The rapid spread of COVID-19 worldwide was accompanied by intense fears, confusion, worries, anger, and stress threatening people’s mental health. Unprecedented measures to slow down and prevent the transmission of COVID-19 have had various impacts on the population’s health behaviour and mental health. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the lockdown’s effects on university students’ mental health in Romania. Based on a cross-sectional design, the survey data were collected from a sample of 722 participants (247 males; M = 21.1 years; SD ± 1.73). A path analysis was performed to verify the hypothesised direct and indirect effects included in the multiple mediation model. The findings showed a positive association between stress and boredom proneness, missing daily social interactions, spending more time on phone conversations, and the increasing interest in following news about the pandemic. The path analysis revealed an excellent fit between the proposed multiple mediation model and the sample data. Boredom proneness and missing daily social interactions both affected stress, directly and indirectly, through more time spent on phone conversations. In addition, it was found that the increased interest in following news about the pandemic mediated the relationship between boredom proneness and perceived stress. In terms of gender differences, our findings revealed that female students experienced significantly higher stress levels than male students, perceived to a greater extent the lack of daily social interactions, and spent more time on phone conversations. Overall, the findings further extend the empirical evidence on university students’ mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, universities need to organise support programmes focused on developing university students’ coping strategies to maintain their mental health even in adverse contexts.

The geographical accessibility to hospitals relies on the configuration of the hospital network, spatial impedance and population distribution. This paper explores the potential geographic accessibility of the population to public hospitals in Romania by using the Distance Application Program Interface (API) Matrix service from Google Maps and open data sources. Based on real-time traffic navigation data, we examined the potential accessibility of hospitals through a weighted model that took into account the hospital competency level and travel time while using personal car transportation mode. Two scenarios were generated that depend on hospitals’ level of competency (I–V). When considering all categories of hospitals, access is relatively good with over 80% of the population reaching hospitals in less than 30 min. This is much lower in the case of hospitals that provide complex care, with 34% of the population travelling between 90 to 120 min to the nearest hospital classed in the first or second category of competence. The index of spatial accessibility (ISA), calculated as a function of real travel time and level of competency of the hospitals, shows spatial patterns of services access that highlight regional disparities or critical areas. The high concentration of infrastructure and specialised medical personnel in particular regions and large cities limits the access of a large part of the population to quality health services with travel time and distances exceeding optimal European level values. The results can help decision-makers to optimise the location of health services and improve health care delivery.

"Population ageing, affecting both developed and developing countries nowadays, poses new challenges but also represents an opportunity for socio-economic systems in general, and in particular for tourism and recreation. In the light of the recently designed EU silver economy policies, active ageing shapes itself to be an attractive opportunity for the European leisure market. Seriously affected by the COVID-19 health crisis, the tourism sector’s resilience depends on the hospitality industry’s capacity to adapt, innovate, and respond to society’s new demographic challenges. Consequently, new types and forms of tourism and new service technologies should be implemented having in mind an ageing population. This paper used as the main research tool a survey on Bucharest residents aged 65 and over, aiming to identify their main preferences and limitations regarding recreational activities and leisure tourism. The main results identify similarities and differences to findings on European silver tourists and could be further valued by better adapted holiday packages and tourism marketing strategies for Romania. The present research emphasised differences in senior travel preferences and a possible segmentation of silver tourists in Romania (e.g. based on their income, education level), highly suggesting that the elderly’s needs have to be addressed by tailor-made products. "

The traditional Romanian village has recently seen unmistakable transformations. The import of architectural styles from EU countries and the need to modernise dwellings, combined with considerable legislative voids regarding the protection of the built-up heritage, have strongly modified traditional architecture and resulted in irremediable losses in terms of rural authenticity and landscape aesthetics. This study aims to analyse the need for preserving existing traditional architecture in Certeze village, which has been severely jeopardised by the import of post-modern elements. The perception of both locals and tourists on these aspects was evaluated using the survey method. Results outlined more conservative views from the older inhabitants who are still attached to traditional constructing styles, while younger respondents preferred the more modern houses. Most tourists also showed an increased interest in the traditional architecture and criticised the newer constructed buildings. The contrast between old and new, which at this point is ubiquitous in the area, remains an element of intergenerational negotiations and risks the diminishing of the cultural authenticity of Certeze even further.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 worldwide was accompanied by intense fears, confusion, worries, anger and stress threatening people’s mental health. Unprecedented measures to slow down and prevent the transmission of COVID-19 have had various impacts on the population’s health behaviour and mental health. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the lockdown’s effects on university students’ mental health in Romania. Based on a cross-sectional design, the survey data were collected from a sample of 722 participants (247 males; M = 21.1 years; SD ± 1.73). A path analysis was performed to verify the hypothesised direct and indirect effects included in the multiple mediation model. The findings showed a positive association between stress and boredom proneness, missing daily social interactions, spending more time on phone conversations and the increasing interest in following news about the pandemic. The path analysis revealed an excellent fit between the proposed multiple mediation model and the sample data. Boredom proneness and missing daily social interactions both affected stress, directly and indirectly, through more time spent on phone conversations. In addition, it was found that the increased interest in following news about the pan-demic mediated the relationship between boredom proneness and perceived stress. In terms of gender differences, our findings revealed that female students experienced significantly higher stress levels than male students, perceived to a greater extent the lack of daily social interactions and spent more time on phone conversations. Overall, the findings further extend the empirical evidence on university students’ mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, universities need to organise support programmes focused on developing university students’ coping strategies to maintain their mental health even in adverse contexts.

Family is a notion that societies are consistently trying to define and redefine nowadays, according to various interest groups. It also represents a variable functioning within conditions of population aging, especially in developing countries. An analysis of what family means must consider all the factors that influence it both structurally and in terms of size. The main objectives were to identify the perception of fertile-aged women about the notion of family and to measure its possible influence on the target group’s demographic behavior. The inquiry method was part of the research methodology with 499 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews done of a sample size population (women aged 15 to 49) living in Bucharest, Romania and supplemented by an SPSS analysis of the data gathered. The main results show that regardless of their education or income level, the interviewed target group declared that starting a new family or enlarging the current one is mostly correlated with financial aspects, and also that a pregnancy early in a woman’s career is viewed as an obstacle to her future development, even though when asked about the ideal family the financial aspect was rarely mentioned. The authors concluded that respondents’ mental attitude and reproductive behavior are undergoing a transitory phase. As such in Romania there is a need for sustainable demographic measures to tackle fertility issues. Several aspects support this: birth rates in the country have been consistently decreasing; the country’s economy is declining; and the interviewed target group conditioned starting a family or enlarging their current one on having sufficient financial resources.