In 2021, Japan's gender wage gap was among the highest of all OECD countries. A big factor of this economic gender inequality lies in the fact that female participation in regular-work is...Show moreIn 2021, Japan's gender wage gap was among the highest of all OECD countries. A big factor of this economic gender inequality lies in the fact that female participation in regular-work is comparatively low to the participation rate in the more insecure and lower-paying irregular work jobs. Previous research has shown that there are three main obstacles to increased female participation in regular work positions. Those being the long-working-hours culture, a lack of enforcement of policies by the government, and the societal expectation that women are supposed to focus on housework and child-rearing. This paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced these obstacles and if there has been any positive change to the female participation rate in regular work. Using the concepts of exogenous shocks and critical junctures as a theoretical framework, this paper argues that the COVID-19 pandemic might have set the stage for real change in the Japanese labour market through the promotion of telework as a legitimate business practice. However, the pandemic has also highlighted or reinforced the existing obstacles to increased female participations in regular work due to the closure of schools and businesses in the hospitality industry, disproportionally affecting women.Show less
Uit eerdere virusuitbraken is gebleken dat pandemieën op de lange termijn mentale klachten kunnen veroorzaken. Recent onderzoek toont aan dat tijdens de COVID-19 pandemie de mentale gezondheid...Show moreUit eerdere virusuitbraken is gebleken dat pandemieën op de lange termijn mentale klachten kunnen veroorzaken. Recent onderzoek toont aan dat tijdens de COVID-19 pandemie de mentale gezondheid afgenomen was, vooral onder jongvolwassenen. Psychologische flexibiliteit kan echter mogelijk de negatieve impact bufferen, met name tijdens stressvolle periodes zoals een pandemie. In de huidige studie werd getest of de mentale gezondheid het laagst was tijdens de pandemie – in vergelijking met de periode ervoor en erna – en dat dit met name voor jongvolwassenen (18-32 jaar) het geval was, ten opzichte van volwassenen (33-62 jaar) en ouderen (63+ jaar). Daarnaast werd onderzocht of mensen met een hoge psychologische flexibiliteit een betere mentale gezondheid hebben dan mensen met een lage psychologische flexibiliteit, met name tijdens de pandemie in uitdagende tijden. In een herhaald cross-sectioneel ontwerp werd data verzameld in Nederland vóór (2018, n = 531), tijdens (2020 & 2021, n = 3813) en na de pandemie (2022 & 2023, n =2143). Jongvolwassenen hadden een verlaagde mentale gezondheid tijdens de pandemie, maar de gemiddelde mentale gezondheid van alle deelnemers tijdens de pandemie bleef verrassend stabiel. Na de pandemie had iedere leeftijdsgroep een hogere mentale gezondheid dan tijdens én voor de pandemie. De mogelijke bijdrage van psychologische flexibiliteit aan de mentale gezondheid was tijdens de pandemie even relevant als na de pandemie. De kwetsbare mentale gezondheid van jongvolwassenen in crisissituaties moet in overweging worden genomen in de strategievorming van toekomstig crisisbeleid.Show less
The prevalence and potential harmful effects of conspiracy theories have garnered increasing attention from psychologists. Understanding the psychological and social factors that contribute to...Show moreThe prevalence and potential harmful effects of conspiracy theories have garnered increasing attention from psychologists. Understanding the psychological and social factors that contribute to belief in conspiracy theories is crucial for managing the preventative measures and promoting evidence-based decision-making. However, the field of psychology has recently faced challenges regarding the replicability and robustness of research findings. This bachelor thesis aims to investigate the robustness and replicability of interaction effects in a study on beliefs in conspiracy theories and attitudes towards anti-coronavirus measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The thesis extracts data from a study by Hudecek et al. (2022) on the psychological correlates of beliefs in conspiracy theories in Germany. Specifically, it examines the interaction effect between dark triad personality traits and social status in predicting belief in conspiracy theories. The thesis utilizes resampling to test the robustness of the interaction effects. The analysis includes three subsamples (random, central, extreme) with three dropout conditions (10%, 20%, 30%). F tests are conducted to assess the variance between two given methods. The results revealed that the distribution of the interaction coefficients remain fairly stable in the central resampling approach pointing to robustness, however, significant inconsistencies were observed in the random and extreme resampling approach. Future research calls for replicating the study in diverse populations, investigating additional predictors of belief in conspiracy theories and testing the robustness and replicability of previous findings to address the replication crisis in the social sciences.Show less
Background The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the economies, social relationships, and mental health of the population globally. A growing number of research presents empirical evidence for the...Show moreBackground The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the economies, social relationships, and mental health of the population globally. A growing number of research presents empirical evidence for the negative psychological consequences of the lockdowns, such as increased anxiety and stress. However, the long-term mental effects, especially on children and their parents, are unclear and need to be further investigated. Aims This paper aims to examine whether there is a difference in the levels of anxious and shy behaviour in five-year-old children and in parental stress in their parents due to the pandemic. Method The data was collected as part of the "Jij en Je Gezondheid" project, executed by the Gemeentelijke Gezondheidsdiensten region. Inclusion criteria included children around the age of five and their parents who live in Amsterdam. Independent samples t-test was run to investigate whether there is a difference in anxious and shy behaviour in the children and parental stress before and after the COVID lockdowns. Results Levels of anxious and shy behaviour were higher after the COVID lockdowns in children as compared to the before lockdowns group. Parental stress was reported to also increase after the COVID lockdowns. Conclusions The study emphasizes the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s anxious and shy behaviour and their parents' stress levels. The findings highlight the need for tailored interventions for families to decrease the long-term psychological burden of the pandemic, as well as additional research to fully understand the problem.Show less
Organized crime has remained an incredibly persistent problem in Mexico in the last decades consequently causing severe levels of violence, insecurity, and corruption in the country. Historically,...Show moreOrganized crime has remained an incredibly persistent problem in Mexico in the last decades consequently causing severe levels of violence, insecurity, and corruption in the country. Historically, Mexican organized crime groups have demonstrated strong resilience and overcome various challenges posed by the Mexican and American governments. However, it is not clear how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted organized crime in Mexico. This thesis wishes to explore this by studying the changes in organized crime activity in Mexico before and during the pandemic. Based on the crime rates, it was observed that some organized crime-related activities decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, while others remained stable. These results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent regulations have had a slight, but insignificant impact on organized crime in Mexico. This strongly indicate that Mexican organized crime groups’ have the ability to show great resilience in the face of major disruptions to the social environment. This finding highlights the need for more detailed research on what mechanisms enable organized crime to remain afloat. An understanding of these mechanisms is of great significance to policymakers attempting to limit the harm of organized crime.Show less
Background: The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic led to uncertainty, stress, significant losses, and concern for physical and mental health. University students are a vulnerable subgroup affected by the...Show moreBackground: The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic led to uncertainty, stress, significant losses, and concern for physical and mental health. University students are a vulnerable subgroup affected by the outbreak. It has adversely affected their academic and social lives. Previous findings indicate heightened anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms. Negative coping strategies such as alcohol consumption were used to overcome the effects of pandemic fear. The aim of the study is to investigate the link between pandemic fear and negative mental health issues, and alcohol use. Methods: The study had a cross-sectional design, involving 139 university students. Online self-report measures were used to assess pandemic fear, alcohol use, depressive, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. The covariates age, gender, and educational level were controlled for in the statistical analyses. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the relationship between pandemic fear and depressive, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. Moderated regression was used to examine the moderating effect of alcohol use on the above-mentioned link. Bonferroni correction was used to adjust alpha levels. Results: Pandemic fear was positively linked with depressive, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms among university students. However, although alcohol use might be used as a negative coping strategy, its moderating role on the link between pandemic fear and mental health outcomes was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Overall, as pandemic fear increased, mental health issues increased in university students. Future studies with longitudinal design and larger statistical power that considers other covariates, and has measures other than self-report might be more reliable in evaluating this further.Show less
This paper examines the impact that the salience of the threat of contagious diseases has on Dutch citizens’ support for non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) aimed at battling this threat....Show moreThis paper examines the impact that the salience of the threat of contagious diseases has on Dutch citizens’ support for non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) aimed at battling this threat. During the COVID-19 pandemic, populations in Western countries where the salience of the threat of the coronavirus was elevated, reported high support for preventive measures. This level of support did vary between countries which led to the question of whether the outcomes would be the same for previously excluded countries, like the Netherlands. Analysing how salience influences the support for NPIs can help governments with creating the best and most supported approach to battle contagious diseases in the future. For this research, the emphasis will be on the so far understudied Dutch population. Taking previous literature on the Netherlands and its neighbouring countries, this study argues that the salience of the threat of contagious diseases will increase Dutch citizens’ support for NPIs aimed at alleviating this threat. After conducting a survey experiment, no support was found for this hypothesis since both groups, with salience and without salience of the threat, reported an equal level of support for the implementation of NPIs. Overall, as expected from previous literature, the lowest support was found for implementing a complete lockdown. Unfortunately, these findings were not generalisable to the whole Dutch population. Future research should focus on either sampling a bigger group for a similar study, or on researching what does influence the support for NPIs in the Netherlands if it is not the salience of the threat of contagious diseases.Show less
Abstract Yearly, many patients get admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) worldwide, with even more admissions since the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. With the rising survival...Show moreAbstract Yearly, many patients get admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) worldwide, with even more admissions since the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. With the rising survival number, investigating the long-term Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) outcomes, which can be negatively influenced by depressive symptoms, became important. This study investigates whether there is a difference in depressive symptoms between COVID-19 and non-COVID patients that got admitted to the ICU; how depressive symptoms influence the HRQoL, and if there is a difference in HRQoL between COVID-19 patients and non-COVID patients; and if there is a relationship between the self-reported health, happiness, and satisfaction about the ICU stay and depressive symptoms. It was expected that COVID-19 patients would have a higher mean score on depressive symptoms than non-COVID patients, COVID-19 patients with depressive symptoms have lower HRQoL scores than non-COVID patients, and lastly, that there would be a negative relation between the self-reported health, happiness and satisfaction about the ICU stay and depressive symptoms. In this study, 278 patients participated. Approximately one year after ICU discharge, patients filled out a survey. For this study, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Euroqol Quality of Life (EQ6D), and general questions about the health, happiness, and satisfaction of the ICU stay were taken into account. An independent t-test demonstrated significant higher mean scores on depressive symptoms in COVID-19 patients than in non-COVID patients (p < .05). Regression analysis showed that depressive symptoms predicted HRQoL (p < .05), but HRQoL was not different between COVID versus non-COVID (p = .225). Regression analysis showed both health and happiness predicted depressive symptoms(p < .05), but not between satisfaction and depressive symptoms (p = .318). The results confirmed our hypothesis that there would be higher mean scores on depressive symptoms in COVID-19 patients than in non-COVID patients. Our findings are clinically relevant and can be used to provide better mental health care after ICU discharge. Follow-up studies should among other things focus on the length of ICU stay, the time during the pandemic that someone got admitted to the ICU, and the depressive symptoms two years after ICU discharge.Show less
Background: The coronavirus pandemic had a direct impact on mental health, influencing well-being and the choice of coping behaviors used to face this unique life adversity. Adverse childhood...Show moreBackground: The coronavirus pandemic had a direct impact on mental health, influencing well-being and the choice of coping behaviors used to face this unique life adversity. Adverse childhood experiences have been linked to specific choices of coping behaviors which could lead to poorer health outcomes, therefore worse well-being. Aim: Investigate whether adverse childhood experiences predict pandemic coping behaviors and if adverse childhood experiences moderate the relationship between pandemic coping behaviors and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: This study was part of the CONNECT study within the Netherlands, which is part of a larger international longitudinal collaboration from eleven countries in Europe (ADJUST study). The participants were recruited through social media platforms from July to November 2020. Sociodemographic data were gathered, along with the following questionnaires: Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire (ACE) to measure adverse childhood experiences, Pandemic Coping Scale (PCS) to measure pandemic coping behaviors, and WHO-5 Well-being Index (WHO-5) to measure well-being. Descriptive analysis as well as a MANOVA and moderation analyses were performed. Results: The responses of 2,022 individuals were analyzed. The mean age of the participants was 36, females (70.4%), males (29.1%), and others (0.5%). The mean for adverse childhood experiences was 1.3 and most of the population was considered low risk (86.9%). The mean score for well-being was 13.1 and 22.4 for PCS scores, which indicate high scores in well-being and coping behaviors. The MANOVA showed a significant model equation (p = .040) and non-significant individual relationships between ACEs and each pandemic coping style (preventative actions, p = .73; healthy lifestyle, p = .929; daily structure, p = .784; joyful activities, p = .162). The moderation effect of ACE in the relationship between coping and well-being was not significant (p = .150). Conclusions: This study shows the relation between well-being, pandemic coping behaviors, and adverse childhood experiences during the current coronavirus pandemic, as well as an insight into the Dutch population's experience of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Further research is advised.Show less
Norm compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic describes the adherence to health- protecting measures such as social distancing and hand hygiene practice. High norm compliance has been shown to...Show moreNorm compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic describes the adherence to health- protecting measures such as social distancing and hand hygiene practice. High norm compliance has been shown to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. Norm compliance involves decision-making processes which are linked to working memory (WM), the ability to manipulate and maintain information. A recent study by Xie et al. (2020) found that high WM capacity predicted social distancing compliance as measured two weeks after the US COVID-19 emergency declaration. It remains unknown, however, if and to what extent the relationship between WM capacity and norm compliance changes over time. The goal of this study was to partially replicate Xie et al. 's (2020) research and investigate whether WM capacity can predict norm compliance two weeks (T1) as well as six weeks (T2) after the mandated COVID-19 lockdown in Germany. A sample of 67 participants (60 for T2) completed two self-report questionnaires for T1 and T2 respectively (within-subject design). WM capacity was measured with the digit span backwards (DSB) and a compliance scale assessing social distancing and hand washing behaviour was developed. The results indicate that WM neither significantly predicted social distancing compliance at two weeks nor at six weeks, thereby not replicating the study by Xie et al. (2020). These inconclusive findings can be explained by the complexity of measuring norm compliance, the differences to Xie et al. 's (2020) research and the limited representativity and size of the sample. As norm compliance is crucial for a functioning society, future research should continue investigating (cognitive) predictors of compliant behaviour, thereby identifying strategies for compliance-enhancing interventions.Show less
Observed globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has generated a mental health decline. The pandemic has affected the general public, individuals that have been quarantined and individuals who have been...Show moreObserved globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has generated a mental health decline. The pandemic has affected the general public, individuals that have been quarantined and individuals who have been infected with COVID-19. Currently, only a few available studies compare pandemic-onset depressive symptoms between these groups. Additionally, it is not yet known how a dominant position on the personality continuum of introversion/extraversion influences individuals’ experiences of depressive symptoms. Thus, the present study investigates differences between covid groups, as well as differences between individuals with dominant introverted versus extraverted traits. The findings will contribute to the construction of a global response in the observed mental health decline. The study is carried out through a cross-sectional online questionnaire (N = 150), in a group of adults between 18 and 30 years old. Individuals’ differences in positions on the introversion/extraversion continuum are measured using the HEXACO- PI-R. The mean PHQ-9 and HADS depression scores were observed to be 14.95/10.25 (healthy), 18.35/11.94 (quarantined), 15.64/10.25 (infected) and 15.76/11.55 (quarantined + infected) in the respective groups. No difference between covid status groups on the depression scores was found. Within the whole sample, in the healthy and quarantined + infected groups (p < 0.001), and in the PHQ-9 measured infected group (p = 0.045), significant negative relationships between extraversion and depressive symptom scores were found. These findings are limited due to small sample sizes, the cross-sectional design and the use of convenience sampling. Further studies should include larger sample sizes and make use of a longitudinal design and probability sampling.Show less
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone’s life since its outbreak, with the lockdown having a negative reputation on mental health. This study examined mental health levels of undergraduate...Show moreThe COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone’s life since its outbreak, with the lockdown having a negative reputation on mental health. This study examined mental health levels of undergraduate students during and one year after the lockdown, with the expectation that they would experience more mental health problems. Mood and anxiety problems were assessed through an online questionnaire in two collection waves. The first wave was conducted between September and October 2020, after the first lockdown. The participants were reassessed one year later. The sample consisted of N = 478 undergraduates (mean age = 22,3; 55,6% female). A binary logistic regression revealed that during the lockdown, half of the students (50,8%) reported that the COVID-19 crisis had impacted their mood in a negative way. One year after the lockdown fewer students reported that the COVID-19 crisis had negatively impacted their mood (41,3%), F (1, 205) = 17.91, p < .001. Less than half of the students (38,9%) reported that the COVID-19 crisis had impacted their anxiety levels. One year after the lockdown 25,6% reported that the coronavirus had negatively impacted their anxiety levels, F (1, 206) = 7.49, p = .007. Previous mental health problems were associated with mood and anxiety problems in both waves. In contrast to preregistered hypotheses, experiencing mood and anxiety problems during the COVID-19 lockdown did not predict having more mood and anxiety problems one year after the COVID-19 lockdown. Undergraduate students were found to be largely resilient to the effects of lockdown measures on mental health.Show less
Er zijn veel factoren die meespelen in het behalen van goede schoolprestaties. In dit onderzoek wordt gepoogd een beeld te schetsen van de invloeden van vriendschapskwaliteit en thuissituaties op...Show moreEr zijn veel factoren die meespelen in het behalen van goede schoolprestaties. In dit onderzoek wordt gepoogd een beeld te schetsen van de invloeden van vriendschapskwaliteit en thuissituaties op de schoolprestaties van adolescenten. Verder wordt er gekeken of de vriendschapskwaliteit een goede voorspeller is voor het geluk van de adolescent. Deze invloeden zijn veel veranderd in verband met de huidige Covid-19 pandemie. Adolescenten zijn meer op zichzelf aangewezen en hebben een andere schoolsetting. Dit onderzoek probeert dit in kaart te brengen te brengen door een analyse van een opgezette vragenlijst. Diverse zelf-rapportage vragenlijsten zijn afgenomen bij 160 adolescenten, 11 tot 15 jaar oud. De vragenlijst bevat vragen betreffende de thuissituatie, vriendschapskwaliteit, schoolprestatie en het level van geluksgevoel bij de adolescent. Uit de meervoudige regressieanalyse bleek dat de vriendschapskwaliteit een goede voorspeller is van de schoolresultaten adolescent. Verder heeft het onderzoek aangetoond dat een hogere vriendschapskwaliteit een hogere score op geluk voorspelt. We kunnen daardoor zeggen dat vriendschapskwaliteit een belangrijke factor voor zowel prestaties op school als een hoge score op geluk. Een belangrijke implicatie van dit onderzoek betreft de hoeveelheid vragen in de zelf-rapportage vragenlijst. Voor een completer beeld zouden er meer vragen gebruikt kunnen worden. Verder kan het gebruik van zelf-rapportage vragenlijsten ook zorgen voor onnauwkeurigheden. Voor verder onderzoek naar dit onderwerp zou er gekeken kunnen worden naar de visie van ouders en docenten om zo een accurater beeld te vormen van de adolescent.Show less
Nederland ging op 13 maart 2020 in een lockdown in vanwege de intrede van COVID-19. Mensen met een cardiovasculaire ziekte ervaren stress rondom het krijgen van een besmetting met het virus, wegens...Show moreNederland ging op 13 maart 2020 in een lockdown in vanwege de intrede van COVID-19. Mensen met een cardiovasculaire ziekte ervaren stress rondom het krijgen van een besmetting met het virus, wegens de consequenties van besmetting voor deze groep en de uitgestelde zorg. Er is echter nog weinig onderzoek gedaan naar het mentaal welzijn van deze groep ten tijde van en na de pandemie. Zo lijkt psychologische flexibiliteit een rol te spelen bij mensen met een chronische ziekte ten tijde van de pandemie. In dit onderzoek is er onderzocht of er een verschil in mentaal welzijn is tijdens en na de pandemie voor mensen met en zonder cardiovasculaire ziekte, en of psychologische flexibiliteit hierbij een beschermende rol speelt. Dit is gemeten door middel van zelfrapportage vragenlijsten bij 6050 respondenten tussen de 16 en 99 jaar. Uit de regressieanalyse is gebleken dat met name mensen zonder cardiovasculaire ziekten zich na de pandemie mentaal beter voelen, in vergelijking met mensen met een cardiovasculaire ziekte. Echter is er geen significantie aangetoond voor psychologische flexibiliteit, wat erop duidt dat dit geen beschermende factor is. Vervolgonderzoek zou moeten aantonen welke chronische condities daadwerkelijk voordelen ervaren een hoge psychologische flexibiliteit en welke overlap psychologische flexibiliteit met mentaal welzijn heeft. The Netherlands entered a lockdown on March 13, 2020, due to COVID-19. People with a cardiovascular disease experienced stress around getting an infection, due to the consequences of the virus, and the delayed care for their illness. However, little research has been done for this group during and after the pandemic. For example, psychological flexibility seems to play a role in people with a chronic illness during the pandemic. This study investigated whether there is a difference in mental well-being during and after the pandemic, for people with and without cardiovascular disease, and whether psychological flexibility plays a protective role. This was measured by means of self-report questionnaires among 6050 respondents between the ages of 16 and 99. The regression analysis showed that especially people without a cardiovascular disease have a higher mental wellbeing after the pandemic, compared to people with cardiovascular disease. However, no significance has been shown for psychological flexibility, suggesting that this is not a protective factor. Follow-up research should show which chronic conditions benefit from a higher psychological flexibility.Show less
Aims: The aim of this study is to provide more information on the relation between the COVID-19 pandemic and externalizing problems in children and adolescents with mental health problems. In...Show moreAims: The aim of this study is to provide more information on the relation between the COVID-19 pandemic and externalizing problems in children and adolescents with mental health problems. In addition, this study examined the potential influence of gender and age on the relation between the COVID-19 pandemic and externalizing problems. Methods: This study is based on a between-subjects design that examined externalizing problems among children and adolescents between the ages of 8 and 18 years in a youth care sample (N = 3,215) before the COVID-19 pandemic (April 1, 2019–March 10, 2020, N = 1,873) and during the pandemic (March 11, 2020–April 1, 2021, N = 1,342). The Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL) was used to measure externalizing problems. Parents or legal guardians filled in this questionnaire at the beginning of treatment. Results: No increases in externalizing problems were found in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to children and adolescents before the pandemic. In addition, gender and age did not influence the relation between the COVID-19 pandemic and externalizing problems significantly. Conclusions: Our results are not in line with most previous research. However, they are in line with recent research that found initial increases in mental health problems at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but not over time. This research contributes to the knowledge and sheds new light on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children and adolescents referred to youth care.Show less
Background: It is unclear if COVID-19 measurements affect adolescent with a history of Childhood Aversity (CA) more than other adolescents. It is important to find out, because CA already predicts...Show moreBackground: It is unclear if COVID-19 measurements affect adolescent with a history of Childhood Aversity (CA) more than other adolescents. It is important to find out, because CA already predicts more risk for psychological problems such as depression. CA can also have an impact on the stress hormone cortisol, which can lead to less or more depressive symptoms. Research is needed to find out if CA and cortisol can be of risk for developing depression after lockdown due to COVID-19 or if adolescents will be resilient to these kinds of stressors. Method: The sample consisted of 89 adolescents with a history of CA, recruited through an earlier study named Resilience after Individual Stress Exposure (RAISE). The adolescents filled in two questionnaires: Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and Mood and feelings questionnaire (MFQ). They also performed an fMRI stress task (MIST) where prior to this test blood was contained for measurement of cortisol. After the first lockdown of COVID-19 the MFQ was filled in again. Results: The results stated that after the lockdown the depression symptoms were increased (Z = 4,122, p < .001). But threat and deprivation (both CA) were not predictors of cortisol (threat: b = -.214, t (87) = -200, p = .842, deprivation: b = .316, t (87) = .2523, p = .801). Cortisol did not have mediation effect between threat/deprivation and changes in depression symptoms (threat: 95% CI [-.017,.026], deprivation: 95% CI [-.037,.031]). And lastly only threat was a predictor for changes in depression symptoms (b = .255, t (87) = 2.3863, p = .019). Discussion: This research has proved that there is an increase in depressive symptoms after the first lockdown in April of the year 2020. Secondly, history of threat and deprivation are not predictors of cortisollevels in the adolescence. Third, cortisol did not play a mediation role between CA (threat/deprivation) and depressive symptoms. Lastly, threat predicts depressive symptoms after the lockdown. In future similar situations, to prevent development of (more) depressive symptoms that may lead to depression disorder, extra support for adolescents, especially with history of threat, is needed.Show less
Up to a third of children experience childhood maltreatment (CM), which is abuse and/or neglect by a caregiver. CM is a robust risk factor for depression, and adolescent depressive symptoms seem to...Show moreUp to a third of children experience childhood maltreatment (CM), which is abuse and/or neglect by a caregiver. CM is a robust risk factor for depression, and adolescent depressive symptoms seem to increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study therefore investigated whether childhood maltreatment was associated with a further increase in adolescent depression in response to the pandemic, and what role self-esteem and loneliness play in this association. We examined depressive symptoms before (up to March 2020) and during the pandemic (April 2020), in a sample of 79 adolescents (16-26 years old) of which 67.1% were female and non were non-binary (REACT study; Smith et al., 2021). We found that CM was predictive of depression during the pandemic, but not of depression before the pandemic, nor of an increase in depressive symptoms. Furthermore, we found that loneliness was a significant mediator of the relationship between CM and depression during the pandemic, whereas self-esteem was found to be an independent predictor of depression increase. Based on these findings depression prevention/intervention programs are advised to identify CM survivors and to target loneliness and low self-esteem.Show less
