This paper investigates the causes behind the continual suspension of the European Union’s (EU) Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) under its general escape clause (GEC) throughout the period of 2020...Show moreThis paper investigates the causes behind the continual suspension of the European Union’s (EU) Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) under its general escape clause (GEC) throughout the period of 2020-2023. The GEC was triggered in March of 2020 on the recommendation of the European Commission to give member states fiscal room to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, but has remained in place for over three years, despite the subsiding of pandemic emergency measures, restored levels of economic activity, and the repeated recommendations and predictions from numerous European institutions that the rules were to be reinstated at the end of 2022 by the very latest. With the emergence of a legislative proposal from the European Commission to reform the SGP’s rules, questions have emerged from journalistic endeavours and academic literature as to the purpose of the extended suspension. This paper utilises explaining-outcome process-tracing as described by Beach and Pedersen (2013) to compare the expectations and assumptions of varying theories, particularly the “failing forward” theory of Jones et al., (2016) to investigate and explain the European Commission’s decision-making in the case of the SGP’s continual suspension. It concludes that the continual suspension can be minimally explained by ongoing reform efforts by the European Commission, in line with the theoretical expectations of Jones et al. and the findings of Schön-Quinlan and Sciponi (2017). It cannot rule out that the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, and the economic knock-on effects, played a part in the decision for continual suspension. The findings of this paper have implications for understanding the European Commission as a fiscal actor in an economic crisis, and understanding the relevance of particular theories of European integration to the historical context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Show less
Coronavirus disease 2019 has negatively affected the general population, and especially university undergraduates. Attending to and being aware of the present moment in an open, accepting and...Show moreCoronavirus disease 2019 has negatively affected the general population, and especially university undergraduates. Attending to and being aware of the present moment in an open, accepting and compassionate manner (i.e. mindfulness) has been shown to decrease depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, and increase positive affect. In our present study, we used network analysis to examine the associations between anxiety, depression, stress, mindfulness and joy. An observational research design was used with a convenience sample of 66 undergraduate students aged 18 to 34 years who completed an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) on their phones. They were asked eight questionsーtwo psychological constructs and six subclinical psychopathology symptomsーfour times a day for two weeks. Network analysis resulted in temporal and contemporaneous network models, indicating that mindfulness at time t does not significantly predict any variable at later time t+1 on the temporal level. At the contemporaneous level, mindfulness is associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and joy. Given the limitations of the present study and the hypothesis generating nature of network analysis, we conclude that the significant partial correlations between mindfulness, psychological well-being and joy in the contemporaneous network may indicate potential causal relations worth following up on in future research.Show less
Worldwide, an increase in cases and severity of domestic violence (DV) has been reported as a result of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. As one’s language can provide inferences...Show moreWorldwide, an increase in cases and severity of domestic violence (DV) has been reported as a result of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. As one’s language can provide inferences about one’s mental health, this study analyzed word use in a DV online support group, aiming to investigate the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the mental health of DV victims. As social support and leisure activities might mitigate the consequences of DV on one’s mental health, their role as protective factors was examined. 5856 posts were collected from a DV support group and from two comparison groups on the social media platform Reddit. Confirmatory analysis was conducted following a registered pre-analysis plan. The results show that DV victims used significantly more linguistic indicators of depression than individuals in the comparison groups. However, linguistic indicators of depression did not increase significantly with the onset of COVID-19. Negative emotion words showed a weak negative correlation with words referring to social support (rho = - .110) and leisure activities (rho = -.137). Similarly, pre-occupation with COVID-19 was associated with using more negative emotion words (rho = .148). Exploratory analysis revealed that mid-pandemic, daily posting frequency in the DV support group was 22% higher than pre-pandemic. It is concluded that DV victims show more linguistic indicators of depression than comparison groups and that these characteristics are stable over time. Further, one’s concern with COVID-19 could contribute to negative emotions, whereas social support and leisure activities could function to some degree as protective factors for victims of DVShow less
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been associated with adverse psychological symptoms. Psychotropic prescription drugs are a critical tool in treating and controlling a variety of...Show moreThe coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been associated with adverse psychological symptoms. Psychotropic prescription drugs are a critical tool in treating and controlling a variety of psychopathological conditions, which raises concern in terms of potential overuse and irrational use. Available data regarding the use and prescribing practices of psychotropic prescription drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic are inconsistent. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted with the aim of investigating the change in psychotropic prescription drug use and dispensing in relation to COVID-19. Pub-med and Web of Science Databases were systematically searched, and a total of 30 studies were included (23 prevalence estimates, and 19 correlation coefficient estimates; total N = 5,133,032). The yielded findings demonstrated a statistically significant increase of 16.34% (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 9.11 to 23.57) in prevalence estimates of psychotropic prescription drug use. Furthermore, the conducted meta-analysis yielded a small positive statistically significant correlation r = 0.11 (95% CI: 0.05 to 0.16), implying a small increase in psychotropic prescription drug use and dispensing pre relative to post COVID-19. The association between COVID-19 and adverse mental health, as well as the increased use of psychotropic medications, may lead to an upsurge in substance use related disorders and overdose-related deaths. This is important to know, given that many substance use treatment programs during the pandemic have been disrupted. It may be essential for policy makers and health officials to address mental and behavioral health through telemedicine.Show less
Background. The outbreak of COVID-19 at the end of 2019 has led to a rise in xenophobic attitudes – a fear that foreigners may be the source of the virus. One important mechanism involved in the...Show moreBackground. The outbreak of COVID-19 at the end of 2019 has led to a rise in xenophobic attitudes – a fear that foreigners may be the source of the virus. One important mechanism involved in the rise of xenophobic attitudes is the behavioural immune system, an evolutionary addition to our physiological immune system which helps us to proactively avoid sources of disease. This system mainly works via the emotion disgust and has been found to be influenced by one’s perceived vulnerability to disease. The present study investigated whether perceived vulnerability to disease moderates the association between disgust sensitivity and COVID-19 related xenophobic attitudes. Methods. The research question was investigated by administering three questionnaires to a convenience sample as part of a bigger online survey. Results. While disgust sensitivity was associated with xenophobic attitudes, perceived vulnerability to disease was not associated with xenophobic attitudes and also did not moderate the association between the other two variables (perceived infectibility*disgust sensitivity: b = , t = 1.23, with p = .219). Discussion. The non-significant moderation may be the result of habituation. While the behavioural immune system may respond particularly strong in a context where vulnerability to disease is high, this may change if a disease context is present for too long. In that case, the behavioural immune system may become habituated to the situation and may therefore no longer be influenced by one’s perceived vulnerability to disease. Accordingly, the present study adds a nuance to the existing literature on the behavioural immune system.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Liberal Arts and Sciences: Global Challenges (LUC) (BA/BSc)
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Background: Over half of the population of the Netherlands has a chronic health condition. A large proportion of the care of people with chronic conditions is done by themselves and requires...Show moreBackground: Over half of the population of the Netherlands has a chronic health condition. A large proportion of the care of people with chronic conditions is done by themselves and requires continuous adaptation to the context of that moment. The “Intelligent lockdown” in the Netherlands has changed this context throughout its various phases. Objectives: There is little knowledge on what self-care looks like in the lives of people with chronic health conditions and how a crisis situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic influences self-care routines. The objective was to examine how the COVID-19 lockdown has affected the self-care behaviour and routines of people living with a chronic condition. Methods: Qualitative researched methods were used to gather the stories and experiences of participants with chronic health conditions. A seven-day, daily activity logbook was used to list the self-care behaviours of the day. This was then used to contrast and compare self-care activities to before the COVID-19 lockdown and during the various phases of the lockdown. The results of the logbooks were then used to conduct interviews with the participants, with the aim of verifying and clarifying the logbook entries. Results: The sample was made up of 10 participants with an age range of 20-67, seven of whom identified as female and three as male. People with physical as well as mental chronic health conditions were included. The limiting of space due to the lockdown caused clashes and overlaps of spaces with different functions. This led to the disruption of self-care routines concerning movement, socialisation, and food. The theme of responsibility towards and dependency on family and friends also emerged. The COVID-19 measures took away many of the healthy coping mechanisms those with mental health conditions relied on. Opportunities for exercise were limited by the closing of sporting facilities and the weather, with home-workout being complicated by lack of structure and social motivation. The participants indicated that they believed their experience with continuous adaptation had helped them adapt to the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: This study showed that self-care behaviours and routines are interconnected. Most self-care behaviours were aimed at maintaining mental health, though those with mental health conditions experienced an extra challenge because their usual coping mechanisms were disrupted. Pandemic response policies must be examined for differential impacts on multiple groups, and ways to mitigate potential negative impacts.Show less
Background. Anger is experienced in various mental disorders. Based on increased mental health problems in students and the adversity of the coronavirus pandemic, (1) the relations between anger,...Show moreBackground. Anger is experienced in various mental disorders. Based on increased mental health problems in students and the adversity of the coronavirus pandemic, (1) the relations between anger, depression, anxiety, stress, and being occupied with COVID-19 were explored. As traits predict interpersonal events and states identify events under situational control, it was investigated (2) if baseline trait anger predicted average state anger during a period of self-isolation to test if anger levels were determined by general tendencies, and (3) if trait and average state anger differed within and between men and women to test if the groups were affected differently by situational factors. Methods. (1) Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) data was collected from 79 undergraduates from Dutch universities, with surveys prompted via smartphone four times daily for 14 days. Contemporaneous, temporal, and between-subjects networks were computed. (2) In a multiple regression analysis, average EMA state anger was regressed on trait anger while controlling for gender, age, depression, anxiety, and stress. (3) A mixed-design analysis of covariance included standardized type of anger as a within-factor and gender as a between-factor while controlling for differences in mental health. Results. (1) Contemporaneously, anger was positively associated with irritability, feeling nervous and anhedonia. Temporally, anger and irritability positively predicted each other. Anger positively predicted difficulty to relax and itself. Between-subjects, anger was positively associated with irritability and feeling nervous but negatively with being occupied with COVID-19. (2) Trait anger did not significantly predict average EMA anger, whereas the covariate stress did. (3) Despite significantly lower trait anger compared to women, men displayed significantly increased average EMA anger in relation to their trait levels. Trait and average EMA anger did not differ within women. Conclusion. EMA anger was persistently related to stress, less likely to be the source or recipient of activation compared to other constructs, not strongly linked to trait, and increased in relation to trait levels only in the male group. Differences between our healthy participants and a clinical sample encourage an investigation of anger in phase transitions towards psychopathology and its potentially adaptive effects in healthy individuals.Show less
Background: It is well established that social contact is related to mental health. Previous research has shown that the quantity and quality of social interactions are associated with the...Show moreBackground: It is well established that social contact is related to mental health. Previous research has shown that the quantity and quality of social interactions are associated with the development, course and severity of mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Less is known about the psychological effects of social contact during a pandemic. Method: The current study investigates the dynamic associations among offline social interactions, depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in undergraduates from a Dutch university (N=79; 75.95% female; MAge =20.37) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) was used for the data collection. A short online questionnaire was prompted via smartphone four times a day for two consecutive weeks. Multilevel vector autoregressive models were used for the network analysis and centrality indices were calculated. Results: We found significant dynamic associations among the duration of offline social contact and depression symptoms only. The absence of pleasure was associated with less offline social interactions, and vice versa. Having nothing to look forward to was predictive of less offline social contact three hours later. Social contact scored the lowest on centrality indices in our sample. Conclusion: Altogether, we found the duration of offline social contact to be partially related to mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results, strengths and limitations are discussed. Examining the dynamic associations among mental health and social contact can provide novel insights into the development and maintenance of mental health issues.Show less
