Dataset Information

Changes in Sexuality and Quality of Couple Relationship During the COVID-19 Lockdown.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic is heavily influencing people's general well-being worldwide. Since its outbreak, many studies have explored the population's general psychological well-being, while only a few studies have addressed how the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown are affecting sexuality. Sexual health, an important aspect of general well-being, has relevant consequences on people's daily lives. Although it is well known that distress can affect sexuality, and it is possible to speculate that the outbreak's psychological outcomes are affecting the population's sexual life; recent literature does not explore couples' sexuality and their relationship quality during the lockdown. The present preliminary research aimed to understand if the Italian population's sexuality has changed, and if so, how it had changed since the spread of COVID-19, and which variables were influencing couples' relationship quality during the COVID-19 lockdown. A questionnaire reserved especially for cohabiting couples was designed and distributed online from April 11 to May 5, 2020, the 5th and 8th weeks, respectively, after the start of the lockdown. Of the 124 respondents who completed the online survey, 73% were females. Despite the pandemic's psychological consequences, when asked directly, most couples responded that they did not perceive any differences in their sexuality. However, some female participants did report a decrease in pleasure, satisfaction, desire, and arousal. The main reasons behind the changes in sexuality in women, therefore, appear to be worry, lack of privacy, and stress. Even when participants seemed to show high levels of resilience, the negative aspects of lockdown could affect their quality of sexual life. This study needs to be completed using qualitative data from online focus groups that have investigated how sexual life has changed and the main needs of couples. All the same, our results will serve to better address population needs and experiences, and provide ad hoc interventions during this unprecedented time of crisis.

SUBMITTER: Panzeri M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7550458 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Changes in Sexuality and Quality of Couple Relationship During the COVID-19 Lockdown.

Panzeri Marta M Ferrucci Roberta R Cozza Angela A Fontanesi Lilybeth L

Frontiers in psychology 20200929

The COVID-19 pandemic is heavily influencing people's general well-being worldwide. Since its outbreak, many studies have explored the population's general psychological well-being, while only a few studies have addressed how the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown are affecting sexuality. Sexual health, an important aspect of general well-being, has relevant consequences on people's daily lives. Although it is well known that distress can affect sexuality, and it is possible to speculate that th ...[more]

PMID: 33132969

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Project description:The UK implemented a lockdown in Spring (2020) to curtail the person-to-person transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Measures restricted movements to one outing per day for exercise and shopping, otherwise most people were restricted to their dwelling except for key workers (e.g. medical, supermarkets, and transport). In this study, we quantified changes to air quality across the United Kingdom from 30/03/2020 to 03/05/2020 (weeks 14-18), the period of most stringent travel restrictions. Daily pollutant measurements of NO2, O3 and PM2.5 from the national network of monitoring sites during this period were compared with measurements over the same period during 2017-19. Comparisons were also made with predicted concentrations for the 2020 period from business-as-usual (BAU) modelling, where the contributions of normal anthropogenic activities were estimated under the observed meteorological conditions. During the lockdown study period there was a 69% reduction in traffic overall (74% reduction in light and 35% in heavy vehicles). Measurements from 129 monitoring stations, identified mean reductions in NO2 of 38.3% (-8.8 μg/m3) and PM2.5 of 16.5% (-2.2 μg/m3). Improvements in NO2 and PM2.5 were largest at urban traffic sites and more modest at background locations where a large proportion of the population live. In contrast, O3 concentrations on average increased by 7.6% (+4.8 μg/m3) with the largest increases at roadside sites due to reductions in local emissions of NO. A lack of VOC monitoring limited our capacity to interpret changes in O3 at urban background locations. BAU models predicted comparable NO2 reductions and O3 gains, although PM2.5 episodes would have been more prominent without lockdown. Results demonstrate the relatively modest contribution of traffic to air quality, suggesting that sustained improvements in air quality require actions across various sectors, including working with international and European initiatives on long-range transport air pollutants, especially PM2.5 and O3.

Project description:In response to the rapid spread of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) within and across countries and the need to protect public health, governments worldwide introduced unprecedented measures such as restricted road and air travel and reduced human mobility in 2020. The curtailment of personal travel and economic activity provided a unique opportunity for researchers to assess the interplay between anthropogenic emissions of primary air pollutants, their physical transport, chemical transformation, ultimate fate and potential health impacts. In general, reductions in the atmospheric levels of outdoor air pollutants such as particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were observed in many countries during the lockdowns. However, the levels of ozone (O3), a secondary air pollutant linked to asthma and respiratory ailments, and secondary PM were frequently reported to remain unchanged or even increase. An increase in O3 can enhance the formation of secondary PM2.5, especially secondary organic aerosols, through the atmospheric oxidation of VOCs. Given that the gaseous precursors of O3 (VOCs and NOx) are also involved in the formation of secondary PM2.5, an integrated control strategy should focus on reducing the emission of the common precursors for the co-mitigation of PM2.5 and O3 with an emphasis on their complex photochemical interactions. Compared to outdoor air quality, comprehensive investigations of indoor air quality (IAQ) are relatively sparse. People spend more than 80% of their time indoors with exposure to air pollutants of both outdoor and indoor origins. Consequently, an integrated assessment of exposure to air pollutants in both outdoor and indoor microenvironments is needed for effective urban air quality management and for mitigation of health risk. To provide further insights into air quality, we do a critical review of scientific articles, published from January 2020 to December 2020 across the globe. Finally, we discuss policy implications of our review in the context of global air quality improvement.

Project description:Worldwide improved air quality in different cities is reported influenced by lockdown came in force due to COVID-19 pandemic; however, as expected, such changes might have been different in different places. And what is still not very clear whether air quality pollutants have some link to account COVID-19 positive cases and death tolls. This study aims to evaluate the spatiotemporal variability of air pollutants and their relationship to COVID-19 positive cases in major cities in Bangladesh. The relevant data of air pollutants and COVID-19 positive cases are collected, analyzed, discussed for lockdown period of 26 March to 26 April 2020 in comparison to data for same period averaging over 2013 to 2019 for eight major cities in Bangladesh. To characterize air pollutants affected by lockdown, trend and rate of changes were carried out using Mann-Kandle and Sen's slope methods, while spatial variability across the cities was done using ArcGIS and statistics within ArcGIS. The substantial reduction of mean concentrations in the range of 30-65%, 20-80%, 30 - 80%, 65 - 90% and 75 - 90% across the cities is found during lockdown compared to typical mean in previous years for the PM2.5, PM10, SO2, CO, and NO2 concentrations in air. Among the cities studied, it is seen that relatively lesser reduction in Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj and moderate reduction in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna and Barisal, while significantly bigger reduction in Sylhet influenced by the city attributes and climatic variabilities. Among all the pollutants studied, the increasing trends of NO2 and CO in Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj are unexpected even in lockdown pointing the effectiveness of lockdown management. Correlation among the air pollutants and confirmed COVID-19 cases across the cities depict foggy relationship, while PCA integrated over the cities revealed association with gaseous pollutants pointing stronger effects of NO2. This relationship illustrates air pollution health effects may increase vulnerability to COVID-19 cases.

Dataset Information

Changes in Sexuality and Quality of Couple Relationship During the COVID-19 Lockdown.

Publications

Changes in Sexuality and Quality of Couple Relationship During the COVID-19 Lockdown.

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