Coping styles and mental health in response to societal changes during the COVID-19 pandemic

Caroline Gurvich, Natalie Thomas, Elizabeth HX Thomas, Abdul-Rahman Hudaib, Lomash Sood, Kali Fabiatos, Keith Sutton, Anton Isaacs, Shalini Arunogiri, Gemma Sharp and Jayashri Kulkarni

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2021, vol. 67, issue 5, 540-549

Abstract: Background: Psychosocial responses to infectious disease outbreaks have the potential to inflict acute and longstanding mental health consequences. Early research across the globe has found wide ranging psychological responses to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding how different coping styles can be effective in mitigating mental ill health would enable better tailored psychological support. Aims: The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of psychosocial responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, including depression, anxiety and distress, as well as effective coping styles in an Australian sample. Method: A sample of 1,495 adults, residing in Australia between April 3rd and May 3rd 2020, completed an online survey which measured psychological distress (Impact of Events Scale-Revised), depression, anxiety, stress (DASS-21), as well as coping strategies (Brief COPE). Results: 47% of the respondents were experiencing some degree of psychological distress. Females experienced higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress than males. Coping strategies associated with better mental health were positive reframing, acceptance and humour. Conversely, self-blame, venting, behavioural disengagement and self-distraction were associated with poorer mental health. Conclusion: Rates of psychological symptoms amongst the Australian population are similar to those reported in other countries. Findings add to the growing literature demonstrating a gender disparity in the mental health impacts of COVID-19. Positive emotion focused coping strategies may be effective for reducing psychological symptoms. Understanding psychosocial responses including beneficial coping strategies are crucial to manage the current COVID-19 situation optimally, as well as to develop mental health response plans for future pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; depression; anxiety; mental health; coping (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764020961790 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:67:y:2021:i:5:p:540-549

DOI: 10.1177/0020764020961790

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Social Psychiatry
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().