Identifying Resilience Factors of Distress and Paranoia During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Five Countries
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...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-06-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661149/full |
| _version_ | 1818409133719683072 |
|---|---|
| author | Martin Jensen Mækelæ Niv Reggev Renata P. Defelipe Natalia Dutra Ricardo M. Tamayo Kristoffer Klevjer Gerit Pfuhl |
| author_facet | Martin Jensen Mækelæ Niv Reggev Renata P. Defelipe Natalia Dutra Ricardo M. Tamayo Kristoffer Klevjer Gerit Pfuhl |
| author_sort | Martin Jensen Mækelæ |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T09:54:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-df7cd500f0294a5cbcdfcb362ca8f7ff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T09:54:47Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-df7cd500f0294a5cbcdfcb362ca8f7ff2022-12-21T23:07:26ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782021-06-011210.3389/fpsyg.2021.661149661149Identifying Resilience Factors of Distress and Paranoia During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Five CountriesMartin Jensen Mækelæ0Niv Reggev1Renata P. Defelipe2Natalia Dutra3Ricardo M. Tamayo4Kristoffer Klevjer5Gerit Pfuhl6Department of Psychology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, NorwayDepartment of Psychology, Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, IsraelInstituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilEvolution of Human Behavior Laboratory, Department of Physiology and Behavior, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, BrazilDepartamento de Psicología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, ColombiaDepartment of Psychology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, NorwayDepartment of Psychology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, NorwayThe 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.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661149/fullpandemic (COVID-19)coping behaviorthrivingprotective factormental health |
| spellingShingle | Martin Jensen Mækelæ Niv Reggev Renata P. Defelipe Natalia Dutra Ricardo M. Tamayo Kristoffer Klevjer Gerit Pfuhl Identifying Resilience Factors of Distress and Paranoia During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Five Countries Frontiers in Psychology pandemic (COVID-19) coping behavior thriving protective factor mental health |
| title | Identifying Resilience Factors of Distress and Paranoia During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Five Countries |
| title_full | Identifying Resilience Factors of Distress and Paranoia During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Five Countries |
| title_fullStr | Identifying Resilience Factors of Distress and Paranoia During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Five Countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Identifying Resilience Factors of Distress and Paranoia During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Five Countries |
| title_short | Identifying Resilience Factors of Distress and Paranoia During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Five Countries |
| title_sort | identifying resilience factors of distress and paranoia during the covid 19 outbreak in five countries |
| topic | pandemic (COVID-19) coping behavior thriving protective factor mental health |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661149/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT martinjensenmækelæ identifyingresiliencefactorsofdistressandparanoiaduringthecovid19outbreakinfivecountries AT nivreggev identifyingresiliencefactorsofdistressandparanoiaduringthecovid19outbreakinfivecountries AT renatapdefelipe identifyingresiliencefactorsofdistressandparanoiaduringthecovid19outbreakinfivecountries AT nataliadutra identifyingresiliencefactorsofdistressandparanoiaduringthecovid19outbreakinfivecountries AT ricardomtamayo identifyingresiliencefactorsofdistressandparanoiaduringthecovid19outbreakinfivecountries AT kristofferklevjer identifyingresiliencefactorsofdistressandparanoiaduringthecovid19outbreakinfivecountries AT geritpfuhl identifyingresiliencefactorsofdistressandparanoiaduringthecovid19outbreakinfivecountries |