Identifying Resilience Factors of Distress and Paranoia During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Five Countries

Frontiers in Psychology

Ricardo M. Tamayo¹  Martin Jensen Mækelæ²  Gerit Pfuhl²  Kristoffer Klevjer²  Niv Reggev³  Natalia Dutra⁴  Renata P. Defelipe⁵ 

[1] Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia;Department of Psychology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway;Department of Psychology, Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel;Evolution of Human Behavior Laboratory, Department of Physiology and Behavior, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil;Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil;

关键词: pandemic (COVID-19);    coping behavior;    thriving;    protective factor;    mental health;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661149

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has affected all countries with more than 100 million confirmed cases and over 2.1 million casualties by the end of January 2021 worldwide. A prolonged pandemic can harm global levels of optimism, regularity, and sense of meaning and belonging, yielding adverse effects on individuals' mental health as represented by worry, paranoia, and distress. Here we studied resilience, a successful adaptation despite risk and adversity, in five countries: Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Israel, and Norway. In April 2020, over 2,500 participants were recruited for an observational study measuring protective and obstructive factors for distress and paranoia. More than 800 of these participants also completed a follow-up study in July. We found that thriving, keeping a regular schedule, engaging in physical exercise and less procrastination served as factors protecting against distress and paranoia. Risk factors were financial worries and a negative mindset, e.g., feeling a lack of control. Longitudinally, we found no increase in distress or paranoia despite an increase in expectation of how long the outbreak and the restrictions will last, suggesting respondents engaged in healthy coping and adapting their lives to the new circumstances. Altogether, our data suggest that humans adapt even to prolonged stressful events. Our data further highlight several protective factors that policymakers should leverage when considering stress-reducing policies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY