Optimism, mindfulness, and resilience as potential protective factors for the mental health consequences of fear of the coronavirus
Author: Lisa M W Vos1, Mirela Habibović1, Ivan Nyklíček1, Tom Smeets1, Gaëtan Mertens2
Affiliation:
1 Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Postal address: Warandelaan 2, Tilburg University, 5037AB Tilburg, the Netherlands.
2 Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Postal address: Warandelaan 2, Tilburg University, 5037AB Tilburg, the Netherlands. Electronic address: g.mertens@tilburguniversity.edu.
Conference/Journal: Psychiatry Res
Date published: 2021 Apr 6
Other:
Volume ID: 300 , Pages: 113927 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113927. , Word Count: 165
The COVID-19 pandemic has a substantial impact on mental health. Prior reports have shown that depression, anxiety, and stress have increased throughout the pandemic. Nonetheless, not everyone is affected by these negative consequences and some people may be relatively unaffected. In this online study in a predominantly Dutch and Belgian sample (N = 546), we investigated whether positive personality traits such as optimism, mindfulness, and resilience may protect against the negative mental health consequences (i.e., fear of the coronavirus, depression, stress, and anxiety) of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that fear of COVID-19 was related to higher depression, stress, and anxiety. However, for participants scoring high on mindfulness, optimism, and resilience, this relationship was weakened. In addition to these findings, we present the results of network analyses to explore the network structure between these constructs. These results help to identify possible ways through which psychological well-being can be promoted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: COVID-19; Depression; Fear; Mental health; Mindfulness; Optimism; Resilience.
PMID: 33848964 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113927
BACK
