The COVID-19 pandemic influenced the physical and mental health of millions of people around the world. Now, that the COVID emergency is over, its repercussions remain and management plans on how to regain emotional stability are discussed worldwide. The study examined the role of the multidimensional gratitude practice in regaining mental health and facilitating post-traumatic growth in post-COVID times. The weekly gratitude tasks were: gratitude diary, expressing gratitude, finding gratitude in past or current life, and practicing grateful mind. 63 Portuguese adults completed the study, 30 in the experimental and 33 in the control group. Before random allocation to the groups (pre-intervention Time 1), participants completed questionnaires on gratitude (GQ-6), depression, anxiety, stress (DASS-21), social safeness and pleasure (SSPS), satisfaction with life (SWLS), positive and negative affect (I-PANAS-SF), compassion motivation and action (CMAS) and post-traumatic growth (PTGI). Participants from the experimental group, at post-intervention (T2), showed significantly higher scores in life satisfaction, positive affect, compassion for others and post-traumatic growth compared with baseline (T1) and the waitlist group. They also showed a significant decrease in depression, stress and negative affect levels. No significant difference in anxiety or self-compassion was observed in the within-group or between-group comparison, which might be partially explained by the focus of the tasks, concentrated on finding gratitude outside rather than in self, and the timing of the intervention, being just after worldwide pandemic evoking fear of the unknown future. In conclusion, gratitude practice decreases psychological disturbance and enhances psychological well-being, compassion for others and facilitates post-traumatic growth in post-COVID reality. Due to the findings’ preliminary nature more research is needed to confirm the data.

During large-scale disasters, social support, caring behaviours, and compassion are shown to protect against poor mental health outcomes. This multi-national study aimed to assess the fluctuations in compassion over time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents (Time 1 n = 4156, Time 2 n = 980, Time 3 n = 825) from 23 countries completed online self-report questionnaires measuring the flows of compassion (i.e., Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales) and fears of compassion toward self and others and from others (i.e., Fears of Compassion Scales) and mental health at three time-points during a 10-month period. The results for the flows of compassion showed that self-compassion increased at Time 3. Compassion for others increased at Time 2 and 3 for the general population, but in contrast, it decreased in health professionals, possibly linked to burnout. Compassion from others did not change in Time 2, but it did increase significantly in Time 3. For fears of compassion, fears of self-compassion reduced over time, fears of compassion for others showed more variation, reducing for the general public but increasing for health professionals, whilst fears of compassion from others did not change over time. Health professionals, those with compassion training, older adults, and women showed greater flows of compassion and lower fears of compassion compared with the general population, those without compassion training, younger adults, and men. These findings highlight that, in a period of shared suffering, people from multiple countries and nationalities show a cumulative improvement in compassion and reduction in fears of compassion, suggesting that, when there is intense suffering, people become more compassionate to self and others and less afraid of, and resistant to, compassion.

ObjectiveEmotion regulation is a central construct for the study of mental health in adolescence. Although the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) has been vastly used, several issues remain unanswered (e.g., factor structure/dimensionality). This study aimed to validate the 36-items DERS in a sample of 989 Portuguese community adolescent (460 boys; 529 girls; age ranged from 14 to 18). MethodA bifactor-ESEM model, comprising a general and six specific factors (nonacceptance; goals; impulses; strategies; clarity; awareness) was explored and considered the best fitting model. ResultsGender measurement invariance was established. When compared with boys, although differences were small in magnitude, girls presented higher emotion regulation difficulties. Evidence for reliability and construct/temporal validity were found, and significant associations between the DERS and physiological measures of emotion regulation (i.e., Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability) were established. ConclusionFindings support the use of the DERS in adolescent samples.

A sample of 115 aircraft icing events in the Western Europe and Northeastern Atlantic sector, identified in aircraft pilot reports (PIREPs), is assessed in terms of spatio-temporal distribution and cloud characteristics, using satellite observations and products. Within our database, most of the reported events occur between October and February, although a few cases were identified during late spring and even summer months. Icing conditions are generally reported at mid-troposphere, with 82.7% and 78.6% of moderate and severe icing, respectively, identified between FL100 and FL250 (≈ 3–7.6 km). Satellite observations allow the identification of icing-prone conditions and also provide an independent means of validating some of the data in the aircraft reports. It is shown that icing occurs mainly within opaque clouds, with ice cloud-tops, or mixed phase (ice and water), noting the severe events, take place mostly under mixed-phase cloud-tops. Accordingly, most events were associated with middle and high opaque clouds, with 10.8μm brightness temperatures (BT10.8) between −40 and − 8 °C. Moreover, a detailed analysis of three events, making use of model, satellite and synoptic observations, illustrates the occurrence of aircraft icing in precipitating clouds. Within those cases, one occurred below the upper layer of a thick nimbostratus associated with an occluded low centred in the Bay of Biscay. The second event, reported as severe, as in the former case, took place within low clouds over southern England in association with northwesterly winds driven by a complex low. Finally, a moderate event happened over southern Portugal in association with a cold front, near the cloud top of nimbostratus. In all cases, the icing index operational at the Portuguese Weather Service, based on the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model, was able to predict prone-icing conditions, with higher severity in the severe cases.

Objectives The COVID-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented detrimental impact on mental health in people around the world. It is important therefore to explore factors that may buffer or accentuate the risk of mental health problems in this context. Given that compassion has numerous benefits for mental health, emotion regulation, and social relationships, this study examines the buffering effects of different flows of compassion (for self, for others, from others) against the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on depression, anxiety, and stress, and social safeness. Methods The study was conducted in a sample of 4057 adult participants from the general community population, collected across 21 countries from Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, Asia, and Oceania. Participants completed self-report measures of perceived threat of COVID-19, compassion (for self, for others, from others), depression, anxiety, stress, and social safeness. Results Perceived threat of COVID-19 was associated with higher scores in depression, anxiety, and stress, and lower scores in social safeness. Self-compassion and compassion from others were associated with lower psychological distress and higher social safeness. Compassion for others was associated with lower depressive symptoms. Self-compassion moderated the relationship between perceived threat of COVID-19 on depression, anxiety, and stress, whereas compassion from others moderated the effects of fears of contracting COVID-19 on social safeness. These effects were consistent across all countries. Conclusions Our findings highlight the universal protective role of compassion, in particular self-compassion and compassion from others, in promoting resilience by buffering against the harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and social safeness.

Gentle Teaching is a unique relational approach, centred on building safe and engaging relationships. Since its creation by McGee, in the 1980s, it has been implemented, especially, with people in vulnerable or disadvantaged situations. The way we deal with people with intellectual disabilities, mental health problems or challenging behaviours has always caused concern. With an increasingly inclusive educational environment that promotes diversity, this concern has been extended to school learning contexts, creating the need to explore educational tools that allow educational agents to respond to all students. Successful results of Gentle Teaching in different contexts, suggest its potential and suitability for educational environments, through the creation of bonding relationships, which promote caring and security. In this paper we describe the concept of Gentle Teaching, its history, the pillars of the intervention model, support strategies and techniques, and approaches to management of disruptive behaviours, as opposed to more traditional paradigms. As a non-aversive approach to relationships, Gentle Teaching, can be an answer in supporting children who have difficulties in learning and behaviour, according to the legal guidelines for the protection of children's rights that disapprove physical or mental punishment. This relational model of positive interaction between the student and the educator, as the foundation for teaching, promotes meaningful relationships and can be a way of valuing the potential of each one, within the school context.

Background Historically social connection has been an important way through which humans have coped with large-scale threatening events. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns have deprived people of major sources of social support and coping, with others representing threats. Hence, a major stressor during the pandemic has been a sense of social disconnection and loneliness. This study explores how people’s experience of compassion and feeling socially safe and connected, in contrast to feeling socially disconnected, lonely and fearful of compassion, effects the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic stress. Methods Adult participants from the general population ( N = 4057) across 21 countries worldwide, completed self-report measures of social connection (compassion for self, from others, for others; social safeness), social disconnection (fears of compassion for self, from others, for others; loneliness), perceived threat of COVID-19, post-traumatic growth and traumatic stress. Results Perceived threat of COVID-19 predicted increased post-traumatic growth and traumatic stress. Social connection (compassion and social safeness) predicted higher post-traumatic growth and traumatic stress, whereas social disconnection (fears of compassion and loneliness) predicted increased traumatic symptoms only. Social connection heightened the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on post-traumatic growth, while social disconnection weakened this impact. Social disconnection magnified the impact of the perceived threat of COVID-19 on traumatic stress. These effects were consistent across all countries. Conclusions Social connection is key to how people adapt and cope with the worldwide COVID-19 crisis and may facilitate post-traumatic growth in the context of the threat experienced during the pandemic. In contrast, social disconnection increases vulnerability to develop post-traumatic stress in this threatening context. Public health and Government organizations could implement interventions to foster compassion and feelings of social safeness and reduce experiences of social disconnection, thus promoting growth, resilience and mental wellbeing during and following the pandemic.

Abstract Background The COVID‐19 pandemic is a massive global health crisis with damaging consequences to mental health and social relationships. Exploring factors that may heighten or buffer the risk of mental health problems in this context is thus critical. Whilst compassion may be a protective factor, in contrast fears of compassion increase vulnerability to psychosocial distress and may amplify the impact of the pandemic on mental health. This study explores the magnifying effects of fears of compassion on the impact of perceived threat of COVID‐19 on depression, anxiety and stress, and social safeness. Methods Adult participants from the general population (N = 4057) were recruited across 21 countries worldwide, and completed self‐report measures of perceived threat of COVID‐19, fears of compassion (for self, from others, for others), depression, anxiety, stress and social safeness. Results Perceived threat of COVID‐19 predicted increased depression, anxiety and stress. The three flows of fears of compassion predicted higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress and lower social safeness. All fears of compassion moderated (heightened) the impact of perceived threat of COVID‐19 on psychological distress. Only fears of compassion from others moderated the effects of likelihood of contracting COVID‐19 on social safeness. These effects were consistent across all countries. Conclusions Fears of compassion have a universal magnifying effect on the damaging impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on mental health and social safeness. Compassion focused interventions and communications could be implemented to reduce resistances to compassion and promote mental wellbeing during and following the pandemic.