{"id":122877,"date":"2020-05-08T09:57:53","date_gmt":"2020-05-08T15:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=122877"},"modified":"2020-05-13T17:36:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T23:36:00","slug":"okun-and-feliciano-study-pandemics-effect-on-students-physical-and-psychological-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=122877","title":{"rendered":"Okun and Feliciano study pandemic\u2019s effect on students\u2019 physical and psychological health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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As students adapt to remote learning, social isolation and other stressors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Michele Okun and Leilani Feliciano are studying the impact to their physical health and psychological wellbeing. Photo credit: Joel Strayer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Professor of psychology Leilani Feliciano and instructor and sleep researcher Michele Okun are conducting an exploratory study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and wellness of students. As they aim to use the data to provide better resources to the UCCS student body when it returns to campus in the fall, their efforts are also helping to develop the first-ever psychometrics for studies using a pandemic as a measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okun, a sleep researcher, and Feliciano, a clinical psychologist conducting sleep research, were inspired to launch the study as they observed their students transitioning to online classes this semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn one of the courses I teach online, the students have weekly virtual discussions with their groups,\u201d Okun explained. \u201cThey were discussing stress as a topic. One of my older, nontraditional students started to talk about how the pandemic is affecting their sleep. We decided to look at the students’ other health behaviors too, because so many of them have shifted their circadian rhythms and so many are experiencing significant stress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was interesting timing,\u201d Feliciano added, \u201cbecause right\nabout then, I told Michele that we needed to do an online study across\nadulthood looking at how social distancing and stay at home measures are\nimpacting individuals\u2019 wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Okun shares that many of her students’ sleep cycles have flipped, causing them stress, anxiety and physical ailments. Photo credit: Victoria Heath, Unsplash.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The two researchers combined their expertise to design a study, titled “Psychological and Health Behavior Changes in Students amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic,\u201d that examines factors as diverse as UCCS students\u2019 sleep cycles, nutrition, activity levels, stressors, mental health and wellbeing prior to COVID-19 to determine how they are impacted by the first pandemic in most individuals\u2019 living memory. Because their study’s long measure of a pandemic is boh thorough and brand-new, it will help to develop psychology’s first psychometrics for the measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through anecdotal evidence from their students, Okun and Feliciano anticipate they will confirm what they have seen first-hand in class: that the shift to remote learning, social distancing and other cautionary measures have negatively impacted students\u2019 wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re definitely going to see an impact on all of their\nhealth behaviors,\u201d Feliciano said. \u201cI think the extent to which individuals are\nimpacted will depend on some other comorbidities \u2013 depression, anxiety, and whether\nthey have fewer resources to deal with those challenges. If they were struggling\nbefore the pandemic, I anticipate those struggles will have become worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both researchers are seeking wide participation from the UCCS\nstudent body in order to create a robust data set. They anticipate using the\nresults to inform how the university responds to the crisis \u2013 and potential\nfuture crises \u2013 and advocate for the resources students need for psychological\nand physical wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe main reason we wanted to do this was to assess the\nmental and physical health of our students during this time, and see if, as a\nuniversity, we can be a leader instead of a follower in providing appropriate\nresources,\u201d Okun said. \u201cWe want the health of our students to surpass the norm\nand to be a model for other institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those students who are struggling, Okun and Feliciano\nencourage them to participate in the study \u2013 as well as follow practices that\ncan help them to retain a sense of normalcy and balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Feliciano and Okun advise that physical activity, spending time outdoors and breathing exercises can help students regain a normal sleep cycle, improving their overall wellbeing. Photo credit: Dingzeyu Li, Unsplash.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaintaining a routine is probably the biggest and most important thing you can do,\u201d Okun said. \u201cSome of my students have completely flipped their sleep schedule, but maintaining a consistent sleep schedule that is closest to what they normally had pre-pandemic is the most important thing they can do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okun and Feliciano also advise individuals practice what they call \u201ctypical sleep hygiene,\u201d from avoiding caffeine, alcohol and heavy or spicy foods late in the day, to getting regular physical activity and practicing breathing or meditation exercises. They recommend napping sparingly and not within six hours of bedtime. Okun also advises news junkies to limit their consumption of media, which can negatively impact their emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSleep underpins everything,\u201d Feliciano concludes. \u201cThere\u2019s an intersection between sleep and both psychological and physical health issues. If we can get our students sleeping better, then that\u2019s going to impact their wellbeing and their ability to handle these crises more effectively. It\u2019ll affect their ability to concentrate, their energy levels \u2013 so many things that contribute to their psychological wellbeing and physical health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students interested in participating in the research study may access it online<\/a>. Faculty and staff are also invited to encourage their students to participate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As students adapt to remote learning, social isolation and other stressors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers Michele Okun and Leilani Feliciano are studying the impact on students’ physical health and psychological wellbeing. (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":122880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,50],"tags":[53,86,130,302,329],"class_list":["post-122877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-health-and-wellness","tag-academic-affairs","tag-college-of-letters-arts-and-sciences","tag-department-of-psychology","tag-office-of-research","tag-research"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/JS1_9467-scaled.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-vXT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122877"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122877\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123111,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122877\/revisions\/123111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/122880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}