Publicação
The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal: the role of personality traits and emotion regulation strategies
| Resumo: | There is an evidente need for the identification of factors associated with worldwide decline in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, few studies investigated the role of dispositional factors on the psychological impact of the pandemic in the general population. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to identify personality and emotion regulation factors that affect levels of depression, anxiety, and stress during the second wave of COVID-19. Between November (2020) and February (2021), an online questionnaire was disseminated to evaluate levels of symptomatology, personality traits, emotion regulation strategies, sociodemographic characteristics, and pandemic-related factors. A total of 544 adults residing in Portugal were included in this study. Half of them reported moderate to extreme levels of depression (52.6%), anxiety (52.3%), and stress (50.3%). The greatest psychological distress was observed in those who were unemployed, in presential work, had a medical condition (neurological or other), were positive for COVID-19 at the time, were in social confinement, had high traits of neuroticism and reported emotional dysregulation, with predominant use of emotional suppression as a coping strategy. Contrarily, those in remote work, who lived in a house, showed high traits of conscientiousness and agreeableness and used cognitive reappraisal as an emotional coping strategy, had less psychological distress. These results highlight the importance of individual differences in personality and emotion regulation style and their role in how people deal with a state of pandemic. The scientific community, the government and health authorities must focus on developing effective methods to promote more adaptive emotional responses and reduce additional challenges in the Portuguese community. |
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| Autores principais: | Meireles, Joana Raquel Oliveira |
| Assunto: | COVID-19 Emotion regulation Mental-health Personality Personalidade Regulação emocional Saúde mental Ciências Sociais::Psicologia |
| Ano: | 2021 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade do Minho |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho |
| Resumo: | There is an evidente need for the identification of factors associated with worldwide decline in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, few studies investigated the role of dispositional factors on the psychological impact of the pandemic in the general population. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to identify personality and emotion regulation factors that affect levels of depression, anxiety, and stress during the second wave of COVID-19. Between November (2020) and February (2021), an online questionnaire was disseminated to evaluate levels of symptomatology, personality traits, emotion regulation strategies, sociodemographic characteristics, and pandemic-related factors. A total of 544 adults residing in Portugal were included in this study. Half of them reported moderate to extreme levels of depression (52.6%), anxiety (52.3%), and stress (50.3%). The greatest psychological distress was observed in those who were unemployed, in presential work, had a medical condition (neurological or other), were positive for COVID-19 at the time, were in social confinement, had high traits of neuroticism and reported emotional dysregulation, with predominant use of emotional suppression as a coping strategy. Contrarily, those in remote work, who lived in a house, showed high traits of conscientiousness and agreeableness and used cognitive reappraisal as an emotional coping strategy, had less psychological distress. These results highlight the importance of individual differences in personality and emotion regulation style and their role in how people deal with a state of pandemic. The scientific community, the government and health authorities must focus on developing effective methods to promote more adaptive emotional responses and reduce additional challenges in the Portuguese community. |
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