Patterns of Psychological Responses among the Public during the Early Phase of COVID-19: A Cross-Regional Analysis

Abstract

First_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle Patterns of Psychological Responses among the Public during the Early Phase of COVID-19: A Cross-Regional Analysis by Yuen Yu Chong 1,*,Wai Tong Chien 1ORCID,Ho Yu Cheng 1,Demetris Lamnisos 2ORCID,Jeļena Ļubenko 3,Giovambattista Presti 4ORCID,Valeria Squatrito 4ORCID,Marios Constantinou 5,Christiana Nicolaou 6,Savvas Papacostas 7ORCID,Gökçen Aydin 8ORCID,Francisco J. Ruiz 9ORCID,Maria B. Garcia-Martin 10,Diana P. Obando-Posada 10,Miguel A. Segura-Vargas 9ORCID,Vasilis S. Vasiliou 11ORCID,Louise McHugh 12ORCID,Stefan Höfer 13ORCID,Adriana Baban 14,David Dias Neto 15,add Show full author list 1 The Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China 2 Department of Health Sciences, European University Cyprus, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus 3 Psychological Laboratory, Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare, Riga Stradiņš University, LV-1007 Riga, Latvia 4 Kore University Behavioral Lab (KUBeLab), Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Kore University of Enna, 94100 Enna, Italy 5 Department of Social Sciences, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Nicosia, 2417 Nicosia, Cyprus 6 Department of Nursing, Cyprus University of Technology, 3036 Limassol, Cyprus 7 Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, 1683 Nicosia, Cyprus 8 Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Faculty of Education, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep 27010, Turkey 9 Department of Psychology, Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz, Bogotà 110231, Colombia 10 Faculty of Psychology, University of La Sabana, Chía 53753, Colombia add Show full affiliation list * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(8), 4143; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084143 Submission received: 23 March 2021 / Revised: 5 April 2021 / Accepted: 8 April 2021 / Published: 14 April 2021 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19) Downloadkeyboard_arrow_down Browse Figure Versions Notes Abstract This study aimed to compare the mediation of psychological flexibility, prosociality and coping in the impacts of illness perceptions toward COVID-19 on mental health among seven regions. Convenience sampled online survey was conducted between April and June 2020 from 9130 citizens in 21 countries. Illness perceptions toward COVID-19, psychological flexibility, prosociality, coping and mental health, socio-demographics, lockdown-related variables and COVID-19 status were assessed. Results showed that psychological flexibility was the only significant mediator in the relationship between illness perceptions toward COVID-19 and mental health across all regions (all ps = 0.001–0.021). Seeking social support was the significant mediator across subgroups (all ps range = <0.001–0.005) except from the Hong Kong sample (p = 0.06) and the North and South American sample (p = 0.53). No mediation was found for problem-solving (except from the Northern European sample, p = 0.009).

Este estudio tuvo como objetivo comparar la mediación de la flexibilidad psicológica, la prosocialidad y el afrontamiento en los impactos de las percepciones de la enfermedad hacia la COVID-19 en la salud mental entre siete regiones. Se realizó una encuesta en línea de conveniencia entre abril y junio de 2020 a 9130 ciudadanos en 21 países. Se evaluaron las percepciones de la enfermedad hacia la COVID-19, la flexibilidad psicológica, la prosocialidad, el afrontamiento y la salud mental, las variables sociodemográficas, las relacionadas con el confinamiento y el estado de la COVID-19. Los resultados mostraron que la flexibilidad psicológica fue el único mediador significativo en la relación entre las percepciones de la enfermedad hacia la COVID-19 y la salud mental en todas las regiones (todos los p = 0,001-0,021). La búsqueda de apoyo social fue el mediador significativo en todos los subgrupos (todos los rangos de p = <0,001-0,005) excepto en la muestra de Hong Kong ( p = 0,06) y la muestra de América del Norte y del Sur ( p = 0,53). No se encontró mediación para la resolución de problemas (excepto en la muestra de Europa del Norte, p = 0,009).