A Renewed Outbreak of the COVID?19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study of Distress, Resilience, and Subjective Well-Being

Shaul Kimhi, Yohanan Eshel, Hadas Marciano and Bruria Adini
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Shaul Kimhi: Stress and Resilience Research Center, Tel-Hai College, Northern Galilee 1220800, Israel
Yohanan Eshel: Stress and Resilience Research Center, Tel-Hai College, Northern Galilee 1220800, Israel
Hadas Marciano: Stress and Resilience Research Center, Tel-Hai College, Northern Galilee 1220800, Israel
Bruria Adini: Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Management School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6139001, Israel

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-13

Abstract: Considering the potential impact of COVID-19 on the civil society, a longitudinal study was conducted to identify levels of distress, resilience, and the subjective well-being of the population. The study is based on two repeated measurements conducted at the end of the pandemic’s “first wave” and the beginning of the “second wave” on a sample ( n = 906) of Jewish Israeli respondents, who completed an online questionnaire distributed by an Internet panel company. Three groups of indicators were assessed: signs of distress (sense of danger, distress symptoms, and perceived threats), resilience (individual, community, and national), and subjective well-being (well-being, hope, and morale). Results indicated the following: (a) a significant increase in distress indicators, with effect sizes of sense of danger, distress symptoms, and perceived threats (Cohen’s d 0.614, 0.120, and 0.248, respectively); (b) a significant decrease in resilience indicators, with effect sizes of individual, community, and national resilience (Cohen’s d 0.153, 0.428, and 0.793, respectively); and (c) a significant decrease in subjective well-being indicators with effect sizes of well-being, hope, and morale (Cohen’s d 0.116, 0.336, and 0.199, respectively). To conclude, COVID-19 had a severe, large-scale impact on the civil society, leading to multidimensional damage and a marked decrease in the individual, community, and national resilience of the population.

Keywords: COVID-19; sense of danger; distress symptoms; perceived threats; individual; community and national resilience; well-being; hope and morale (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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