Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how New Zealand listed companies communicate COVID-19 related concerns on Twitter during the pandemic through various coping expressions and strategies.

A thematic content analysis was conducted to analyse COVID tweets based on Gaspar et al.’s (2016) coping strategy framework.

Six major COVID-19-related concerns communicated by New Zealand companies were found, with product/service being the most tweeted concern. Various coping expressions and strategies were demonstrated by the companies to address these concerns. Information sharing strategy was found to be the most common coping strategy implied in all six of these concerns.

The paper contributes to the scant literature in crisis communication by providing empirical evidence on how COVID-19-related concerns, coping expressions and strategies were communicated by New Zealand companies.

While extant coping research generally examined coping expressions and strategies in Western countries and at an individual level, this paper examines coping communication at organisational level in an Asia-Pacific country. As per the researchers’ knowledge, this is a novel attempt that provides empirical evidence on corporate coping communication in an Asia-Pacific country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To specify the nature of experiential information by examining how such information is articulated and shared in online discussion.

Experiential information is approached by identifying two constitutive aspects: (1) sensory information that an individual obtains from noticeable events lived through by means of human senses such as sight and touch and (2) cognitive–affective information that is indicative of how the individual interprets such events by means of cognitive operations like comparison and evaluation, as well as appraises the affective valence of such events. To examine the nature of experiential information, an empirical study was made by analysing how people articulate sensory and cognitive–affective information in online discussion about the COVID-19 epidemic. To this end, a sample of 1773 messages posted to the online forum hosted by the Canadian Broadcasting Company was scrutinized by means of descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis.

Experiential information was mainly articulated in the depiction of visual observations of lived-through events, as well as in their comparison and evaluation. Experiential information was often articulated in conjunction with information of other types, most notably topic-related opinions, neutral descriptions of COVID-19 related issues and suggestions offered to fellow participants.

As the study concentrated on the sharing of experiential information about the COVID-19 epidemic in an online discussion forum, the findings cannot be extended to concern the exchange of experiential information in other contexts.

The study is among the first to characterize empirically the nature of experiential information by examining the articulations of online discussants.

This study aims to understand the mechanisms that contribute to the construction of the resilience of populations to urban flooding. It therefore proposes to analyse the strategies and attitudes developed by households subjected to floods to maintain and rebuild themselves despite the damage in the urbanised mangrove swamp of the south of the city.

The fieldwork consisted of observing the behaviours, practices and attitudes of households to flooding in the study area. In addition to observations, the fieldwork included interviews (60), focus groups (10), completion of 260 questionnaires by heads of households and field mapping. The sample was determined by the non-probability quota method. The data processing involved the extraction of descriptive and multivariate statistics as well as content analysis.

The rapid growth of Douala leads to vulnerabilities through the spontaneous occupation of mangrove areas, thus aggravating the impacts of the floods that occur. Afterwards, the analysis of the individual and collective responses of the inhabitants of the study area highlighted resilience in action. This resilience is expressed in two ways: the individual ability of the inhabitants to exploit internal/psychological and external resources/personal social capital to absorb the shock; and the capacity for self-organisation and learning which is manifested by the use of feedback in the reconstruction phase to transform the disaster into an opportunity for territorial development.

Two main limitations of this work should be noted and are as follows. The study is only centred on an urbanised mangrove area, although there are others: Does the research hypothesis also apply to other urbanised mangrove areas? Flooding is not specific to mangrove areas. Other spontaneous non-mangrove neighbourhoods are subject to flooding. The results of this study give the impression that resilience capacities are paradoxically manifested in the most vulnerable neighbourhoods. This impression needs to be confirmed by further studies for a comparative synthesis of the experience of shocks between spontaneous neighbourhoods and planned neighbourhoods.

Urban flooding is one of many physical phenomena that scientists and technologists are learning about and trying to anticipate, avoid, and prepare for. Governments are simultaneously implementing policies for prevention, monitoring, warning, and reaction. If this analysis does not take into account the intrinsic capacities of the populations to cope with dangers, accept responsibility for their actions, and take significant local action when necessary, this framework will still be inadequate. Spontaneous activities are gradually developing around these efforts into coordinated, structured actions that, if taken into consideration and effectively managed, can prove to be successful and satisfying on a town-wide scale.

Scientists and technicians are learning about physical phenomena such as urban flooding and are seeking ways to predict, prevent and protect against them. In parallel, governments are putting in place prevention, monitoring, warning and response policies. This framework is still lacking if this study does not consider the populations’ inherent abilities to deal with threats, take responsibility for their actions and take meaningful local action when necessary. Around these efforts, spontaneous initiatives are progressively emerging into concerted structured actions that can prove to be effective and satisfactory on a town-wide scale if they are taken into account and well managed.

Very few studies have considered the forms of expression of resilience in marginal urban environments such as spontaneous and anarchic neighbourhoods, non-aedificandi zones and sensitive environments such as the mangroves areas.

Children's responses to peer victimisation are thought to influence the duration of victimisation, yet research has not clearly indicated the best ways for young people to respond. In the current study, students (n = 403, mean age of nine years, 11 months, 55% female, 53% Caucasian) reported on their peer victimisation experiences and responses at the beginning and end of a school year. Teachers also reported on students' victimisation experiences. Cross‐lagged path analysis indicated a reciprocal association between externalising responses and victimisation. Victimisation early in the school year also resulted in increased internalising responses. Findings also suggest that coping responses are more reliably linked to subsequent victimisation rates in young people who are not yet experiencing high levels of victimisation.

The focus in this chapter is on male strategies of coping with unemployment and how these strategies are gendered due to local contextual factors, physical and natural as well as social and cultural. The results of the study show, in the case of men's relations to the labour market and the factors affecting such relations, how the Swedish welfare model and gender contracts work in a rural setting. The interrelation among labour market, household and family is formed according to the local gender contract and is supposed to develop within the frames of national policies, but it is also formed according to hegemonic gender regimes.

Existing quantitative research demonstrates negatively impacted mental health outcomes for people detained in immigration removal centres (IRCs) in the UK. However, there is limited qualitative research on the phenomenology of life inside UK IRCs. The purpose of this paper is to explore the psychosocial stressors experienced by people in detention, the psychological impacts of being detained and the ways in which people express resilience and cope in detention.

In-depth interviews were conducted with nine people who had previously been held in UK IRCs. Interview transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Participants experienced incredulity and cognitive dissonance at being detained, and found themselves deprived of communication and healthcare needs. These stressors led participants to feel powerless, doubt themselves and their worldviews, and ruminate about their uncertain futures. However, participants also demonstrated resilience, and used proactive behaviours, spirituality and personal relationships to cope in detention. Antonovsky’s (1979) theory on wellbeing – sense of coherence – was found to have particular explanatory value for these findings.

The sample of participants used in this study was skewed towards male, Iranian asylum seekers, and the findings therefore may have less applicability to the experiences of females, ex-prisoners and people from different geographical and cultural backgrounds.

This study offers a range of new insights into how detention in the UK impacts on people’s lives. The findings may be useful to policy makers who legislate on and regulate the UK immigration detention system, as well as custodial staff and health and social care practitioners working in IRCs.

The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of the emotions experienced by targets of bullying in the workplace.

A sample of 180 employees in Canada took part in a cross‐sectional self‐report survey study.

The study found that, for men, in the presence of belittlement and work being undermined, verbal abuse was negatively associated with confusion, suggesting an active coping strategy. In contrast, for women, in the presence of belittlement and work being undermined, verbal abuse was positively associated with confusion, suggesting a passive coping strategy.

Although this study's cross‐sectional methodology provided a static snapshot of the emotions of bullying, it may be informative to capture emotions as they arise in response to specific episodes and forms of bullying as well as in response to repeated acts of bullying.

Workers should be offered resources for understanding and coping constructively with their emotions, training in interpersonal sensitivity to become more aware of and responsive to others' feelings, and the opportunity to work in respectful workplace climates.

Specific emotions were examined that are associated with exposure to different forms of bullying, and the career‐related implications of these findings are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the correlates of suicidal ideation in offenders incarcerated in three Belgian prisons.

A cross-sectional questionnaire design was used. In total, 60 participants were recruited from three Belgian prisons. In addition to a questionnaire regarding demographic, social, institutional, and criminological factors, validated self-report instruments of psychological and psychiatric variables (coping, hopelessness, and depressive symptomatology) were administered. Associations with suicidal ideation were tested using regression analysis.

Coping style, life events, and social support were most strongly associated with suicidal ideation in prisoners. In particular, a passive coping style, feelings of loneliness, and the loss of a significant other contributed most to the presence of suicidal ideation, whereas a close partner relationship constituted a protective factor of suicidal thoughts.

This pilot study used a convenience sampling strategy, prone to sampling bias. Additionally, given the small sample size, results must be interpreted with caution, as they might not be representative of the general population of prisoners in Belgium.

Interventions focussing on improving coping skills and social support and on impeding the availability and accessibility of suicide methods are promising suicide prevention strategies in custodial settings.

To date, no studies have been conducted in Belgium focussing on suicidality in prisoners. Furthermore, the examination of suicidal ideation in prison settings has received relatively scant attention in international research.

Purpose – To synthesize the literature on coping among adolescents of color in the U.S., we examine normative and circumstantial stressors, describe coping strategies, and summarize the literature on coping for the promotion of well-being among adolescents of color, including descriptive and intervention studies.

Methods/approach – We conducted an extensive review of the literature in four scientific databases (medline, CINAHL, ERIC, and PyschInfo) between July 2010 and June 2011 (key words: (minority) adolescent(s) (of color), cope/coping, stress (ors), and adaptation/psychological). Studies included in our review were peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and June 2011 that presented original data on the coping strategies and outcomes of adolescents of color (e.g., studies including a majority from underrepresented racial/ethnic communities) between the ages of 12 and 18.

Findings – We identified a total of 91 articles for inclusion, including 83 descriptive and 8 intervention studies. We use a matrix approach to compare descriptive studies by their purpose, study design, sample, targeted stressors, and outcomes. We then discuss the eight interventions we identified, highlighting the targeted population, intervention protocol/adaptation, feasibility/acceptability, and study outcomes.

Implications – The breadth and depth of research on coping among adolescents of color has improved significantly over the past decade, yet our review reveals several areas where further exploration is needed, including research on intra-group differences, validation of coping measures in diverse groups, measurement of the effectiveness of coping strategies over time, and most importantly, the translation of available knowledge on effective coping into culturally relevant, multifaceted interventions for adolescents and their families.

Purpose – This chapter analyses social networks and discourses in relation to YouTube videos and user comments relating to the traumatic event of a school shooting.

Methodology/approach – First, general patterns in the YouTube responses are mapped. What was the overall structure of the flow of videos posted in response to a shooting? Second, social network aspects are discussed. Which systems of interrelated (re)actions emerge through the videos? Finally, a set of three videos representing key texts in the analysed discursive formation are further analysed as regards the written discourse of their comment threads.

Findings – Participants were organised in the form of relatively autonomous and isolated islands of meaning making, but one could still identify a core public engaging in the creation, maintenance and negotiation of the branching and relatively open-ended narratives that recount and try to make sense of what happened and why.

Implications – The main result is that, also in relation to largely dramatic and tragic events such as a school shooting, there are patterns to support the idea of an emerging new media landscape where audiences play an increasingly active role as co-producers of content and interpretations.

Originality of paper – The paper deals with comments as well as video content, and on analysing them from the joint perspectives of social network analysis and discursive network analysis. This means that results give knowledge about two things; how the YouTube audience(s) to videos about the Virginia Tech shooting is/are organised, and what topics are discussed in relation to the videos.