Objectives We examined sources of vulnerability and resilience among older adults early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods We surveyed 235 respondents, 51–95 years old (M = 71.35; SD = 7.39; 74% female), including 2 open-ended questions concerning COVID-19-related difficulties and positive experiences during the past week. Using inductive coding, we found 9 final codes for difficulties and 12 for positives and grouped them into socioecological levels: personal, interpersonal, and societal. Results Difficulties were reported by 94% of the sample, while 63% described positives. Difficulties and positive responses were made at all socioecological levels and illustrated a dialectic between personal-level constraints and opportunities, interpersonal-level social isolation and integration, and societal-level outrage, sorrow, and social optimism. Discussion Respondents described sources of vulnerabilities and resilience that supported a socioecological approach to understand resilience during this pandemic. A notable example was resilience derived from witnessing and contributing to the community and social solidarity, highlighting the potential of older adults as resources to their communities during the global pandemic.

Novice programmers face numerous barriers while attempting to learn how to code that may deter them from pursuing a computer science degree or career in software development. In this work, we propose a tool concept to address the particularly challenging barrier of novice programmers holding misconceptions about how their code behaves. Specifically, the concept involves an inquisitive code editor that: (1) identifies misconceptions by periodically prompting the novice programmer with questions about their program's behavior, (2) corrects the misconceptions by generating explanations based on the program's actual behavior, and (3) prevents further misconceptions by inserting test code and utilizing other educational resources. We have implemented portions of the concept as plugins for the Atom code editor and conducted informal surveys with students and instructors. Next steps include deploying the tool prototype to students enrolled in introductory programming courses.

The current study examined correlates of life satisfaction among Korean Vietnam War Veterans. The sample included 450 male Veterans from the Korean Vietnam War Veterans Study, surveyed by mail in 2013 ( Mean age = 67.4 years old, SD = 3.0). A hierarchical analysis was conducted by entering four blocks of variables: first demographic factors, and then pre-military service, military service, and post-military service variables. Each successive regression analysis showed a significant additional contribution to the variance in life satisfaction. In the final model, Korean Veterans had higher life satisfaction when they were married, had higher monthly income and poorer childhood family environment, appraised their military service in a positive light, and had less stressors after homecoming and better perceived physical health. However, combat exposure and social support after homecoming were not independently associated with life satisfaction in the final model. These results imply that both pre- and post-military service factors, as well as cognitive appraisals of military service, should be considered in understanding the subjective well-being of Korean Vietnam War Veterans in later life.

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