Group Membership and Social and Personal Identities as Psychosocial Coping Resources to Psychological Consequences of the COVID-19 Confinement

Carlos-María Alcover, Fernando Rodríguez, Yolanda Pastor, Helena Thomas, Mayelin Rey and José Luis del Barrio
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Carlos-María Alcover: Department of Psychology, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
Fernando Rodríguez: Department of Psychology, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
Yolanda Pastor: Department of Psychology, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
Helena Thomas: Department of Psychology, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain
Mayelin Rey: Centro de Salud Mental de Ciudad Lineal, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, 28017 Madrid, Spain
José Luis del Barrio: Department of Medical Specialties and Public Health, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 20, 1-19

Abstract: The confinement imposed by measures to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic may in the short and medium term have psychological and psychosocial consequences affecting the well-being and mental health of individuals. This study aims to explore the role played by group membership and social and personal identities as coping resources to face the experience of the COVID-19 confinement and radical disruption of social, work, family and personal life in a sample of 421 people who have experienced a month of strict confinement in the Region of Madrid. Our results show that identity-resources (membership continuity/new group memberships, and personal identity strength) are positively related to process-resources (social support and perceived personal control), and that both are related to better perceived mental health, lower levels of anxiety and depression, and higher well-being (life satisfaction and resilience) during confinement. These results, in addition to providing relevant information about the psychological consequences of this experience, constitute a solid basis for the design of psychosocial interventions based on group memberships and social identity as coping resources.

Keywords: group membership; social identity; social support; mental health and well-being; COVID-19 pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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