COVID-19 AND ITS SOCIETAL IMPACTS A RESEARCH SHOWCASE UCD College of Social Sciences and Law
UCD School of Philosophy
Susceptibilities to Covid 19 misinformation
Dr Flavia H. Santos | UCD School of Psychology
Professor Alan Carr | UCD School of Psychology Wellbeing during the pandemic
Children’s School Lives during the pandemic Childhood inequalities in rural Sierra Leone during the pandemic Impact of Covid-19 on Children and youth with Special Educational Needs
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The impact of COVID-19 in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities Assoc. Prof. Niamh Moore-Cherry | UCD School of Geography
Ethical challenges related to Covid 19
Dr Stefan Mueller | UCD School of Politics and International Relations
Gender Inequality and the care economy
Pro-social attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic
Dr Emma Farrell | UCD School of Education
Obesity and well-being during the pandemic
The wellbeing of full-time workers and the transition to home working
Dr Sarah Carol | UCD School of Sociology
Diane Pelly | UCD School of Economics
This showcase explores key questions about the wider societal impact of the pandemic, both now and into the future, as researched and examined by researchers from a variety of disciplines across UCD College of Social Sciences & Law. As we emerge from the Covid 19 pandemic, when concerns over health predominated public discourse and policy, it is timely to consider the pandemic more broadly and how it has impacted upon, and will continue to impact upon, the everyday lives of citizens. Beyond Covid 19, we need evidence-based insights into the many societal challenges that arise as a result of the pandemic. This in person seminar considers how the social organisation of our lives – at work, in our homes, communities and schools was altered, alongside the capacities of different members of society to adjust, adapt, respond to the changed circumstances. Key topics include (but are not limited to) the impact and experience of the pandemic in relation to: Public trust, misinformation and ethics Health and Wellbeing and
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SHOWCASEDrDanielle Petherbridge |
Ms Ursula Barry | School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice
• Equalities
Karen Smith | UCD School of Social Policy Social Work, Social Justice Childhood inequalities and the pandemic Professor Dympna Devine | UCD School of Education
Dr Keith Gaynor | UCD School of Psychology Managing the impact of the pandemic through a psychological intervention
INTRODUCTION
Professor Gavin Barrett | UCD Sutherland School of Law COVID-19 and EU Health Law
RESEARCH
Spatial inequalities and lockdown
China’s global image management during the pandemic Associate Professor Ciara Greene | UCD School of Psychology
Social Justice Public BeingHealthSocialEqualitiesandMisinformationTrust,EthicsandJusticeandWell-
Gender Inequality and the care economy
The establishment of a substantial EU Recovery Fund ringfencing significant funding for the EU green and digital economies, but without equivalent supports for the care economy is documented. This study concludes that 30% of EU recovery funds should be designated for the care economy to create more equal funding status with the digital and green economies.
Dr MuellerStefan UCD School of Politics RelationsInternationaland Media Discourse and ‘Mask Diplomacy’: China’s Global Image Management During the Covid-19 Pandemic
UCD School of Psychology Susceptibilities to Covid 19 misinformation
This research was commissioned by the FEMM Committee of the European Parliament (published in 2021) on gender equality, the care economy and the newly established EU Covid recovery fund. Gendered impacts of Covid 19 are explored focusing on the care systems of nine selected EU societies and highlighting poor conditions, particularly among workers in - mainly private - long-term care congregated facilities for older people. Research data documenting increased gendered inequalities in the home (arising from the withdrawal of, or restrictions of care, health and educational services) as well as evidence of increased gender-based violence are drawn together.
To achieve foreign policy goals and boost domestic prestige states try to influence how they are perceived by foreign publics. Our research engages broader questions about states image management and strategic narratives by investigating if China’s mask diplomacy efforts helped mitigate any reputational damage resulting from Covid-19 origins in Wuhan. We validate and apply a semi-supervised scaling method to 1.5 million English statements in newspapers mentioning China and Covid-19. Multi-period difference-in-differences models reveal that media tone improves significantly after the onset of mask diplomacy efforts in a given country. Using its Covid-19 White Paper to determine China’s preferred narratives, we also find that a country’s independent media reproduced these key terms much more after having received support from China.
Public MisinformationTrust,andEthics RESEARCH CONTRIBUTORS Public MisinformationTrust,andEthics Public MisinformationTrust,andEthicsEqualitiesandSocialJustice
Ethical challenges related to Covid 19
The UCD Centre for Ethics in Public Life developed a range of research and public engagement initiatives undertaken to profile various ethical issues related to COVID-19. These include the ethics of social distancing, lockdown and solidarity, temporality, NHS workers, and the centrality of embodied habit in the proliferation and the transmission of the virus, as well as the amendment of embodied habit and its social impact. One of our central projects is PERITIA – Policy, Expertise and Trust in Action – a Horizon 2020 research project (comprised by eleven partner institutions from nine countries) exploring the role of science in policy decision-making and the conditions under which people do and should trust experts, coordinated by Professor Maria Baghramian. The centrality of the topics of expert advice and the role of trust in such advice in the management of the pandemic, provided new opportunities to investigate the question of trust in expert advice in a real-life laboratory. Key project outputs connecting the debate on trust in expertise to the unfolding pandemic include a major cross-national survey, behavioural lab experiments as well as numerous journal articles, op-eds, a public lecture series and webinar at the Berlin Science Week.
Authors: Stefan Müller, Samuel Brazys, Alexander Dukalskis
ProfessorAssociate Ciara Greene
My research investigates susceptibility to COVID-19 misinformation. Our current project (funded by the Health Research Board) has three aims: 1) to identify the factors that influence susceptibility to fake news about COVID, 2) to clarify the effects of this misinformation on our beliefs, memories and behaviours, and 3) to develop interventions to reduce susceptibility to fake news. Our research to date has found that individual differences in cognitive ability, reasoning ability and knowledge about COVID-19 can affect whether a person is likely to fall for fake news stories. We have reported that, while fake news can cause clear false memories of events that never took place, the effects of this misinformation on behaviour (e.g. intentions to get vaccinated) is relatively small. However, in a pandemic, even small changes can have big consequences! We are currently developing interventions to reduce misinformation susceptibility, and will begin testing them shortly.
Dr PetherbridgeDanielle UCD School of Philosophy
ProfessorAssociateEmeritus (RTA) School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice
Ms Ursula Barry
Equalities and Social Justice Equalities and Social
This research addresses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children and its interaction with pre-existing inequalities. The starting point is that child-specific impacts of the pandemic including, for example, learning loss and higher rates of violence and neglect in the context of public health restrictions must be viewed in terms of the intersection of generational inequality with hierarchical relations of class, race, gender, sexual identity and disability. The presentation is based on desk-research carried out for Barnardos in 2021. I drew together existing evidence on childhood inequality in Ireland as part of an assessment of the current and future impact of various intersecting macrosocietal challenges - including the COVID-19 pandemic - on children in Ireland. Addressing gaps in existing data and evidence in order to gain greater understanding of intersecting and complex inequalities is crucial in assessing and responding to the impact of the pandemic on children in Ireland. EqualitiesJusticeandSocialJustice
Equalities and Social Justice
Assoc. Prof. Niamh MooreCherry UCD School of Geography Spatial inequalities and lockdown Mobility restrictions introduced to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic were profoundly geographical in nature but also had diverse spatial impacts. Limiting people to 5km and 2km of their homes for long periods of time focused attention on the micro-geographies of specific neighbourhoods but also the spatial inequity in access to high quality public spaces, and particularly green spaces. The consequences for communities in already disadvantaged parts of our towns and cities were particularly acute. Our research examines how - triggered by the pandemic - our understandings of public space has been altered, what it means for future urban planning and design, and the social justice implications of current planning models.
Dr Sarah Carol UCD School of Sociology
Dr Karen Smith UCD School of Social Policy Social Work, Social Justice Childhood inequalities and the pandemic
Dr Flavia H. Santos UCD School of Psychology
To what extent are individuals willing to help others during the pandemic? To what extent do they see themselves as more eligible for booster shots? How does this vary across ethno-religious groups? To answer these questions, we draw on an online survey conducted among 7,000 residents in Britain, Ireland, Germany, Serbia and Sweden, as well as a face-to-face-survey in the West Bank conducted among 800 Palestinian majoritygroup members, Palestinian refugees and Bedouins. Both surveys included a survey experiment where attitudes towards in- and out-group members were assessed. Analyses reveal that religion and duration of stay are salient markers of boundaries in Europe with respondents being less willing to help Muslims. In Palestine, however, the distinctions between in- and out-groups are not as clear cut and majority-group members rank their booster shot as important as those of Bedouins. However, a salient divide between the Palestinian majority and refugees is visible.
Pro-social attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic
The impact of COVID-19 in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities In the past two years I contributed to six scientific papers addressing societal matters related to the pandemic. These studies were carried out in interdisciplinary teams and several centres. One global survey, led by Associate Professor Christine Linehan, Director of the UCD Centre for Disability Studies and funded by the Health Research Board, explored the impact of COVID-19 in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and respective caregivers from 18 countries. Three studies focused on mental health issues examined: i) the frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms during lockdown in Brazil, a country ranked as second in total deaths related to coronavirus, ii) the impact of gender in the academic stress related to social distancing measures of university students from Ireland, Spain, Argentina, and Mexico, and iii) the use of music listening as coping strategy during the COVID-19 outbreak. Finally, two scope reviews and recommendations addressed rehabilitation care of health systems and patient journey in rehabilitation settings worldwide.
RESEARCH CONTRIBUTORS
A series of projects was conducted on the wellbeing of Individuals, couples and families during the pandemic by a team from UCD School of Psychology. The team includes Alan Carr, Tom Burke, Louise McHugh, Laura Taylor, Anna Berry, Angela Browne, Owen Stafford, Cian Prendergast, Sinead Wearen, Eddie Murphy, Mark Shevlin, Niall Breslin, Diane Gillian, Emmet Godfrey, & Katie Barrett. The group collaborated with Ashley Randell at Arizona State University, USA, and colleagues in 27 countries. Using an online survey system, and validated multi-item scales, with samples of up to 800 nationally and over 14,000 internationally the research has documented the significant negative impact of the pandemic on wellbeing and family life, and thrown light on risk and protective factors. These surveys show that during the first period of quarantine following the onset of the pandemic, depression, anxiety and stress increased significantly with depression showing the largest increase from 30% to 46% in an Irish sample. The greatest source of stress (70%) was not being able to meet with family & friends during quarantine. People expressed increased gratitude for many activities and relationships that they would normally take for granted, but the greatest sources of gratitude were personal and family health (85%) and relationships with family and friends (82%). Protective factors that prevented low levels of wellbeing were psychological flexibility, couple relationship quality, and positive dyadic coping. Risk factors that increased the likelihood of low levels of wellbeing were having an underlying physical health condition, having aging parents, having a child with significant behavioural problems, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs include maltreatment, exposure to parental domestic violence, divorce, substance misuse, mental health problems, and imprisonment. A positive psychology selfdevelopment programme for the general public has been produced to facilitate wellbeing during the pandemic. It is called the Pause Programme (Psychology And yoU: Self-Enhancement programme). It draws on evidence-based interventions described in the book Positive Psychology: A self-development guide (Carr, 2020). The impact of the Pause Programme app is currently being evaluated in a randomised controlled trial. The research programme is supported by funding from a Health Research Board grant and the Heath Service Executive Clinical Psychology Sponsorship Scheme.
Professor Alan Carr
UCD School of Psychology
DympnaProfessorDevine UCD School of Education
Equalities Justice
Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an unprecedented disruption to the education of children and young people, with multiple phases of school closures, transitions to and from home schooling and a loss of additional school-based supports for the most vulnerable. This presentation draws on three projects underway within UCD School of Education that highlights specific challenges in the lives of children taking exemplars from Ireland and Sierra Leone,: • Children’s School Lives (CSL), a mixed-methods, longitudinal study of primary schooling in Ireland which collected data before, during and after the school closures. The team includes Dympna Devine, Jennifer Symonds, Seaneen Sloan, Gabriela Martinez-Sainz, Billy Kinsella, Joyce Senior, Mags Crean, Barbara Moore, Aisling Davies, Elena Samonova, Morten Grieves, Elizabeth Tobin, Fiona Collins, Tamsyn Blue, Kate Osborne, Katie Cronin, Denise Jones and Janis Farrell. (www.cslstudy.ie) • Safe Learning Study (SLS), a mixed methods evaluation of a school-based intervention to address literacy, wellbeing, gender equality and gender-based violence in Sierra Leone that included a sub study of the unfolding impact of the pandemic on children’s lives. Team includes Dympna Devine, Seaneen Sloan, Ciaran Sugrue, Jennifer Symonds, Daniel Capistrano, Elena Samonova, Aimee Smith and Ryan Ó Giobúin (www.safelearning.ie) • Impact of Covid-19 on Special Educational Needs (ICOSEN), a mixed methods study assessing how the pandemic impacted children and young people with special educational needs in primary, secondary and special schools, how schools adapted to support students during this time, and how this was experienced by children and their families. Team includes: William Kinsella, Joyce Senior, Jennifer Symonds, Seaneen Sloan, Dympna Devine, Gabriela Martinez Sainz and Grainne Ni Dhomhnaill.
and Social
Health Well-Beingand RESEARCH CONTRIBUTORS
Wellbeing during the pandemic Professor Alan Carr, Dr Tom Burke, Professor Louise McHugh, & Dr Laura Taylor
People living with obesity are at elevated risk of hospitalisation, serious illness and mortality due to COVID-19. Less is know about their experience of living with obesity during the pandemic and its associated stay-at-home orders. We sought to understand the experiences of people living with obesity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings highlight how changes in lifestyle initiated by the pandemic’s stay-at-home orders had a varied impact on the health behaviours and outcomes of people with obesity. This variance offers helpful insight into the psychosocial aspects of the disease. Furthermore, we suggest that the ‘othering’ effect of public health messaging during the pandemic warrants caution in light of the already stigmatised nature of this disease.
Based on research conducted in UCD since 2020, a model of the psychological impact of COVID-19 was developed.
Diane Pelly UCD School of (PhDEconomicsstudent)
The onset of the COVID pandemic has had major implications for EU health law, defined as a body of legal rules and policy provisions which mandate, incentivise or otherwise regulate either certain actions or the refraining from certain actions in providing human health care and protecting public health. Historically, the European Union had no formal legal basis for adopting health legislation. Yet it has by now adopted a very large number of rules in the health law field. How has this become the case? This research looks at why. Dr Emma Farrell UCD School of Education Obesity and well-being during the pandemic
The wellbeing of full-time workers and the transition to home working COVID-19 created a transformational shift in the working environment for much of the labour force, yet its impact on workers is unclear. This study uses longitudinal data to examine the well-being of 621 full-time workers assessed before (November 2019 - February 2020) and during (May - June 2020) the first lockdown in the UK. We employ fixed effects analyses to investigate the impact of the restrictions and mandatory homeworking on cognitive, emotional and psychological wellbeing. Within the sample, the rate of full-time homeworking increased from 2 to 74 percent between waves. Overall levels of stress, self-rated mental health, positive emotions and life and job satisfaction are not adversely affected by the restrictions. These findings highlight the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic and large-scale transition to homeworking was associated with unchanged or improved worker well-being. This study has important implications for governments and employers regarding a global shift to homeworking.
The outcome of this theoretical research was translated into a freeto-download Workbook for the general public, and a psychological intervention. Webinars to the Department of Health and Children, webinars to the general public through the mental health charity sector, widespread engagement with the national media and social media allowed widespread dissemination in the general public. The impact was an in increase in knowledge and skills in the general public about how to psychologically manage the pandemic, and evidence-based resources for clinicians and the Irish public.
Dr Keith Gaynor UCD School of Psychology Managing the impact of the pandemic through a psychological intervention
COVID-19 and EU Health Law
Health Well-Beingand Health Well-Beingand Health Well-Beingand Health Well-Beingand RESEARCH CONTRIBUTORS
Professor Gavin Barrett UCD SchoolSutherlandofLaw
UCD College of Social Sciences and Law www.ucd.ie/socscilaw www.ucd.ie/geary