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Post-traumatic growth and stress-related responses during the COVID-19 pandemic in a national representative sample: The role of core beliefs about the world and others

DOI:10.1007/s10902-020-00352-3
Authors:
Carmelo Vazquez at Complutense University of Madrid
Carmelo Vazquez
Carmen Valiente at Complutense University of Madrid
Carmen Valiente
Felipe E. García at University of Concepción
Felipe E. García
Alba Contreras at Université Catholique de Louvain - UCLouvain
Alba Contreras
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The aim of this study was to test a cognitive model of post-traumatic symptoms (PTS) and post-traumatic growth (PTG) during the confinement caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. It was hypothesised that the severity of PTS might be associated with ideas of suspiciousness and intolerance to uncertainty whereas PTG might be associated to beliefs of living in a good world and a positive outlook of the future. To evaluate the model, a national representative sample of adults between the ages of 18 and 75 (N=2122) was surveyed between 7-13 April, 2020, in the middle of a strict 7-week national confinement. Structural equation modelling yielded a very similar model to the one initially specified. The results highlight the role of both negative and positive core beliefs about the nature of the world and human nature, which are pertinent to the current biological threat, in the appearance of PTS and PTG, respectively.
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... More recent studies on the COVID-19 pandemic have found that the use of cognitive-based coping strategies, such as psychological flexibility and cognitive reappraisal, mediated the relationship between perceived stress and psychological symptoms (e.g., anxiety and PTSD; Di Maggio et al., 2023;Bruno et al., 2022). While limited research has examined the role of specific maladaptive health beliefs in the development of COVID stress, research has found that fundamental beliefs about the world (e.g., positive nature versus intrinsic uncertainty about the world) and early maladaptive schemas impacted psychological adjustment and distress in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (Faustino et al., 2022;Vazquez et al., 2021). For example, Faustino and colleagues (2022) found that the core psychological patterns of mistrustfulness and vulnerability to harm and illness which lead individuals to have more maladaptive core beliefs about the world acted as underlying mediator variables for the relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and psychological wellbeing and satisfaction. ...
... These results align with research that indicates an association between negative beliefs about health and the development of COVID-19-related fears (Akbari et al., 2021;Faustino et al., 2022). These findings also lend partial support for the COVID stress syndrome and CB models of HA which posit that anxiety and stress centre on beliefs about health and illness, including the misinterpretation of benign somatic symptoms as being indicative of serious illness (Alberts et al., 2013;Faustino et al., 2022;Salkovskis & Warwick, 2001;Taylor et al., 2020a;Vazquez et al., 2021). Contrary to our third hypothesis, our results revealed that beliefs pertaining to awfulness of illness and difficulty coping were not significant predictors of COVID stress. ...
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Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2023
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... 24 In addition, core beliefs about the world may be conducive to a traumatic response but also have the potential to develop traumatic growth. 26 Step 4: Delivery ...
... Remote telepsychology psychotherapy has displayed "clear, consistent evidence of beneficial effect" with anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress, and adjustment disorder. 26 Whilst recent findings on the outcomes are promising, there is limited research regarding online group psychotherapy. 27 This intervention provided a structured, manualised approach to facilitate the therapeutic group format, focusing on the underlying maintenance factors of COVID-19-related anxiety and depression using a CBT approach with a specified population. ...
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... They contend that stressful life situations are most likely to encourage growth if they challenge a person's fundamental worldviews, exposing the belief that one is safe and secure and that the world is predictable and under one's control. They agreed that encouraging others can aid progress by providing unique schemas and by providing viewpoints on what transpired that might be incorporated into schematic modification (Vazquez et al., 2021). ...
Self in the darkness seem to me no realer than a dream: experiences of living with alopecia universalis across two cultures
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Visible physical differences may have a variety of social and psychological effects. Complete hair loss on the scalp and body is a defining feature of the deforming disorder alopecia universalis (AU). The present study was conducted in order to gain some meaningful insights into cross cultural explanations of psychosocial consequences. The current research examined the lived experiences of males with AU in two different cultures—the United Kingdom and Pakistan. Participants from two diverse cultures were taken to compare and contrast the individual experiences in different social context. To understand the psychosocial experiences of males with AU, interpretive phenomenological analysis was used. Face to face in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with a volunteer sample of N = 12 men, n = 6 from Pakistan and n = 6 from UK having a formal diagnosis of AU. Five superordinate themes were emerged including: (1) Reactions (personal and social) (2) Impact (psychological and social) (3) Coping (cognitive and behavioral) (4) Adjustment and Rehabilitation and (5) Equilibrium /Growth (Psychological and spiritual). Men from UK tend to report stronger personal reactions. Pakistani men tend to experience social reactions such as stares, giggles and point blank questions from the public. Long term impact, coping process, adjustment and rehabilitation period reported by men with AU was quite similar across cultures. Having lived with AU for some period of time; men from UK getting more empathetic and compassionate whereas, Pakistani men developed gratitude over the years. Dermatologists must take into consideration the psychological requirements of those who have AU. Psychosocial interventions may be used to help patients by healthcare professionals, particularly psychologists. Future researches need to assess both men and women in order to address the impact of AU on people with different ages and sociodemographic backgrounds that will provide some insight into the significant effect of AU on individual’s wellbeing.
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... All these factors contributed to elevated emotional distress and social isolation within this patient group [23]. On the other hand, studies conducted in the general population showed that the COVID-19 pandemic did not necessarily affect people in a negative way only, that is, some people were either not hampered by the circumstances or even experienced positive changes in their lives (e.g., [26,27]). The question is whether this heterogeneity of SWB during this pandemic could be observed among PLWH. ...
Profiles of subjective well-being among people living with HIV during the COVID-19 pandemic
Article
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... Generally, primals that view the world in positive ways (i.e., the world is beautiful, safe, worth exploring) are related to positive outcomes (i.e., psychological flourishing, positive emotion, physical health; Clifton & Meindl, 2021). Belief in a good world is positively related to a growth-oriented trauma response, and this belief is also associated with fewer functional impairments in a stress-oriented response (Vazquez et al., 2021). Particular primals have also been found to be related to particular personality variables, character strengths, and well-being outcomes (i.e., curiosity with primal beliefs that the world is enticing and worth exploring; self-efficacy with improvable and needs me; life satisfaction with pleasurable and abundant; Clifton, 2020a). ...
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... Future research on pandemics could adopt a longitudinal design to examine the model while capturing the effect of pandemics across time. Fifth, apart from resilience as a coping resource, future research should investigate the role of other factors such as mindfulness (Tulucu et al., 2022), social support (Fong et al., 2022), and post-traumatic growth (Vazquez et al., 2021) in alleviation of psychological distress associated with the pandemic. Sixth, the present study measured burnout in the core dimension of emotional exhaustion and further studies could include other dimensions of burnout, namely, depersonalization and personal accomplishment (Taris et al., 2005). ...
Associations between COVID-19 mental impact and distress, resilience, burnout and well-being in Hong Kong community adults: A structural equation model
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Openness to the Future Scale: The Russian Adaptation and Validization
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Full-text available
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p style="text-align: justify;"> Introduction. The Openness to the Future Scale (OFS) was developed in 2018 to measure a new phenomenon in the field of positive psychology [5]. Contemporary professionals use it in research on both positive psychological resources and clinical psychological phenomena. Objective. The aim of this study was to adapt the Russian–language version of the Openness to the Future Scale on a population–based sample. Method. There were three groups of respondents: 374 volunteers from the general population, 72 homeless people temporarily living in the «Warm Reception» shelter, and 68 young adult graduates of orphanages and teenagers living in orphanages and dormitories at educational institutions. All participants filled out the Russian version of the Openness to the Future Scale, and participants in the second and third groups additionally filled out measures to assess psychological resources. Results. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a single–factor model identical to the factor structure of the original version of the Openness to the Future Scale, which confirmed the factor validity of the adapted instrument. The Cronbach's α–value was 0,83, which is evidence in favor of the internal reliability of the Russian version of the Openness to the Future Scale. Openness to the future scores were higher for male and younger respondents compared to female and older respondents. Openness to the future was positively correlated with life attitudes in the homeless and with resilience and proactive coping in young adult graduates and adolescents from orphanages. Conclusion. The basic psychometric properties of the adapted instrument allow recommending it as a research tool. This pilot study determines the need for further psychometric examinations of the Russian–language version of the Openness to the Future Scale, including by expanding the study sample, involving experts and respondents from different age and clinical groups, and comparing self–report data with objective psychometric assessments.</p
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Navigating the Aftermath: The Complex Landscape of COVID-19 in Northwest Syria
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BE BLESSED TO RESPIRE: A QUALITATIVE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING POST-TRAUMATIC GROWTH AMONG COVID-19 SURVIVORS IN MALAYSIA
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The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis that led to concerning hospital admission and death rate. Hospitalised COVID-19 survivors faced multiple stressors and tremendous psychological distress throughout their infection, hospitalisation and recovery journey. Despite facing adversity, discharged COVID-19 patients were found to breakthrough and achieve Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) while demonstrating the tendency to flourish from the negative experience. By adopting a basic interpretive qualitative research design, this study obtained a comprehensive understanding about the hospitalised experience of COVID-19 survivors. The employment of the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) as a screening criterion among participants who achieved medium to very high PTG has validated the research findings after surviving through Stages 4 and 5 COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation and at least 3 months post-discharge. Thematic analysis has revealed components that contributed to participants' PTG-the presence of stressors, perceived distress, adaptive coping strategies, resilience, social support and inner strengths. Positive changes that emerged after the experience were reflected in 6 PTG themes-increased pro-health awareness and actions, sense of purpose, positive life view, more agreeableness, change in life priorities and Carpe Diem. Research findings also provided insights about the subjective hospitalised experience and growth journey through the eyes of COVID-19 survivors. Recommendations in this study can be a pivotal reference for community stakeholders to reinforce policies that go beyond alleviating negative impacts of the pandemic to achieve pragmatic outcomes through shaping a supportive environment that aids recovery and promoting growth among survivors of COVID-19 and any possible future health crisis.
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Psychological Adjustment in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Positive and Negative Mental Health Outcomes in the General Population
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Full-text available
  • Feb 2021
In the midst of the COVID–19 epidemic, Spain was one of the countries with the highest number of infections and a high mortality rate. The threat of the virus and consequences of the pandemic have a discernible impact on the mental health of citizens. This study aims to (a) evaluate the levels of anxiety, depression and well-being in a large Spanish sample during the confinement, (b) identify potential predictor variables associated to experiencing both clinical levels of distress and well-being in a sample of 2,122 Spanish people. By using descriptive analyses and logistic regression results revealed high rates of depression, anxiety and well-being. Specifically, our findings revealed that high levels of anxiety about COVID–19, increased substance use and loneliness as the strongest predictors of distress, while gross annual incomes and loneliness were strongest predictors of well-being. Finding of the present study provide a better insight about psychological adjustment to a pandemic and allows us to identify which population groups are at risk of experiencing higher levels of distress and which factors contribute to greater well-being, which could help in the treatments and prevention in similar stressful and traumatic situations.
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A symptom-based definition of resilience in times of pandemics: Patterns of psychological responses over time and their predictors
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Full-text available
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Full-text available
  • Oct 2020
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Monitoring the psychological, social, and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the population: Context, design and conduct of the longitudinal COVID-19 psychological research consortium (C19PRC) study
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2020
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Article
Full-text available
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Why we need to integrate mental health into pandemic planning
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In this article, Chris Brewin and colleagues draw on their experiences of managing the mental health consequences of major incidents, including in the case of pandemics, and highlight how responses in this area tend to be inadequately planned and funded.
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Psychometric properties and normative data of the Spanish Version of Short Form Persecution and Deservedness Scale
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Full-text available
  • Oct 2020
The Persecution and Deservedness Scale (PaDS) is a measure widely used to assess persecutory thinking. This paper aims to test the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Short-Form Persecution and Deservedness Scale (SF-PaDS), factor structure, and distribution scores across demographic characteristics. For this purpose, a representative sample of Spaniards (N = 1,947) was used. The internal consistency of the scale was good (α =.84) and it showed adequate convergent validity, with significant moderate correlations with loneliness, depression and anxiety, and mild significant correlations with mistrust of others. The confirmatory factor analysis and the parallel analysis revealed a unifactorial structure. Analyses showed no significant differences across gender or educational level, but there were significant differences regarding age, history of mental health difficulties, income and employment status. Thus, our results indicate that the Spanish version of the SF-PaDS is a valid and reliable measure of persecutory thinking within the Spanish context.
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Is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Meaningful in the Context of the COVID‐19 Pandemic? A Response to Van Overmeire's Commentary on Karatzias et al. (2020)
Article
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  • Oct 2020
In a recently published study in this journal that used a population-based sample in the Republic of Ireland (Karatzias et al., 2020), we concluded that 17.7% of the sample met the diagnostic requirements for COVID-19–related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Subsequently, Van Overmeire (2020) has raised concerns about the validity of our findings, arguing that simply experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic is not sufficient to meet the trauma exposure criterion for a PTSD diagnosis and, consequently, our estimated PTSD prevalence figure was inflated. In this response, we provide (a) an explanation for why the COVID-19 pandemic can be reasonably considered to be a traumatic event, (b) evidence that PTSD in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a meaningful construct, and (c) an argument for why our estimated prevalence rate is not unreasonably high.
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Response invalidity in empirical research: Causes, detection, and remedies
Article
  • Mar 2019
Research in behavioral operations management and related areas relies heavily on self‐report measures. The utility of such measures depends on the extent to which the responses are valid, meaning they correspond to the thoughts and beliefs of respondents with regard to the phenomena under study. Response validity is undermined when respondents are unwilling or unable to provide adequate responses to survey questions, an issue that has generated an array of methods for screening and evaluating survey data and dealing with dubious responses. This article uses the work of Abbey and Meloy (2017) as a point of departure to examine the causes, detection, and remedies of response invalidity. The article concludes with recommendations for future research that treats response validity and its dimensions as methods factors that should be formally incorporated into statistical models.
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