To Mask or Not to Mask-Evaluation of Cognitive Performance in Children Wearing Face Masks during School Lessons (MasKids).
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Schlegtendal A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8774884 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Popular press outlets have proposed that older individuals are less likely to wear face masks despite health benefits of doing so during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current article investigates this notion in four separate studies, and we also assess the mediating effect of face mask perceptions between age and face mask wearing using the eight-dimension Face Masks Perceptions Scale (FMPS). The sample-size weighted average correlation between age and face mask wearing was -.07 (95%C.I.[-.14, .001], Z-value = -1.928, P = .054, n = 824), indicating that older individuals are slightly less likely to wear face masks compared to younger individuals. Age did not have significant relations with any face mask perceptions, and the mediating effect of face mask perceptions was not robust or consistent. This indicates that the relation between age and face mask wearing is not explained by face mask perceptions, and researchers must turn to other explanatory mechanisms to understand this relation. We propose possible avenues, such as dual-system theories, to further investigate this research question as well as others associated with face mask perceptions, face mask wearing and the COVID-19 pandemic.
| S-EPMC7928787 | biostudies-literature
Project description:To curb the diffusion of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), governments worldwide have introduced different policies, including lockdowns, social distancing, and mandatory mask wearing. Face mask wearing, especially, has an impact on the formation of first impressions, given that when meeting someone for the first time, individuals rely on the only available piece of information, the newly met person's aesthetic appearance, in order to make initial estimations of other traits, such as competence, intelligence, or trustworthiness. However, face mask wearing affects the aesthetic appearance of an individual, creating uncertainty which, in turn, has been reported to reduce others' perceived trustworthiness. In this paper, the influence of face mask wearing on strangers' perceived trustworthiness and aesthetic appearance is assessed to verify the impact of this policy on impression formation. Participants (N = 71) have been instructed to assess the trustworthiness and the aesthetic appearance of a selection of 96 images depicting individuals of different ages (children, adults, and older adults), gender (men and women), and ethnicity (Asians or Caucasians). Participants were randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group and a control group. Participants in the experimental group (N = 38) rated faces of individuals wearing a face mask, while participants in the control group rated the same faces but in the absence of a face mask. Images were presented in random order. For each face, participants were asked to rate the aesthetic appearance and perceived trustworthiness of the stranger on two different 100-point Likert scales. Results demonstrate that (i) the correlation between perceived trustworthiness and aesthetic appearance is not affected by the presence of a face mask, and (ii) age, but not ethnicity and gender, influences the magnitude of differences in perceived trustworthiness levels during mask wearing.
| S-EPMC8628681 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Face perception is considered a remarkable visual ability in humans that is subject to a prolonged developmental trajectory. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, mask-wearing has become mandatory for adults and children alike. Recent research shows that mask-wearing hinders face recognition abilities in adults, but it is unknown if the same holds true in school-age children in whom face perception is not fully developed. Here we tested children (n = 72, ages 6-14 years old) on the Cambridge Face Memory Test - Kids (CFMT-K), a validated measure of face perception performance. Faces were presented with or without masks and across two orientations (upright/inverted). The inclusion of face masks led to a profound deficit in face perception abilities. This decrement was more pronounced in children compared to adults, but only when task difficulty was adjusted across the two age groups. Additionally, children exhibited reliable correlations between age and the CFMT-K score for upright faces for both the mask and no-mask conditions. Finally, as previously observed in adults, children also showed qualitative differences in the processing of masked versus non-masked faces. Specifically, holistic processing, a hallmark of face perception, was disrupted for masked faces as suggested by a reduced face-inversion effect. Together, these findings provide evidence for substantial quantitative and qualitative alterations in the processing of masked faces in school-age children.
| S-EPMC8818366 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceWearing a face mask in school can reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission but it may also lead to increased hand-to-face contact, which in turn could increase infection risk through self-inoculation.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of wearing a face mask on hand-to-face contact by children while at school.Design, setting, and participantsThis prospective randomized clinical trial randomized students from junior kindergarten to grade 12 at 2 schools in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, during August 2020 in a 1:1 ratio to either a mask or control class during a 2-day school simulation. Classes were video recorded from 4 angles to accurately capture outcomes.InterventionsParticipants in the mask arm were instructed to bring their own mask and wear it at all times. Students assigned to control classes were not required to mask at any time (grade 4 and lower) or in the classroom where physical distancing could be maintained (grade 5 and up).Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome was the number of hand-to-face contacts per student per hour on day 2 of the simulation. Secondary outcomes included hand-to-mucosa contacts and hand-to-nonmucosa contacts. A mixed Poisson regression model was used to derive rate ratios (RRs), adjusted for age and sex with a random intercept for class with bootstrapped 95% CIs.ResultsA total of 174 students underwent randomization and 171 students (mask group, 50.6% male; control group, 52.4% male) attended school on day 2. The rate of hand-to-face contacts did not differ significantly between the mask and the control groups (88.2 vs 88.7 events per student per hour; RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.78-1.28; P = >.99). When compared with the control group, the rate of hand-to-mucosa contacts was significantly lower in the mask group (RR, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.07-0.21), while the rate of hand-to-nonmucosa contacts was higher (RR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.08-1.82).Conclusions and relevanceIn this clinical trial of simulated school attendance, hand-to-face contacts did not differ among students required to wear face masks vs students not required to wear face masks; however, hand-to-mucosa contracts were lower in the face mask group. This suggests that mask wearing is unlikely to increase infection risk through self-inoculation.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04531254.
| S-EPMC9593317 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Effective communication with children is a skill, the importance of which is especially highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ubiquitous wearing of face masks. Anaesthesiology consultants have been shown to display excellent communication skills that facilitate the development of rapid rapport and patient cooperation. Good communication results in positive interactions for hospitalised children, which correlates with improved healthcare outcomes. However, interactions with a child aren't always straightforward, particularly for trainees unfamiliar with certain communication techniques, which are important to use at a time when when the wearing of face masks is commonplace.
| S-EPMC7592261 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The Face Mask Wearing Image Dataset is a comprehensive collection of images aimed at facilitating research in the domain of face mask detection and classification. This dataset consists of 24,916 images, carefully categorized into two main folders: "Correct" and "Incorrect" representing instances of face masks being worn properly and improperly, respectively. Each folder is further divided into four subfolders, each denoting a specific type of face mask - Bandana, Cotton, N95, and Surgical. In the "Correct" folder, images depict individuals correctly wearing their respective face masks, while the "Incorrect" folder contains images of improper face mask usage. To capture variations in face mask application across different demographics, such as age and gender, each subfolder also includes three additional subfolders - Child, Male, and Female. The dataset's diverse content encompasses different face mask types, covering bandana-style, cloth, N95 respirators, and surgical masks, across various age groups and genders. This design ensures a comprehensive representation of real-world scenarios, enabling the evaluation of machine learning algorithms for face mask detection and classification. Researchers can leverage this dataset to develop and assess models that can accurately identify and distinguish between correct and incorrect face mask usage. By contributing to the advancement of face mask detection technologies, this dataset further supports public health initiatives and encourages proper mask-wearing behavior to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases, particularly during times of heightened health concerns such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
| S-EPMC10700517 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Wearing face masks is one of the essential means to prevent the transmission of certain respiratory diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although acceptance of such masks is increasing in the Western hemisphere, many people feel that social interaction is affected by wearing a mask. In the present experiment, we tested the impact of face masks on the readability of emotions. The participants (N = 41, calculated by an a priori power test; random sample; healthy persons of different ages, 18-87 years) assessed the emotional expressions displayed by 12 different faces. Each face was randomly presented with six different expressions (angry, disgusted, fearful, happy, neutral, and sad) while being fully visible or partly covered by a face mask. Lower accuracy and lower confidence in one's own assessment of the displayed emotions indicate that emotional reading was strongly irritated by the presence of a mask. We further detected specific confusion patterns, mostly pronounced in the case of misinterpreting disgusted faces as being angry plus assessing many other emotions (e.g., happy, sad, and angry) as neutral. We discuss compensatory actions that can keep social interaction effective (e.g., body language, gesture, and verbal communication), even when relevant visual information is crucially reduced.
| S-EPMC7545827 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Face mask wearing was an important preventative strategy for the transmission of the COVID-19 virus. However, the effects that occluding the mouth and nose area with surgical masks could have on young children's language processing and emotion recognition skills have received little investigation. To evaluate the possible effects, the current study recruited a sample of 74 children from the North West of England (aged 4-8 years). They completed two computer-based tasks with adults wearing or not wearing surgical face masks to assess (a) language processing skills and (b) emotion recognition ability. To control for individual differences, age, sex, receptive vocabulary, early reading skills, and parent-reported social-emotional competence were included in analyses. The findings from the study highlighted that although younger children were less accurate than older children, face masks did not significantly impair basic language processing ability. However, they had a significant effect on the children's emotion recognition accuracy-with masked angry faces more easily recognized and masked happy and sad faces less easily recognized. Children's age and social-emotional skills also played a role. The findings suggest that the effects of face masks should continue to be evaluated.
| S-EPMC9637007 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Recent popular press authors have proposed that men are less likely to wear face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate this notion in the current article by analyzing three extant datasets. We also assess the mediating effect of eight different face mask perceptions in the relation between gender and face mask wearing via the Face Mask Perceptions Scale. Across the three datasets, the sample-size weighted meta-analytic correlation between gender and face mask wearing was not statistically significant, and no face mask perception was a consistent mediator of this effect. Gender did have significant relations with two face mask perceptions, however. Men were more likely to perceive face masks as infringing on their independence, whereas women were more likely to perceive face masks as uncomfortable. Therefore, although gender does not relate to whether a person wears a face mask, it does relate to face mask perceptions. We offer several suggestions for research and practice from these results, such as the positioning of face mask wearing alongside passive health behaviors, the broader study of face mask perceptions' outcomes beyond face mask wearing, as well as the creation of interventions to target differing face mask perceptions across genders.
| S-EPMC7543707 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Recent studies suggest that covering the face inhibits the recognition of identity and emotional expressions. However, it might also make the eyes more salient, since they are a reliable index to orient our social and spatial attention. This study investigates (1) whether the pervasive interaction with people with face masks fostered by the COVID-19 pandemic modulates the processing of spatial information essential to shift attention according to other's eye-gaze direction (i.e., gaze-cueing effect: GCE), and (2) whether this potential modulation interacts with motor responses (i.e., Simon effect). Participants were presented with face cues orienting their gaze to a congruent or incongruent target letter location (gaze-cueing paradigm) while wearing a surgical mask (Mask), a patch (Control), or nothing (No-Mask). The task required to discriminate the identity of the lateralized target letters by pressing one of two lateralized response keys, in a corresponding or a non-corresponding position with respect to the target. Results showed that GCE was not modulated by the presence of the Mask, but it occurred in the No-Mask condition, confirming previous studies. Crucially, the GCE interacted with Simon effect in the Mask and Control conditions, though in different ways. While in the Mask condition the GCE emerged only when target and response positions corresponded (i.e., Simon-corresponding trials), in the Control condition it emerged only when they did not correspond (i.e., Simon-non-corresponding trials). These results indicate that people with face masks induce us to jointly orient our visual attention in the direction of the seen gaze (GCE) in those conditions resembling (or associated with) a general approaching behavior (Simon-corresponding trials). This is likely promoted by the fact that we tend to perceive wearing the mask as a personal safety measure and, thus, someone wearing the face mask is perceived as a trustworthy person. In contrast, people with a patch on their face can be perceived as more threatening, therefore inducing a GCE in those conditions associated with a general avoidance behavior (Simon-non-corresponding trials).
| S-EPMC9386249 | biostudies-literature