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PURPOSE Identifying how people have been coping with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic allows us to anticipate how the population may react to similar stressors over time. In this study, we assessed patterns of coping styles among veterans and nonveterans, and stability and change in these strategies at 3 time points during the pandemic. METHODS Using an online survey platform, we circulated a questionnaire at 3 time points during the period when COVID-19 vaccines became widely available (December 2-27, 2020; January 21-February 6, 2021; and March 8-23, 2021). The questionnaire asked participants about their extent of use of 11 coping strategies, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. RESULTS A total of 2,085 participants (50.8% veterans) completed the questionnaire at 1 or more time points and 930 participants (62.8% veterans) completed it at all 3 time points. Cluster analysis identified 3 distinct coping styles: adaptive, distressed, and disengaged. Compared with nonveterans, veterans more commonly had adaptive and disengaged coping styles, and less commonly had a distressed coping style. The majority of the cohort (71.3%) changed coping style at least once during the study period. Participants who used the same coping style across all 3 time points reported lower levels of anxiety and depression. CONCLUSIONS Our data demonstrate a need to better understand the dynamic nature of coping with pandemic-level stressors across time. We did not find patterns of change in coping styles, but our findings point to potential advantages of stability in coping style. It is possible that less adaptive styles that are more stable may be advantageous for mental health. This research has implications for supporting patients dealing with stress in family medicine. Key words: veteran; coping styles; mental health; stress and coping; psychological distress; resilience, psychological; anxiety; depression; COVID-19; pandemic, INTRODUCTION Stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic may be contributing to mental health risk on a grand scale. Emerging evidence supports a widespread mental health impact. (1) Determining how people [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2006.09.028 Byline: Dazhang Gu, Lonnie Welch, Frank Drews, Klaus Ecker Keywords: Real-time system; Task allocation; Robustness; Dynamic environment Abstract: The problem of robust task allocation is motivated by the need to deploy real-time systems in dynamic operational environments. Existing robust allocation approaches employ coarse robustness metrics, which can result in poor allocations. This paper proposes a metric that accurately characterizes a system's robustness within feasible allocation regions. An allocation algorithm is provided to find allocations that are both feasible and robust; the robustness as measured by the metric is shown to have theoretical bounds. Experiments demonstrate that the algorithm produces good and scalable performance compared with several heuristic algorithms. Author Affiliation: Center for Intelligent, Distributed, and Dependable Systems, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA

INTRODUCTION Summarizing the literature on aging and dual-task performance, Kramer and Larish (1996; see also Craik, 1977, and Hartley, 1992, for similar conclusions) noted that 'one of the best exemplars […], Our research examined the effects of hands-free cell phone conversations on simulated driving. We found that driving performance of both younger and older adults was influenced by cell phone conversations. Compared with single-task (i.e., driving-only) conditions, when drivers used cell phones their reactions were 18% slower, their following distance was 12% greater, and they took 17% longer to recover the speed that was lost following braking. There was also a twofold increase in the number of rear-end collisions when drivers were conversing on a cell phone. These cellphone-induced effects were equivalent for younger and older adults, suggesting that older adults do not suffer a significantly greater penalty for talking on a cell phone while driving than compared with their younger counterparts. Interestingly, the net effect of having younger drivers converse on a cell phone was to make their average reactions equivalent to those of older drivers who were not using a cell phone. Actual or potential applications of this research include providing guidance for recommendations and regulations concerning the use of mobile technology' while driving.