during the initial COVID-19 shutdown. Specific activities with notable changes included a significant decrease in commuting walk time and a significant increase in computer time among others (see Table). The most commonly cited barriers to physical activity during the pandemic included lack of access to places to exercise and schoolwork. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 related regulations are associated with reduced physical activity and increased sedentary behaviors of college age students. Local regulation may have introduced new barriers to physical activity.Table: Median MVPA and Sedentary Time Before and During COVID-19

Health Disparities in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Over a long time, adult education as well as ideological and political education of adult college students has not received enough attention at colleges with a lack of researches researching ideological and political educational theories for college students meanwhile, causing the lagging behind of researches into ideological and political educational theories of college students' ideology and politics at present, thus they cannot provide good theoretical support for ideological and political education practices of adult college students. Based on this, this paper chooses main problems in ideological and political education of adult college students as the research topic with a combination of proposing problems, analyzing problems and solving problems with theoretical researches and practical exploration, and starting from enhancing publicizing ideological and political education of adult college students, strengthening construction of ideological and political educational theory and courses for adult college students, improving mechanism to evaluate ideological and political education of adult college students as well as communication methods, this paper proposes relevant scientific and feasible countermeasures and suggestions with a combination of theories and practice.

Advancing racial and ethnic equity in science, medicine, and health: a call for papers

Differences in stress levels between junior high school students and college students during online learning

BackgroundSocial distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the frequency of in-person social interactions. College students were highly impacted, since many universities transferred curriculum from in-person to entirely online formats, physically separating students with little notice. With social distancing, their use of social networking sites (SNSs) likely changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly holding implications for well-being.ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine (1) how components of SNS use (ie, weekly frequency, time per day, habitual use, engagement, enjoyment, addiction, and emotional impact) changed from before to during COVID-19, (2) how these changes in SNS use were associated with pandemic-related social and emotional well-being, and (3) how SNS use and changes in use during the pandemic were associated with loneliness.MethodsCollege students (N=176) were surveyed during the time when their university campus in the United States was operating online. Participants completed the same SNS use questionnaires twice, once with regard to the month preceding the onset of COVID-19 and again with regard to the month since this time. They also reported the extent to which they experienced perceived change in social support resulting from the pandemic, pandemic-related stress, and general loneliness.ResultsAfter the onset of COVID-19, participants showed an increase in daily time spent on SNSs (t169=5.53, d=0.42, P<.001), habitual use (t173=3.60, d=0.27, P<.001), and addiction (t173=4.96, d=0.38, P<.001); further, enjoyment on SNSs decreased (t173=–2.10, d=–0.16, P=.04) and the emotional impact of SNS activities became more negative (t172=–3.76, d=–0.29, P<.001). Increased perceived social support during COVID-19 was associated with changes in frequency of SNS use, time per day, addiction, and engagement (r>0.18 for all). Pandemic-related stress was associated with changes in SNS addiction and the extent to which one’s SNS content was related to the pandemic (r>0.20 for all). Loneliness was positively associated with SNS addiction (r=0.26) and negatively associated with SNS engagement (r=–0.19) during the pandemic. Loneliness was also negatively associated with changes in habit and engagement (r<–0.15 for all).ConclusionsFindings suggest that components of SNS use are associated with both positive and negative pandemic-related social outcomes, but largely negative pandemic-related emotional outcomes. Further, some components of SNS use are positively associated with loneliness (eg, addiction) while others show a negative association (eg, engagement). These findings provide a more nuanced picture of how SNS use is associated with social and emotional well-being during the time of a global health crisis when in-person interactions are scarce.

This study tested a developmental hypothesis with respect to Fear of Success (FOS), Identity Status, and the relationship between the two. Forty college students, equally divided between regular college-age women (18-23) and adult college women (over age 30), were given a multiple-choice and a projective measure of FOS; they were then interviewed regarding exploration and commitment in five content areas: vocation, family vs. career priority, politics, religion, and sex roles. The hypothesis that the adult students would exhibit less FOS than their college-age counterparts was confirmed with both measures of FOS. Chi-square analysis also revealed that a significantly higher proportion of the adult students was classified as identity-achieved and a lower proportion as identity-diffuse than the college-age students. The influence of life experience on the relationship between FOS and each identity status could not be tested due to an insufficient number of identity achievers in the college-age subsample; when the relationship of FOS to identity status was examined for the total sample, however, foreclosures and achievers manifested significantly less FOS than diffusions and moratoriums.