How Having a Clear Why Can Help Us Cope With Almost Anything: Meaningful Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic in México
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in an increase in known risk factors for mental health problems. Mexico adopted lockdown and physical distancing as a containment strategy with potential consequences on day to day life, such as social isolation, loss of income and lonelin...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648069/full |
| _version_ | 1818360277772533760 |
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| author | Angelica Quiroga-Garza Ana C. Cepeda-Lopez Sofía Villarreal Zambrano Victor E. Villalobos-Daniel David F. Carreno Nikolett Eisenbeck |
| author_facet | Angelica Quiroga-Garza Ana C. Cepeda-Lopez Sofía Villarreal Zambrano Victor E. Villalobos-Daniel David F. Carreno Nikolett Eisenbeck |
| author_sort | Angelica Quiroga-Garza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in an increase in known risk factors for mental health problems. Mexico adopted lockdown and physical distancing as a containment strategy with potential consequences on day to day life, such as social isolation, loss of income and loneliness that can have important consequences in terms of mental health.Objective: We aimed to examine the effect of the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological distress, well-being and perceived physical health among Mexican-base respondents and to examine whether coping strategies would play a potential intermediating role in relation to these variables. Under the Existential Positive Psychology perspective, an emphasis was made on meaning-centered coping.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between April 30 and June 16th 2020 among 604 Mexicans-base respondents of which 471 were women and 132 men. Data was collected by using online questionnaires. Psychological distress was measured using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). The Brief COPE Inventory was used to assess problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. We also used the Meaning-Centered Coping Scale (MCCS). PERMA-Profiler was used to assess well-being, perceived physical health, and loneliness. Profiler and Descriptive analyses and bivariate linear regression were performed to examine the association of variables.Results: 45.9% of the participants reported moderate to extremely severe psychological distress. Our results demonstrate that problem-focused and emotion-focused coping were positively related to psychological distress, whereas meaning-centered coping was negatively associated with distress. Furthermore, psychological distress played a potential negative role in the perceived physical health, while meaning-centered coping and well-being buffered the negative influence of psychological distress on perceived physical health (completely standardized indirect effect = –0.01, SE: 0.012, 95% CI [−0.065; −0.017].Conclusion: Meaning-centered coping was found to suppress the negative influence of psychological distress on sensation of decreased physical health corroborating the critical role of meaning in life in promoting well-being. Future studies can further examine the value of the critical role of meaning in life in promoting well-being as a protective factor against severe distress during traumatic events. Findings of this study can be used to orient policies and interventions aimed to alleviate suffering in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T20:58:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-58d9079f795b4c9cb58c7a813bde98af |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T20:58:14Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-58d9079f795b4c9cb58c7a813bde98af2022-12-21T23:31:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782021-05-011210.3389/fpsyg.2021.648069648069How Having a Clear Why Can Help Us Cope With Almost Anything: Meaningful Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic in MéxicoAngelica Quiroga-Garza0Ana C. Cepeda-Lopez1Sofía Villarreal Zambrano2Victor E. Villalobos-Daniel3David F. Carreno4Nikolett Eisenbeck5Department of Psychology, Universidad de Monterrey, Monterrey, MexicoDepartment of Basic Sciences, School of Medicine, Universidad de Monterrey, Monterrey, MexicoDepartment of Basic Sciences, School of Medicine, Universidad de Monterrey, Monterrey, MexicoNational Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Ciudad de México, MexicoDepartment of Psychology, Universidad de Almería, Almería, SpainDepartment of Psychology, Universidad de Almería, Almería, SpainBackground: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in an increase in known risk factors for mental health problems. Mexico adopted lockdown and physical distancing as a containment strategy with potential consequences on day to day life, such as social isolation, loss of income and loneliness that can have important consequences in terms of mental health.Objective: We aimed to examine the effect of the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological distress, well-being and perceived physical health among Mexican-base respondents and to examine whether coping strategies would play a potential intermediating role in relation to these variables. Under the Existential Positive Psychology perspective, an emphasis was made on meaning-centered coping.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between April 30 and June 16th 2020 among 604 Mexicans-base respondents of which 471 were women and 132 men. Data was collected by using online questionnaires. Psychological distress was measured using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). The Brief COPE Inventory was used to assess problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. We also used the Meaning-Centered Coping Scale (MCCS). PERMA-Profiler was used to assess well-being, perceived physical health, and loneliness. Profiler and Descriptive analyses and bivariate linear regression were performed to examine the association of variables.Results: 45.9% of the participants reported moderate to extremely severe psychological distress. Our results demonstrate that problem-focused and emotion-focused coping were positively related to psychological distress, whereas meaning-centered coping was negatively associated with distress. Furthermore, psychological distress played a potential negative role in the perceived physical health, while meaning-centered coping and well-being buffered the negative influence of psychological distress on perceived physical health (completely standardized indirect effect = –0.01, SE: 0.012, 95% CI [−0.065; −0.017].Conclusion: Meaning-centered coping was found to suppress the negative influence of psychological distress on sensation of decreased physical health corroborating the critical role of meaning in life in promoting well-being. Future studies can further examine the value of the critical role of meaning in life in promoting well-being as a protective factor against severe distress during traumatic events. Findings of this study can be used to orient policies and interventions aimed to alleviate suffering in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648069/fullwellbeingpsychological distresscoping strategiesCOVID-19 pandemicperceived physical healthmeaning-centered coping |
| spellingShingle | Angelica Quiroga-Garza Ana C. Cepeda-Lopez Sofía Villarreal Zambrano Victor E. Villalobos-Daniel David F. Carreno Nikolett Eisenbeck How Having a Clear Why Can Help Us Cope With Almost Anything: Meaningful Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic in México Frontiers in Psychology wellbeing psychological distress coping strategies COVID-19 pandemic perceived physical health meaning-centered coping |
| title | How Having a Clear Why Can Help Us Cope With Almost Anything: Meaningful Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic in México |
| title_full | How Having a Clear Why Can Help Us Cope With Almost Anything: Meaningful Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic in México |
| title_fullStr | How Having a Clear Why Can Help Us Cope With Almost Anything: Meaningful Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic in México |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Having a Clear Why Can Help Us Cope With Almost Anything: Meaningful Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic in México |
| title_short | How Having a Clear Why Can Help Us Cope With Almost Anything: Meaningful Well-Being and the COVID-19 Pandemic in México |
| title_sort | how having a clear why can help us cope with almost anything meaningful well being and the covid 19 pandemic in mexico |
| topic | wellbeing psychological distress coping strategies COVID-19 pandemic perceived physical health meaning-centered coping |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648069/full |
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