果冻传媒

鈥檚 thesis connects the social and physical environment and takes a closer look at how children interact with their environments by analyzing children鈥檚 activity patterns. By looking where children spent their time, what they do there and with whom we get a better view of what settings matter for them. The thesis also looks at the different exposures children experience throughout their day. Since it would be difficult to study all exposures, this research focuses on noise. Noise is known to affect health, including sleep and cognitive function, but its effects on mental health are less clear. Coping with noise-related stress might have long-term effects. If a child struggles to manage this stress, it can lead to a feeling of lost control, known as learned helplessness.

Impact of COVID-19

The first part of Hulsman-Dohmen鈥檚 thesis focuses on leisure time activities during COVID-19. A survey study was conducted within a group of parents/children aged 0-21 years to get a first insights into relevant settings for leisure time activities and how COVID-19 measures impacted them. The findings showed that older children were affected the most, spending more time indoors and using screens. Meanwhile, younger children played outside more due to COVID-19. Additionally, findings showed that age and gender differences that existed before the pandemic became even stronger. Finally, the impact of COVID-19 on activity patterns was influenced by social factors and how children personally experienced the impact of COVID-19.

Environmental exposures and mental health

The second part of the thesis looks at all types of activity patterns and includes information on environmental exposures. This was done through a GPS-diary study conducted after the pandemic with children across the Netherlands. The study examined where children from different age groups spent time, their noise exposure, and how their activity patterns and environment influenced mental health.

The results showed that activity patterns were mostly determined by age, but gender and socioeconomic differences also played a role. The study found that children are exposed to higher levels of noise than previously thought because research often only considers noise at home. It also showed that children鈥檚 perception of their environment and their activity patterns have an impact on mental health possibly more than actual noise levels or sociodemographic factors.

Coping with environmental stressors

The third part of the thesis looks at how children and young adults cope with environmental stressors like noise, focusing on the long-term effects of unsuccessful coping, known as learned helplessness. A systematic literature review was conducted and it suggested that cognitive fatigue might play a role in the relationship between noise and helplessness. To further investigate this, an experiment was conducted with young adults aged 18-25. The study measured their motivation to continue solving a difficult task as a way to assess the sensitivity to helplessness. Before the task, participants were exposed to differed conditions to influence cognitive fatigue. The results showed that cognitive fatigue affected motivation, but noise during the experiment did not. However, there was a small connection between noise exposure at home and motivation.

In sum, Hulsman-Dohmen鈥檚 research highlights the importance of creating age-specific supportive environments to promote mental health and well-being. It emphasizes the role of perception and environment interaction in shaping mental health outcomes. Finally it suggests that cognitive fatigue influence how we deal with stress and suggests potential long-term effects of chronic noise exposure, an area for further research.

Title of PhD thesis:  Supervisors: Maarten Hornikx, Astrid Kemperman and Ella Braat-Eggen.