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Background: excessive infant crying is common and can have a huge impact on families and well-being. Systematically reviewing qualitative studies on infant crying can provide a greater understanding of parental perceptions and experiences.Aim: this study sought to systematically review and thematically synthesize qualitative studies exploring parents/carers' views and experiences of infant crying.Design: a systematic review and synthesis of qualitative research.Data Sources: electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and CINAHL were searched from the earliest date available to January 2022. We selected papers focussing on parents/carers' experiences, views, attitudes and beliefs about infant crying. We excluded papers focussing on health professionals' views and children older than 12 months.Review Methods: thematic synthesis was followed for the analysis of included studies and quality appraisal was conducted.Results: we synthesized 22 papers, reporting data from 376 participants in eight countries. Four analytical themes were developed: (1) Experiences and impact of crying; (2) parental management strategies; (3) the role of the health professional; (4) the role of infant feeding and maternal diet. Our findings suggest that infant crying has a substantial emotional impact on parents/carers that often impacts relationships. Parents/carers reported using a range of soothing techniques and coping strategies but were desperate to find effective treatment or cure. Support was often perceived as lacking. Excessive crying and beliefs about the role of maternal diet on breastmilk were reported to undermine parents' confidence in breastfeeding by making them feel their milk is insufficient or harmful, or through pressure from others to stop breastfeeding.Conclusion: parents/carers use a range of strategies to interpret and deal with the challenges of infant crying, but there is a need for more information and support.Impact: findings can be used to inform future research and interventions to support families experiencing excessive infant crying.

Objectives Physical distancing, defined as keeping 1–2m apart when co-located, can prevent cases of droplet or aerosol transmitted infectious diseases such as SARS-CoV2. During the COVID-19 pandemic, distancing was a recommendation or a requirement in many countries. This systematic review aimed to determine which interventions and behavior change techniques (BCTs) are effective in promoting adherence to distancing and through which potential mechanisms of action (MOAs). Methods Six databases were searched. The review included studies that were (a) conducted on humans, (b) reported physical distancing interventions, (c) included any comparator (e.g., pre-intervention versus post-intervention; randomized controlled trial), and (d) reported actual distancing or predictors of distancing behavior. Risk of bias was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. BCTs and potential MoAs were identified in each intervention. Results Six articles (with seven studies and 19 comparisons) indicated that distancing interventions could successfully change MoAs and behavior. Successful BCTs (MoAs) included feedback on behavior (e.g., motivation); information about health consequences, salience of health consequences (e.g., beliefs about consequences), demonstration (e.g., beliefs about capabilities), and restructuring the physical environment (e.g., environmental context and resources). The most promising interventions were proximity buzzers, directional systems, and posters with loss-framed messages that demonstrated the behaviors. Conclusions The evidence indicates several BCTs and potential MoAs that should be targeted in interventions and highlights gaps that should be the focus of future research.

This guidance offers recommendations for interventions that can be used to encourage and enable physical distancing. The target behaviour for this guidance document is physical distancing, defined as staying 1–2 metres (depending on national guidance)apart from people in the same location. We are using the term ‘physical distancing’ as opposed to ‘social distancing’, in line with the World Health Organization and our earlier guidance.Physical distancing is important when viruses are airborne, such as the virus that causes Covid-19. Remaining at a physical distance from others reduces the risk of aerosols and droplets entering the eyes, nose or mouth and therefore reduces the risk of spreading infection, particularly with physical distancing of 1 metre or more3. Many governments and health agencies have recommended people adhere to a physical distance of between1 metre4 to 2 metres5 from people who are not in their household or ‘bubble’. In general, people typically stand a little less than 1 metre away from familiar people and 1.3 metre away from others6. Whilst many people have started to physically distance, standing metres away requires breaking strong habits. Even where regulations do not require physical distancing, people might still be encouraged to distance where possible, in regions where transmission rates are rising or high. This guidance is based on a systematic review of the evidence for interventions to encourage physical distancing and summarises the approaches that are effective in helping people to maintain physical distance from others. This included six papers, reporting 14 interventions with over 5500 people. There may be other approaches that could be effective but at present there is no evidence for or against them. It is important to note that some of the evidence reports influences on intention to distance physically rather than the action of physical distancing itself.

Public health teams need to understand how the public responds to vaccination messages in a pandemic or epidemic to inform successful campaigns encouraging the uptake of new vaccines as they become available. A rapid systematic review was performed by searching PsycINFO, MED-LINE, healthevidence.org, OSF Preprints and PsyArXiv Preprints in May 2020 for studies including at least one health message promoting vaccine uptake of airborne-, droplet-and fomite-spread vi-ruses. Included studies were assessed for quality using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) or the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR), and for patient and public involvement (PPI) in the research. Thirty-five articles were included. Most reported messages for seasonal influenza (n = 11; 31%) or H1N1 (n = 11; 31%). Evidence from moderate to high quality studies for improving vaccine uptake included providing information about virus risks and vaccination safety, as well as addressing vaccine misunderstandings, offering vaccination reminders, including vaccination clinic details, and delivering mixed media campaigns across hospitals or communities. Behavioural influences (beliefs and intentions) were improved when: shorter, risk-reducing or relative risk framing messages were used; the benefits of vaccination to society were emphasised; and beliefs about capability and concerns among target populations (e.g., vaccine safety) were addressed. Clear, credible, messages in a language target groups can understand were associated with higher accept-ability. Two studies (6%) described PPI in the research process. Future campaigns should consider the beliefs and information needs of target populations in their design, including ensuring that vaccine eligibility and availability is clear, and messages are accessible. More high quality research is needed to demonstrate the effects of messaging interventions on actual vaccine uptake.

This report is part of the JRC Climate Change Induced Migration (CLICIM) project. CLICIM aims at the provision of evidence on the nexus between climate change and population dynamics in Africa. In this report, we analyse the relationship between climate change, population and migration in a selected territory within the Sahel – an already documented case of climate related migration. We base the analysis on the recent JRC net migration estimates at high geographical detail, produced in the context of the CLICIM project. Our contribution is twofold. Firstly, the report provides a mapping of the population exposure to climate change in the selected territory over the period 1975–2015. In particular, it identifies the geographical distribution of populations affected by droughts and how their demographic dynamics have changed over time. Second, the report develops a modelling exercise to investigate the climate change–migration nexus. Results from the model confirm a significant association between net migration and drought intensity, which is more accentuated in rural areas. Model findings also document that increasing temperatures and precipitation have contributed to decreasing net migration over the considered period., JRC.E.6-Demography, Migration and Governance

Additional file 1. Mapping booklet contents to guiding principles: Main, goal and optional booklets (pdf).

Additional file 2. Interview guides (pdf).

This report aims at detailing the territorial diversities of ageing across the EU, understanding the main drivers behind such differences and explore their relations with data on access to services and amenities, regional economic performance, political attitudes and behaviours., JRC.E.6-Demography, Migration and Governance

This technical report presents new estimates of net migration at high spatial resolution produced by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) – Knowledge Centre on Migration and Demography (KCMD). The development of new net migration data is the first step of a broader JRC project aimed at analysing the relation between climate change, population distribution and related migration. The report uses demographic indirect estimation techniques based on population data from the JRC Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) to estimate five-year net migration from 1975 to 2015 at a spatial resolution of about 25 km. Notably, the recent definition of Degrees of Urbanization proposed by the European Commission and developed by the JRC is applied to distinguish net migration in urban and rural areas. Findings from the new datasets constitute the basis for further analyses on the relation between climate change and migration. Two validation exercises of the new database are performed. First, when net migration estimates are aggregated from 25 km resolution to the country-level, a positive correlation with country net migration estimates from UN DESA is observed. Second, when focusing on Europe, the new estimates are coherent with Eurostat net migration figures at subnational (NUTS3) level., JRC.E.6-Demography, Migration and Governance

In 2019, there were an estimated 1.8 billion people aged 15-29 in the world population. As these people grow up, entering social and economic independence along the way, they will potentially reshape economies, politics and social relations around the world. International initiatives have put the importance of young people centre-stage for sustainable development in the future, but the knowledge-base on migration patterns of young people around the world is lacking. With this in mind, in this report we; a) define the concepts of youth and youth migration; b) map demographic trends globally and in Europe to highlight where youth populations are growing or declining; and c) describe youth migration trends to show which young people are moving, where and why., JRC.E.6-Demography, Migration and Governance

In this note we explore the main demographic differentials in the spread and impact of COVID-19 paying special attention to the combined effect of age and gender, and to the differences at territorial level where population density plays a large role in the diffusion and outcome of the disease in terms of morbidity and mortality. The information is important for designing an exit strategy from COVID-19 and anticipating the rebound for certain segments of the population with differential medical needs, particularly those living in high-density locations., JRC.E.6-Demography, Migration and Governance

Search strategy. (DOCX 13 kb)

Table S1. Synthesis matrix for screening for malnutrition. Table S2. Synthesis matrix for treating malnutrition. Table S3. Synthesis matrix for prescribing or taking ONS. (DOCX 24 kb)

Over the recent decades, the EU has been shaped by population growth, but now its population is ageing. Together with North America and East Asia, the EU is moving towards longer-living, lower-fertility, and higher-educated societies. Facing this new demographic frontier naturally prompts the questions: Who will live and work in Europe in the coming decades? How many, and with what skills? To answer these, this report examines the key factors that will shape European demographics over the coming decades. By examining not only the role of migration, fertility and mortality, but also education levels and labour force participation rates, a more comprehensive view of possible futures can be outlined than the conventional demographic projections allow for. The first five sections of this report focus on demographic challenges inside the EU, such as population ageing, a shrinking labour force, more non-working people being dependent on working people, and showing the impact of high levels of emigration in some EU Member States. With these challenges in mind and with a view towards 2060, the report builds scenarios to understand the long-term effects of changes in key trends, and whether undesirable consequences can be limited or counteracted. As the EU and its demographics do not exist in isolation, the following sections explore the relevant trends for world demographics and for migration flows., JRC.A.5-Scientific Development

Workflow in the data collection by phase of asylum procedure from the arrival of immigrants to the second-instance decision (DOCX 341 kb)

Inclusion and exclusion criteria. (DOCX 14 kb)

Objectives: to investigate the suitability of the revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) for use with adolescents with a long-term pain condition and to validate a new questionnaire for use with this age group.Design: a three-phase mixed-methods study.Methods: phase 1 comprised in-depth qualitative analyses of audio-recorded cognitive interviews with 20 adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis who were answering IPQ-R items. Transcripts were coded using framework analysis. A content analysis of their intended responses to individual items was also conducted. In Phase 2, a new questionnaire was developed and its linguistic and face validity were assessed with 18 adolescents without long-term conditions. In Phase 3, the construct validity of the new questionnaire was assessed with 240 adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. A subset of 43 adolescents completed the questionnaire a second time to assess test-retest reliability. All participants were aged 11-16 years.Results: participants described both conceptual and response format difficulties when answering IPQ-R items. In response, the Pain Perception Questionnaire for Young People (PPQ-YP) was designed which incorporated significant modifications to both wording and response formats when compared with the IPQ-R. A principal component analysis of the PPQ-YP identified ten constructs in the new questionnaire. Emotional representations were separated into two constructs, responsive and anticipatory emotions. The PPQ-YP showed high test-retest reliability.Conclusions: symptom beliefs appear to be more salient to adolescents with a long-term pain condition than beliefs about the illness as a whole. A new questionnaire to assess pain beliefs of adolescents was designed. Further validation work may be needed to assess its suitability for use with other pain conditions. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Versions of the adult Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) have been adapted for adolescents and children by changing item wording; however, research to assess the degree to which the underlying IPQ-R constructs are relevant to adolescents with a long-term condition had not been performed. What the present study adds? In adolescents, beliefs about symptoms of their condition are more salient than beliefs about the illness as a whole. Question response formats for children and young people need to take account of age-specific abilities. A new questionnaire has been designed for adolescents with pain. It is theoretically congruent with the CS-SRM.

People, planet, prosperity and peace are four priorities shared by Africa and Europe, and areas where opportunities for beneficial cooperation abound. Over the past three decades, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has worked with many organisations and institutions across Africa. This report and its accompanying interactive online service ‘Africa StoryMaps’ present the key findings from this collaboration, and set out options the decision-making, research and education communities may consider. The report focuses on the African dimension of the partnership. It explores the opportunities and challenges arising from the fact that Africa has over twice the population of the European Union (EU), is the world’s most youthful continent, has an economy that is growing faster than that of the EU, is almost seven times larger geographically, yet is vulnerable to diverse internal and external stresses. Tell us what you think about this report. Please fill out and return our feedback form (PDF) at https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/file/document/africa-report-feedback-form., JRC.D.6-Knowledge for Sustainable Development and Food Security

Background. Advances in pain assessment approaches now indicate which measures should be used to capture chronic pain experiences in children and adolescents. However, there is little guidance on how these tools should best be administered and reported, such as which time frames to use or how pain scores are categorised as mild, moderate, or severe. Objective. To synthesise current evidence on unidimensional, single-item pain intensity scale selection, administration, interpretation, and reporting. Methods. Databases were searched (inception: 18 January 2016) for studies in which unidimensional pain intensity assessments were used with children and adolescents with chronic pain. Ten quality criteria were developed by modifying existing recommendations to evaluate the quality of administration of pain scales most commonly used with children. Results. Forty-six studies met the inclusion criteria. The highest score achieved was 7 out of a possible 10 (median: 5; IQR: 4–6). Usage of scales varied markedly in administrator/completer, highest anchors, number of successive assessments, and time referent periods used. Conclusions. Findings suggest these scales are selected, administered, and interpreted inconsistently, even in studies of the same type. Furthermore, methods of administration are rarely reported or justified making it impossible to compare findings across studies. This article concludes by recommending criteria for the future reporting of paediatric chronic pain assessments in studies.

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