COVID-19 and student mental health: A secondary crisis of the pandemic?

Even under normal circumstances students experience higher levels of mental health issues, but this became worse during the pandemic. International students may be especially at risk, due to travel constraints and inability to form a social life during lockdowns.

Liia Kivelä • February 17, 2022

Building Resilience in Young People

Effectively supporting young people in coping better with COVID-19 related stress requires detailed understanding of the factors that influence resilient functioning. But what are those factors and what concrete actions can be taken to support young people in building resilience?

Anne-Laura van Harmelen and Maximilian Scheuplein • April 30, 2021

No need to be scared; appealing to fear to change behavior

Showing gory pictures of cancerous lungs, videos of forest fires, and graphs of exponentially increasing infection rates are familiar tactics to scare people into different behavior. But how effective are fear appeals? Six decades of research provides some answers.

Lotte van Dillen • December 14, 2020

Pandemics: Survival of the ‘most anxious’?

When people in movies shake hands or crowd into elevators, do you think 'No! Keep back!'? I do. And it’s not just me. Apparently the Corona-induced fear of human contact is already wired in our brains. In this pandemic, will it be a case of survival of the most anxious?

Marieke Tollenaar • November 09, 2020

Government, media and people: it’s time to shift our attention to the Corona placebo effect!

All of us have spent recent months tackling the crisis and steeling ourselves to deal within the struggle against Corona. Some people have called it a war; many have classed it as the most serious crisis we have ever had to face, and one that is likely to have disastrous and unpredictable effects.

Andrea Evers • June 10, 2020

A blind spot in recognizing common mental health problems

Mental health problems are difficult to signal. Fortunately our awareness about many mental health problems has increased somewhat in recent years. But are we sensitive to anxiety disorders, the most common mental health disorder over the lifespan?

Semiha Aydin • May 11, 2020

Keeping social distance obliges others to be prosocial too

Social distancing is a good example of prosocial behaviour that gives other people a choice. It also strengthens autonomy and self-determination.

Niels van Doesum • April 22, 2020

Government, media and citizens: Watch out for the Nocebo Corona Effect

We are confronted on a daily basis with news about the Corona virus and its consequences. We read alarming headlines like 'Dutch becoming increasingly anxious about Corona virus' or 'Huge fears and stress about Corona crisis'.

Andrea Evers • April 20, 2020

When is it too much?

Within the blink of an eye, the world around us has changed, in ways we could not have imagined. The world, which we (especially the people living in relatively stable and wealthy parts of the globe) often interpret as makeshift, seems uncertain and unpredictable at best, simply terrifying at worst.

Liesbeth van Vliet • April 09, 2020

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