COVID-19 has led to global dramatic shifts in daily life. Following the biopsychosocial model of health, the goal of the current study was to predict people’s psychological well-being (PWB) during the initial lockdown phase of the pandemic and to investigate which coping strategies were most common among people with low and high PWB. Participants were 938 volunteers in the United States who responded to an online survey during the lockdown in April 2020. The main findings were that all three groups of variables, biological, psychological, and socio-economic, significantly contributed to PWB explaining 53% variance. Social loneliness and sense of agency were the strongest predictors. PWB was significantly predicted by physical health (not gender nor age); by spirituality, emotional loneliness, social loneliness, and sense of agency; by job security (not income, nor neighborhood safety, nor hours spent on social media). Comparing the coping strategies of participants, results show more intentional coping in the high-PWB group and more passive coping in the low-PWB group. During this unprecedented pandemic, the findings highlight that ability to sustainably cope with the global shifts in daily life depends on actively and intentionally attending to PWB by being one’s own agent for physical health, spiritual health, and social connection.

BackgroundThere is limited global and South African research on parents’ perceptions of therapeutic horseback riding (THR), as well as their perceptions of the effect of the activity on their children with disabilities.ObjectiveTo explore and describe parents’ perceptions and experiences of THR as an activity for their children with disabilities.MethodTwelve parents whose children attend THR lessons at the South African Riding for the Disabled Association in Cape Town were asked to participate in a semi-structured interview. The qualitative data obtained from the interviews were first transcribed and then analysed using thematic analysis to establish parents’ perceptions of the THR activity.ResultsThe main themes that emerged included parental perceived effects of THR on children, parents’ personal experiences of the services, and parents’ perceived reasons for improvements in the children. The participating parents indicated that THR had had a positive psychological, social and physical effect both on the children participating in the riding, as well as on the parents themselves.ConclusionAccording to parents, THR plays an important role in the lives of children with various disabilities and in the lives of their parents. The results of the study address the gap in the literature regarding parents’ perceptions of THR.

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Long-term growth and developmental data are presented for the smallest and third smallest surviving newborns in the world literature to 5 and 20 years of age, respectively. Both patients exhibited normal motor and language development. Although head circumference for both newborns demonstrated catchup growth, significant differences in height and weight growth velocities persisted.

Confining and controlling infectious diseases, currently COVID-19, is a challenging task for politicians around the world. Since not much has been known about the virus initially, political decisions had to be made under uncertainty. Thus, worldviews and beliefs of politicians heavily influenced political decisions. The current study investigated political decisions in 2020 and 2021 and their influence on COVID-19 deaths in the 50 states of the United States, with a particular focus on comparing red (Republican) and blue (Democrat) states. Results showed overall more regulations in blue states and fewer COVID-19 related deaths in blue states compared to red states.