Centre for Economic Transformation| CET

Appraisal and coping predict health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic

an international approach

Article

<p>COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on people worldwide. We conducted an international survey (n = 3646) examining the degree to which people's appraisals and coping activities around the pandemic predicted their health and well-being. We obtained subsamples from 12 countries-Bangladesh, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, India, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Turkey and the United States. For each, we assessed appraisals and coping strategies as well as indicators of physical and mental health and well-being. Results indicated that, despite mean-level societal differences in outcomes, the pattern of appraisals and coping strategies predicting health and well-being was consistent across countries. Use of disengagement coping (particularly behavioural disengagement and self-isolation) was associated with relatively negative outcomes. In contrast, optimistic appraisals (particularly of high accommodation-focused coping potential and the ability to meet one's physical needs), use of problem-focused coping strategies (especially problem-solving) and accommodative coping strategies (especially positive reappraisal and self-encouragement) were associated with relatively positive outcomes. Our study highlights the critical importance of considering accommodative coping in stress and coping research. It also provides important information on how people have been dealing with the pandemic, the predictors of well-being under pandemic conditions and the generality of such relations.</p>

Reference Kirby, L. D., Qian, W., Adiguzel, Z., Afshar Jahanshahi, A., Bakracheva, M., Orejarena Ballestas, M. C., Cruz, J. F. A., Dash, A., Dias, C., Ferreira, M. J., Goosen, J. G., Kamble, S. V., Mihaylov, N. L., Pan, F., Sofia, R., Stallen, M., Tamir, M., van Dijk, W. W., Vittersø, J., & Smith, C. A. (2022). Appraisal and coping predict health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international approach. International Journal of Psychology, 57(1), 49-62. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12770
1 January 2022

Publication date

Jan 2022

Author(s)

Leslie D. Kirby
Weiqiang Qian
Zafer Adiguzel
Asghar Afshar Jahanshahi
Margarita Bakracheva
María C Orejarena Ballestas
José Fernando A Cruz
Arobindu Dash
Claudia Dias
Maria J. Ferreira
Johanna G. Goosen
Shanmukh V. Kamble
Nikolay L. Mihaylov
Fada Pan
Rui Sofia
Maya Tamir
Wilco W. van Dijk
Joar Vittersø
Craig A. Smith

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