https://doi.org/10.5559/di.30.2.00
UZ TEMU
Bolest Covid-19, koja je započela u prosincu 2019. u Kini, nevjerojatnom brzinom
proširila se cijelim svijetom, pa je Svjetska zdravstvena organizacija 11. ožujka 2020.
proglasila pandemiju. Društvene institucije zemalja diljem svijeta donijele su stoga
epidemiološke mjere ograničavanja društvenih i gospodarskih interakcija kojima se
nastoji spriječiti širenje bolesti. Mjere fizičkoga, pa samim tim i socijalnoga, distanciranja dovele su do promjene u svakodnevnom funkcioniranju, zatvorene su škole i
fakulteti, ugostiteljski objekti, kulturne ustanove, ukinut je javni prijevoz, zabranjeno
napuštanje mjesta prebivališta itd. Strah od zaraze, neizvjesnost, ograničenje kretanja,
socijalno distanciranje, promjene u svakodnevnom funkcioniranju (rad i školovanje
od kuće, nemogućnost obavljanja uobičajenih aktivnosti), informacije o velikom broju
oboljelih i umrlih od posljedica bolesti, preopterećenost zdravstvenoga sustava,
ekonomske štete ili gubitak zaposlenja čimbenici su koji pandemiju ovoga virusa
označuju kao traumatski događaj i koji utječu na mentalno zdravlje ljudi. Kod ljudi
se javio strah, tuga, osjećaj frustracije i bespomoćnosti, osamljenosti, nervoze, rasla je
razina stresa, anksioznosti, depresivnosti, panike, opsesivnoga ponašanja, paranoje,
nasilja u obitelji itd. Cilj je ovoga tematskog broja bio steći uvid u psihosocijalne
aspekte pandemije Covid-19 na temelju istraživanja koja su provedena tijekom prvoga vala u proljeće 2020.
Zatvaranje škola i prelazak na nastavu na daljinu zahtijevao je prilagodbu škola, nastavnika i učenika na nove uvjete rada. U istraživanju koje su provele Burić, Parmač
Kovačić i Huić ispitivala se medijacijska uloga samoefikasnosti nastavnika u objašnjenju povezanosti transformacijskog rukovođenja školom i kvalitete poučavanja te
moderacijska uloga digitalnih kompetencija u odnosima spomenutih varijabli. Pokazalo se da transformacijsko školsko vodstvo i nastavnička samoefikasnost mogu
imati zaštitnu ulogu u opterećujućoj situaciji kakva je nastava na daljinu. Sorić,
Burić i Penezić ispitivali su emocionalnu iscrpljenost ravnatelja u uvjetima nastave
na daljinu te utvrdili da su najvažniji prediktori njihove vještine na području informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije i negativni afekti koje ravnatelji doživljavaju na
svojem poslu. Ristić Dedić i Jokić ispitivali su doživljaj i zadovoljstvo učenika 7.
razreda osnovne škole nastavom na daljinu. Pokazalo se da učenici u prosjeku nastavu na daljinu doživljavaju nepovoljnije od nastave u učionicama s obzirom na
kvalitetu nastavnoga procesa i opterećenost učenika školskim zadacima te da su
osrednje zadovoljni nastavom na daljinu. No mala skupina učenika (15 %) nastavu
na daljinu doživljavala je kvalitetnijom od nastave u učionicama. Kako smo u vrijeme
pandemije usmjereni na aktivnosti od kuće te smo u velikoj mjeri izloženi digitalnim
tehnologijama, Kotrla Topić, Varga i Jelovčić ispitivale su obilježja upotrebe digitalne tehnologije, kvalitete spavanja i zadovoljstva životom te korelacije između ovih
varijabli kod djece i roditelja tijekom restriktivnih mjera u Hrvatskoj. Pokazalo se da
nema značajne povezanosti između upotrebe digitalnih tehnologija i kvalitete spa173
vanja kod roditelja, ali postoji pozitivna povezanost između trajanja upotrebe pametnih telefona i zadovoljstva životom. Kod djece je dulja upotreba pametnih telefona za
zabavu negativno povezana s kvalitetom spavanja. Pandemija je utjecala na promjenu tjelesnih aktivnosti, stoga su Ćurković, Lukačin i Katavić ispitivale navike
učenika osnovnih i srednjih škola vezane uz prehranu i tjelesnu aktivnost prije i uslijed socijalne izolacije te povezanost stavova roditelja o važnosti tjelesnih aktivnosti s
motivacijom njihove djece za bavljenje tjelesnim aktivnostima. Rezultati su pokazali
da je zbog socijalne izolacije kod maturanata i osnovnoškolaca došlo do osjetnoga
smanjenja motivacije za tjelesne aktivnosti, posebno kod mladića, te povećanog broja
obroka u danu. Utvrđena je i niska pozitivna povezanost roditeljskih stavova i motivacije njihove djece za bavljenje tjelesnim aktivnostima prije i tijekom socijalne izolacije. Živčić-Bećirević, Smojver-Ažić, Martinac Dorčić i Birovljević ispitivale su
izvore stresa kod studenata tijekom pandemije Covid-19. Najsnažniji izvor stresa
predstavljaju posljedice izolacije, zatim akademski izvori stresa, mogućnost zaraze te
obiteljski izvori stresa. Djevojke doživljavaju intenzivniji stres, kao i studenti koji
zbog studija ne žive u svojoj obitelji. Svi izvori stresa, osim moguće zaraze, značajni
su prediktori depresivnosti, a depresivnost je značajan dodatni prediktor akademskoga funkcioniranja studenata. Kako je jedno od rizičnih ponašanja tijekom pandemije
povećano uživanje droga i alkohola, upravo su utjecaj pandemije na ovom području
u Sloveniji istraživali Sande, Šabić, Paš i Verdenik. Autori zaključuju da je tijekom
pandemije Covid-19 u Sloveniji došlo do smanjenja uživanja ilegalnih droga i alkohola, osim povećanja učestalosti upotrebe marihuane. Smanjena je dostupnost
određenih droga, ali i izvora podrške, pa se naglašava potreba promicanja internetskih intervencija i održavanja kontakta s korisnicima. U istraživanju koje su proveli
Uzelac, Ćepulić i Palić na uzorku od 84 080 ispitanika iz 29 zemalja pokazalo se
kako stanovnici država s višim BDP-om po stanovniku u prosjeku doživljavaju niži
stres te imaju više povjerenja u institucije. U Hrvatskoj su utvrđene nešto više razine
stresa, ali i nešto više povjerenje u vladine mjere. Autori zaključuju kako je ekonomska razvijenost jedan od društvenih faktora povezanih s kvalitetom nošenja s pandemijom koronavirusa. U istraživanju koje su proveli Choi i Park istraživala se uloga
digitalne tehnologije u olakšavanju javne komunikacije i formuliranju percepcije
javnosti o upotrebi maski tijekom pandemije COVID-19 u SAD-u i Južnoj Koreji.
Ova studija daje uvid u sve veći prijepor povezan s nošenjem maski za lice tijekom
pandemije COVID-19, istodobno pružajući informacije zdravstvenim djelatnicima
koji oblikuju strateške komunikacijske poruke. Studija koju su proveli Grah,
Dimovski, Penger, Colnar i Bogataj nastoji razviti aktuarski model kojim bi se
utvrdila kvalitetna zdravstvena politika, potrebna za osiguranje održivosti zdravstvenoga sustava u smislu definiranja potrebnoga broja kvalificiranih medicinskih
sestara, koje će moći udovoljiti povećanoj potražnji zdravstvenih usluga sve većega
broja osoba starije životne dobi u društvu koje stari i zbog globalne pandemije te upozorava na trenutačni manjak broja medicinskih sestara, što će se i nastaviti ako se ne
poduzmu dodatne mjere. Tokić, Gusar i Nikolić Ivanišević utvrdile su da se zadovoljstvo poslom i mentalno zdravlje zdravstvenih djelatnika tijekom pandemije Covid-19
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ne mogu objasniti promijenjenim radnim okolnostima, ali su značajni prediktori bile
osobne karakteristike (sagorijevanje na poslu i otpornost). Zdravstveni djelatnici
kojima je zadovoljstvo poslom u pandemiji poraslo ili ostalo isto ujedno su otporniji
na stres, manje su iscrpljeni i otuđeni, viših su razina mentalnoga zdravlja u odnosu na one kojima je zadovoljstvo poslom u pandemiji opalo. Osim navedenoga,
zaposlenici kojima je zadovoljstvo poslom raslo imali su i prosječno najviše prekovremenih sati i češće su radili s Covid pozitivnim i suspektnim pacijentima u odnosu na
sudionike čije je zadovoljstvo poslom opalo ili je ostalo isto. Na kraju, Antičević u
svojem radu prikazuje sadašnja saznanja o učincima pandemije na psihološke potrebe
i mentalno zdravlje ljudi. Rezultati konzultiranih istraživanja pokazuju da strah od
zaraze sebe i bližnjih, posljedice mjera socijalne distanciranosti i ekonomske posljedice
pandemije mogu imati značajan učinak na mentalno zdravlje svih ljudi. Posebnu
ranjivost pokazuju: (a) ljudi koji su bili izravno ili neizravno u kontaktu s virusom;
(b) ljudi s ranijim psihijatrijskim problemima; (c) zdravstveni djelatnici i (d) ljudi
koji stalno slijede vijesti o pandemiji. Najčešći problemi mentalnoga zdravlja jesu
anksioznost, depresija, simptomi posttraumatskoga stresa i zlouporaba psihoaktivnih
tvari. Znanstvenici diljem svijeta vrlo su se brzo uključili u istraživanje raznih
aspekata pandemije. O angažmanu hrvatskih psihologa govori Izvješće Vulić-Prtorić
o istraživanjima prezentiranima na 22. Danima psihologije, održanima u Zadru u
listopadu 2020.
Nakon prvoga vala u proljeće 2020. i početnoga šoka, naučili smo dosta o virusu te
se prilagođavamo. Razvijeno je i nekoliko cjepiva protiv toga virusa. Državne institucije balansiraju s protuepidemijskim mjerama ovisno o epidemiološkoj situaciji i
tako živimo zadnjih godinu dana. Znanstvenici su pomogli u identificiranju rizičnih
čimbenika i ranjivih skupina (oboljeli od Covid-19/bolesni, zdravstveni djelatnici,
mladi, stari, migranti, žene itd.), kao i zaštitnih čimbenika (socijalna podrška,
zdravstvena pismenost, otpornost) mentalnoga zdravlja. Neki autori predviđaju pandemiju mentalnih poremećaja nakon završetka pandemije Covid-19. Međutim, znamo
da se ljudi različito suočavaju s kriznim situacijama, ovisno o njihovim resursima za
suočavanje. Većina se dobro suočava i prođe bez simptoma mentalnih poremećaja, kod
dijela ljudi dođe do poboljšanja funkcioniranja te se razviju novi mehanizmi suočavanja (posttraumatski rast). Tek se kod manjega dijela populacije očekuju simptomi
nekog od mentalnih poremećaja. Trauma ne mora nužno imati oslabljujuće učinke,
većina ljudi otporna je, čak i napreduje nakon traume; štoviše, otpornost je najčešći
ishod traumatskoga događaja. Kako je u praksi cilj umanjiti efekte rizičnih čimbenika i jačati zaštitne čimbenike mentalnoga zdravlja ljudi, treba i dalje pratiti efekte
pandemije na mentalno zdravlje ljudi, posebice ranjivih skupina, a društvene institucije trebaju primijeniti znanstvene spoznaje s ciljem uspješne borbe protiv pandemije Covid-19.
Slavica Šimić Šašić
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THE THEME
The COVID-19 disease, which started in December 2019 in China, spread with
incredible speed all over the world, and on March 11, 2020, the World Health
Organization declared a pandemic. The social institutions of countries around the
world have enacted strict epidemiological measures to limit social and economic interaction, seeking to prevent the spread of the disease. Measures of physical, and thus
social, distancing have led to a change in daily functioning: closure of schools, universities, hospitality and catering facilities, and cultural institutions; discontinuation of public transport; prohibition on leaving one’s place of residence, etc. Fear of
infection, uncertainty, restriction of movement, social distancing, changes in daily
functioning (work and schooling from home, inability to perform normal activities),
information on the large number of sufferers and consequent deaths, overload of the
health system, economic losses or job loss are factors that characterise the coronavirus pandemic as a traumatic event and affect people’s mental health. People have
experienced fear, sadness, feelings of frustration and helplessness, loneliness, nervousness, increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression, panic, obsessive behaviour,
paranoia, domestic violence, etc. The aim of this thematic issue is to gain insight into
the psychological aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the basis of research conducted during the first wave, in the spring of 2020.
The closure of schools and the transition to distance education has required the adaptation of schools, teachers and students to the new working conditions. The research
conducted by Burić, Parmač Kovačić and Huić examines the mediating role of
teacher self-efficacy in explaining the connection between transformational school
management and teaching quality, and the moderating role of digital competences in
the relationships among these variables. It has been shown that transformational
school leadership and teacher self-efficacy can play a protective role in a taxing situation such as distance education. Sorić, Burić and Penezić examine the emotional
exhaustion of head teachers in the conditions of online education, and determine that
the most important predictors of their skills lie in the field of information and communication technology and in the negative affect that heads experience at work.
Ristić Dedić and Jokić examine the experience of, and satisfaction with, distance
education in year-7 elementary-school students. Students, on average, are shown to
perceive distance education as less favourable than classroom teaching, given the
quality of the teaching process and the students’ burden of homework, and reported
to be moderately satisfied with distance education. However, a small group of students (15%) experience distance education to be of higher quality than classroom
teaching. Since, in this time of pandemic, we are oriented towards activities from the
home, and we are largely exposed to digital technologies, Kotrla Topić, Varga and
Jelovčić examine the characteristics of use of digital technology, quality of sleep, and
life satisfaction, and the correlations between these variables in children and parents,
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during the restrictive measures in Croatia. It has been shown that there is no significant connection between the use of digital technologies and quality of sleep in parents, but there is a positive association between the duration of smartphone usage and
life satisfaction. In children, prolonged use of smartphones for entertainment is negatively associated with quality of sleep. The pandemic has affected a change in physical activities, so Ćurković, Lukačin and Katavić examine the habits of elementaryand high-school students relating to nutrition and physical activity before and as a
result of social isolation, and the connection between parents' attitudes to the importance of physical activity and their children's motivation to engage in such. The
results show that, due to social isolation, in high-school graduates and elementary-school students, there is a significant decrease in motivation to engage in physical
activity, especially in male youths, and an increase in the number of meals per day.
A low positive correlation is also found between parents' attitudes and their children's
motivation to engage in physical activities before and during social isolation. Živčić-Bećirević, Smojver-Ažić, Martinac Dorčić and Birovljević examine sources of
stress in students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The consequences of isolation
represent the most vigorous source of stress, followed by academic sources of stress,
the possibility of infection, and family sources of stress. Female youths experience
more intense stress, as do students who do not live with their families because of their
studies. All sources of stress except the possibility of infection are significant predictors of depression, and depression is a significant additional predictor of academic
functioning of the students. As one of the risky behaviours during the pandemic is
the increased use of drugs and alcohol, the impact of the pandemic in this domain in
Slovenia has been investigated by Sande, Šabić, Paš and Verdenik. The authors
conclude that, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovenia, there has been a decrease
in the use of illegal drugs and alcohol, except for an increase in the frequency of marijuana use. The availability of certain drugs, as well as sources of support, have been
reduced, and the need to promote online interventions and maintain contact with
users is emphasised. The survey conducted by Uzelac, Ćepulić and Palić on a sample of 84,080 respondents from 29 countries shows that residents of countries with
higher GDP per capita have experienced lower stress, on average, and have more
trust in institutions. In Croatia, slightly higher levels of stress have been identified,
but also somewhat more confidence in government measures. The authors conclude
that economic development is one of the social factors associated with the quality of
coping with the coronavirus pandemic. The study conducted by Choi and Park
explores the role of digital technology in facilitating public communication and formulating public perception of the use of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic
in the United States and South Korea. This study provides insight into the growing
controversy associated with wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, at
the same time providing information for health professionals who shape strategic
communication messages. The study conducted by Grah, Dimovski, Penger,
Colnar and Bogataj seeks to develop an actuarial model to determine the quality
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health policy that is needed to ensure the sustainability of the health system in terms
of defining the required number of qualified nurses who will be able to meet the
increased demand for health services due to the global pandemic, and from an ever-increasing number of older people in an ageing society, and points out the current
shortage of nurses, which will also continue into the future unless additional measures are taken. Tokić, Gusar and Nikolić Ivanišević determine that job satisfaction
and mental health of health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be
explained by changed working circumstances, but personal characteristics (burnout
at work and resilience) are significant predictors. Those healthcare professionals
whose job satisfaction in the pandemic has increased or remained the same are also
more resistant to stress, are less exhausted and alienated, and have higher levels of
mental health than those whose job satisfaction in the pandemic has declined. In addition to the above, employees whose job satisfaction has grown have also had, on average, the most overtime hours and worked more often with COVID-positive and -suspected patients than participants whose job satisfaction has declined or remained the
same. Finally, in his work, Antičević presents the existing findings regarding the
effects of the pandemic on people’s psychological needs and mental health. The results
of the research consulted indicate that the fear of infecting oneself and one’s friends
and relatives, the consequences of measures of social distancing, and the economic
consequences of the pandemic can have a significant effect on the mental health of all
people. Particular vulnerabilities are shown by: (a) people who have been in direct or
indirect contact with the virus, (b) people with previous psychiatric problems, (c)
health professionals and (d) people who continuously follow the news on the pandemic. The most common mental-health problems are anxiety, depression, symptoms
of post-traumatic stress disorder, and psychoactive-substance abuse. Scientists
around the world have very quickly become involved in research on various aspects
of the pandemic. The involvement of Croatian psychologists is spoken of in the report
by Vulić-Prtorić on research presented at the 22nd Psychology Days, held in Zadar
in October 2020.
Since the first wave, in the spring of 2020, and the initial shock, we have learned
much about the virus, and we are adapting. Several vaccines have also been developed
against the corona virus. Government institutions are balancing anti-epidemic measures, depending on the epidemiological situation, and we have been living so for the
past year. Scientists have helped identify risk factors and vulnerable groups (COVID-19 sufferers/sick people, health professionals, young people, the elderly, migrants,
women etc.), as well as protective factors (social support, health literacy, resilience) of
mental health. Some authors predict a pandemic of mental disorders after the end of
the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we know that people confront crisis situations
differently, depending on their coping resources. Most people cope well and emerge
without symptoms of mental disorder; some people improve their functioning and
develop new coping mechanisms (post-traumatic growth). Symptoms of mental dis178
order are expected only in a small part of the population. Trauma does not necessarily have to have debilitating effects; most people are resilient and even progress after
trauma. Moreover, resilience is the most common outcome of a traumatic event.
Since, in practice, the goal is to reduce the effects of risk factors and strengthen the
protective factors of human mental health, it is necessary to continue monitoring the
effects of the pandemic on the mental health of people, especially vulnerable groups,
and social institutions should apply scientific knowledge with the aim of successfully combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.
Slavica Šimić Šašić
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