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Purpose – This study aims to provide empirical evidences on how post-pandemic travel intentions are formed in relation to the influences of travel motivations and pandemic-related factors (i.e., pandemic anxiety, health consciousness, and pandemic resilience). Also, this study aims to understand the differences in this travel intentions’ formation between potential and repeat visitors. Methodology/Design/Approach – An online survey was distributed to Indonesian potential and repeat visitors travelling to Australia, collecting 500 valid questionnaires. The factor analysis and hierarchical multiple regression were used to understand the influences of travel motivations, pandemic anxiety, health consciousness, and pandemic resilience in determining potential and repeat visitors’ travel intentions. Findings – The findings indicated that pandemic anxiety, health consciousness, and pandemic resilience jointly influenced the motivation-intention relationships for both potential and repeat visitors. Potential visitors’ travel intentions were primarily driven by pandemic resilience, whereas repeat visitors’ intentions were significantly influenced by novelty seeking, social seeking motivations, and health consciousness. Originality of the research – By developing and testing a model that integrates travel motivations and pandemic-related factors in determining potential and repeat visitors’ travel intentions, this offers valuable insights for destination marketers, aiding in the sector’s recovery during and following challenging times.

Background Within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, pandemic anxiety (PA) is of high social and psychopathological relevance. Compared to the general population and people living with common diseases, people living with rare diseases suffer more from the effects of a pandemic in various areas. To date, there are almost no systematic studies on PA in this subpopulation. Therefore, the current study examines the levels and factors associated with PA, as well as the relationship of PA with clinical measures of anxiety and depression disorders in people living with a wide range of different rare diseases. Methods Data are drawn from an online survey conducted between March 2022 and February 2023 at the Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, on the care situation of people living with rare diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyses include descriptive statistics, Welch’s t-tests, linear regressions, and a multivariate mediation model tested via structural equation modeling ( ). Results Compared to the general population, people living with rare diseases are more affected by PA during a pandemic. Female gender, age of 50 years and older, and living alone are risk factors for particularly high levels of PA. Furthermore, a previous COVID-19 infection is associated with lower PA; receiving vaccination correlates with higher PA. In addition to sociodemographic factors, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and daily burden due to the rare disease are significantly associated with PA levels. Moreover, an increase in PA is associated with increased anxiety and depression scores in clinical screening questionnaires. Lastly, PA mediates the links of daily burden with anxiety and depression disorders. Conclusions Findings highlight specific factors that should be addressed to effectively improve the situation of people living with rare diseases in the likely event of another pandemic. In addition, it becomes apparent that PA has negative implications for mental health that can persist beyond the context of a pandemic. Hence, PA should not be trivialized as a temporary pandemic state. More research is needed to compensate for the limitations of the present study and to better understand the structure of PA in people living with rare diseases.

The global outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) significantly impacted the mental health of individuals across all age groups. The Co-SPACE (COVID-19: Supporting Parents, Adolescents, and Children during Epidemics) study conducted in South Africa aimed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the mental health of parents/carers and their children. The online survey involved 257 parents/carers of children (aged 4 to 10 years) and adolescents (aged 11 to 18 years) attending school in Grades R (pre-formal schooling) to 12. The survey assessed the stressors faced by parents/carers, evaluated children’s anxiety levels using the Pandemic Anxiety Scale (PAS), created to measure specific pandemic-related mental health factors, and gathered information on children’s concerns and time allocation. Study findings revealed that the COVID-19 lockdown had a detrimental effect on both parents/carers and their children. The top three sources of stress reported by parents/carers were their work, their child’s future, and their child’s education. Children and adolescents had average anxiety levels of 11.60 ± 6.14 and 14.62 ± 5.56 on the PAS, respectively. Factors such as the child’s age, household income, and family composition were associated with higher anxiety levels. This study highlights the experiences and stress levels faced by parents/carers during the pandemic, as well as the concerns of their children and adolescents. It underscores the importance of identifying vulnerable groups and understanding the factors contributing to their mental health difficulties. This knowledge is crucial for developing effective strategies to address the mental health challenges arising from COVID-19 and future crises. By recognizing and addressing these issues, society can better support families and promote overall well-being. Highlights Lockdown had a detrimental effect on both parents/carers and their children. Top parent stressors: work, child’s future, education. Children and adolescents’ average anxiety levels: 11.60 ± 6.14 and 14.62 ± 5.56 on PAS, respectively. Child’s age, household income, and family composition linked to higher anxiety. PAS, a pandemic-specific mental health measure, showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient = 0.822) in this study, however longitudinal (i.e., test-retest) reliability data are lacking.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, understanding and describing the changes in experiences related to the pandemic and its correlates have become crucial. The current study aims to provide a psychometric evaluation and examination of the relationship of two COVID-related anxiety scales through the latent and network approach. The data was collected from the same participants at two time points (Nwave 1 = 1283; Nwave 2 = 1326). The study examined the psychometric properties of the Pandemic Anxiety Scale and Coronaphobia scale. It also examined the factor structure, invariance and relationship with selected variables through both the latent and network approach. The results revealed that both scales provided good fit and psychometric properties—PAS (wave1: CFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.05 [0.04, 0.07], SRMR = 0.048; wave2: CFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.95, RMSEA = 0.05 [0.04, 0.07], SRMR = 0.049), and Coronaphobia scale (wave1: CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.05 [0.03, 0.07], SRMR = 0.027; wave2: CFI ~ 1, TLI = 0.99, RMSEA = 0.03 [0.002, 0.06], SRMR = 0.015). The results also indicated that distinguishing between them is crucial as they were related differently to various variables. The global network models provided a more complex insight in their connections with the set of selected variables. The PAS and Coronaphobia scales are brief and valid measures that can be used in research looking at mental health issues related to the pandemic. The present study shows a unique pattern of relationships of these scales with other variables, extending previous studies into the topic of COVID-related anxiety.

Background The Pandemic Anxiety Inventory (PAI) was developed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its content allows it to assess anxiety in connection to any pandemic. Previous research has demonstrated the instrument’s reliability and validity. An important question for clinicians and researchers, however, remains open: Does the PAI have similar meaning for members of different demographic groups? The finding of measurement invariance would allow clinicians and researchers to comparatively assess pandemic-related anxiety across demographic groups, including favored and disfavored groups. Methods We conducted a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis to assess the measurement invariance of the PAI using data obtained from a sample of 379 residents of the United Kingdom. Results The PAI demonstrated invariance across genders, age groups, individuals who are married or in a relationship and those who are not, as well as individuals with higher and lower incomes. In an ancillary analysis, we found invariance across subsamples of Whites and Nonwhites, although we note that the Nonwhite group was small ( n  = 60) and heterogeneous. The findings of a supplemental MIMIC analysis were consistent with the above. Conclusions The PAI shows measurement invariance across a variety of demographic groups. Our findings suggest that the instrument can be meaningfully employed to compare pandemic-related anxiety across these groups.

The state of anxiety seen during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic needs to be evaluated and controlled. Studies indicate that high anxiety reduces students' academic performance. The productivity and scientific studies of academicians have also been negatively affected during the pandemic. Psychological conditions of students and academicians need to be improved as high anxiety levels can affect academic achievement. In this study, the effects on psychological well-being (PWB) of COVID-19 anxiety levels of students and academicians in pharmacy schools in Türkiye have been determined. This research was quantitative. As a data collection tool in the research, a questionnaire consisting of three parts was applied to the academic staff and students of pharmacy schools. After the first part of the questionnaire that aimed to determine general information, there were questions about the pandemic anxiety (PA) and the PWB scales. The universe of the study consists of 1.563 academic staff working in pharmacy schools and 17.101 students in these faculties. The level of significance (α) was determined as 0.05 in the analysis made in the study. Two hundred fortyseven academicians and 1.698 students participated in the research. Data was analyzed by SPSS ver. 25.0 program. 79% of the academic staff participating in the study were women, while 21% were men; for students, it was 77% and 23%, respectively. Female academicians found to have significantly higher ( =0.001) PA level than males. Female students had significantly higher levels of PA ( =0.000) and PWB ( =0.027) compared to male students. In the study, PA of academicians was generally lower than students, while PWB was higher. When the relationship between PA and PWB was examined, the relationship between PA and PWB of the academicians was very low and positive; for the students, it was found to be very low and negative.

人口老化趨勢及近年疫情大流行加速了中高齡數位學習之推動與普及，在此環境改變下，對高敏感特質的長輩是一大考驗。本研究旨在探討高敏感特質之中高齡者於疫情變化使數位學習環境更為普及之狀況下，所產生的數位學習壓力、心理憂鬱及學習滿意度的關聯，並以復原力作為中介變項，最後亦探討疫情趨緩後中高齡者在後疫情之感受。本研究採用問卷調查法進行資料蒐集，研究工具為高敏感特質、疫情焦慮、數位學習壓力、憂鬱情緒量表、學習滿意度、復原力及後疫情正向感受等7份量表；以45歲以上有數位學習經驗的中高齡者為研究對象，共回收208份有效問卷（男72位，女136位，平均年齡57.93，標準差6.79），調查所得資料採用結構方程模型（Structural Equation Modeling, SEM）中Bootstrap統計方法進行中介模式分析。研究結果顯示：一、中高齡者高敏感特質程度愈高，疫情焦慮愈高、數位學習壓力愈大；二、復原力在疫情焦慮與心理憂鬱間具完全中介效果，疫情焦慮愈高，使復原力愈差，造成心理憂鬱愈高；復原力在數位學習壓力與心理憂鬱、學習滿意度間具部分中介效果，數位學習壓力愈大，使復原力愈差，造成心理憂鬱愈高、學習滿意度愈不佳；三、中高齡者心理憂鬱愈高、學習滿意度愈不佳，後疫情正向感受愈低。根據結果，本研究對未來的研究者提出相關建議，作為日後研究之參考。 Introduction Population aging trends and the accelerated promotion and popularization of digital learning in recent years, exacerbated by the global pandemic, have posed significant challenges and impacts to middle-aged and elderly learners on mental health, learning satisfaction, and psychological adoption, especially for middle-aged and elderly individuals with highly sensitive traits. This study aims to investigate the relationship between digital learning stress, pandemic anxiety, depression, learning satisfaction and post-pandemic experiences in highly sensitive middle-aged and elderly learners in the context of the widespread adoption of digital learning due to the pandemic, and explore the role of resilience as a mediating variable. Literature Review Highly Sensitive People (HSP) was first defined by Aron & Aron (1997) as “the in-depth processing (including unconsciousness) of internal and external stimuli under various circumstances, resulting in higher physiological and emotional responses.” The scientific term is “Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS)” People with high sensitivity are more susceptible to stimuli and are less likely to have adverse effects under stress than in the past. However, most studies on highly sensitive trait populations focus on children (Pluess & Boniwell, 2015) and adolescents (Iimura, 2022) as research subjects, there is a lack of research focusing on the elderly as the main research subjects. Organizations and nations worldwide recognize the critical importance of addressing population aging and actively respond to this challenge. Taiwan officially entered an ‘aging society’ in 1993, as the proportion of elderly population exceeded 7%. Sadan et al. (2021) observed that older adults exhibit a weaker adaption capacity to environmental changes. During environmental change, older adults suffered higher pressure. Highly sensitive trait populations are more likely to have negative reactions when stimulated by negative stressful environments (Aron & Aron, 1997). The trait is positively correlated with stress (Andresen et al., 2018; Gearhart & Bodie, 2012; Meyerson et ai., 2020). Systematic review studies indicate that SPS increases the risk of stress-related problems when responding to negative environments, but can also gain greater benefits from positive and supportive experiences (Greven, 2019). Therefore, this study aims to investigate middle-aged and elderly with highly sensitive traits, to explore if this population manifests similarly. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people suffering from depression increased by 25.6% globally (Santomauro et al., 2021). Many research have highlighted the negative impact of the epidemic on mental health. With psychological depression interventions, the life satisfaction and health status of middle-aged and elderly people can be improved, and loneliness can be alleviated (Jo & Kim, 2008). When life satisfaction is significantly improved, depression will decrease (Lee, 2020; MAltun & Yazici, 2015). Reviewing the meta-analysis and literature review related to depression and anxiety, studies have pointed out that brief passive psychoeducation intervention for depression and psychological distress can reduce symptoms (Donker, 2009), and physical activity can reduce depression and anxiety in non-clinical populations (Duncan, 2015). Furthermore, relevant research has pointed out that resilience can serve as a mediating factor that affects the relationship between environmental stress and mental health. (Chang, 2012; Egeland et al., 1993; Faircloth, 2017; Kim et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2017). Resilience also mediates the relationship between Covid-19 stress and mental health (including depression and anxiety). The higher the stress related to the epidemic, the lower the resilience, and the higher the depression and anxiety (Ho et al., 2022; Kumar et al., 2022). As discussed above, resilience is one of the key factors for individuals facing negative environmental stress (including pandemic anxiety, and digital learning stress), which in turn affects their psychological adaptation. Methodology Data collection for this study was conducted through a questionnaire survey targeting individuals aged 45 and above who have experience with digital learning. The questionnaire included 7 scales: highly sensitive people traits, pandemic anxiety, digital learning pressure, depression, learning satisfaction, resilience, and post-epidemic positive moods. The pre-test was conducted in Dec. 2022 by digital questionnaires. A total of 106 valid responses were collected (41 male, 65 female, mean age = 60.00, SD = 1.41). All scales were subjected to exploratory factor analysis after the pre-test. Internal consistency was confirmed and the questions in these constructs were stable and consistent. A total of 208 valid responses were collected (72 male, 136 female, mean age = 57.93, SD = 6.79). The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with the Bootstrap statistical method for mediation analysis. Finding The results of the study revealed the following key findings: 1. Middle-aged and elderly individuals with higher levels of highly sensitive traits experienced higher levels of pandemic anxiety and digital learning stress. 2. Resilience played a significant mediating role in the relationship between pandemic anxiety and depression. Higher pandemic anxiety was associated with lower resilience, leading to increased depression. Additionally, resilience partially mediated the relationship between digital learning stress and depression as well as learning satisfaction. Greater digital learning stress was linked to reduced resilience, resulting in higher depression and lower learning satisfaction. 3. Elevated levels of depression and lower learning satisfaction among elderly individuals were associated with reduced post-pandemic positive experiences. Discussion and Suggestion Finally, several suggestions were proposed for future studies. The current study shows that the role of resilience plays in mediating pandemic anxiety and psychological depression. As well as the relationship between digital learning stress, psychological depression, and learning satisfaction. This suggests that for highly sensitive middle-aged and elderly learners, the higher the pandemic anxiety, the worse resilience, and the psychological depression are. The higher the digital learning stress, the worse resilience, and the psychological depression is, the worse learning satisfaction. In addition, after the peak of the pandemic, the post-pandemic positive experiences are still poor. The study’s findings provide the psychological state insights of middle-aged and elderly learners with highly sensitive traits during the pandemic and e-learning environment. Future studies may conduct further research to develop more effective support strategies to enhance the resilience of the middle-aged and elderly. Which may help people face the challenges, reduce psychological depression, and increase their learning satisfaction. Also, improve the post-pandemic positive experiences, and mental health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in persistent alterations in social cognition, trust, and behavior because of its long-term psychological and neurological effects. By conditioning individuals to associate proximity with risk, the pandemic-induced psychological distance has reshaped human interactions. This distance is enforced through social distancing and public health measures. Ultimately, this process has impacted societal cohesion, interpersonal relationships, and workplace behaviors by reinforcing avoidance behaviors, heightened social anxiety, and altering trust dynamics. An interdisciplinary approach that integrates neuroscience, psychology, and social science is necessary to comprehend these changes to address the challenges of re-establishing pre-pandemic norms.

The emergence of a constantly mutating novel virus has led to considerable public anxiety amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Information seeking is a common strategy to cope with pandemic anxiety. Using Google Trends analysis, this study investigated public interest in COVID-19 variants and its temporal associations with the disease-prevention measure of vaccination during the initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout period (13 December 2020 to 25 September 2021). Public interest was operationalized as the relative search volume of online queries of variant-related terms in the countries first affected by the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants: the UK, South Africa, and India, respectively. The results show that public interest in COVID-19 variants was greater during the Delta-variant-predominant period than before this period. The time-series cross-correlation analysis revealed positive temporal associations (i.e., greater such public interest was accompanied by an increase in national vaccination rate) tended to occur more frequently and at earlier time lags than the negative temporal associations. This study yielded new findings regarding the temporal changes in public interest in COVID-19 variants, and the between-country variations in these public interest changes can be explained by differences in the rate and pace of vaccination among the countries of interest.