Psychological distress and the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of personality and coping strategies
Personality traits and coping strategies significantly predict predisposition to psychopathology. This study aimed to examine the predictive role of coping strategies in psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of Portuguese individuals, considering personality and sociodemogr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Cadernos de Saúde Pública |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-311X2024001201400&lng=en&tlng=en |
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| _version_ | 1841538659483910144 |
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| author | Sónia Catarina Carvalho Simões Laura Maria Carreira Marques Diogo André Fonseca Sequeira de Andrade Sandra Isabel Ferreira das Neves Henriques Luís André Abreu Paraíso Ferreira Helena Maria Amaral do Espírito-Santo |
| author_facet | Sónia Catarina Carvalho Simões Laura Maria Carreira Marques Diogo André Fonseca Sequeira de Andrade Sandra Isabel Ferreira das Neves Henriques Luís André Abreu Paraíso Ferreira Helena Maria Amaral do Espírito-Santo |
| author_sort | Sónia Catarina Carvalho Simões |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Personality traits and coping strategies significantly predict predisposition to psychopathology. This study aimed to examine the predictive role of coping strategies in psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of Portuguese individuals, considering personality and sociodemographic variables. Data were collected using Google Forms from 2402 individuals (86.8% women; mean age ± SD = 36.80 ± 11.80) between March and June 2020, found primarily through Facebook. The evaluation instruments included the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), NEO Five-Factor Inventory, and Brief-COPE. Younger adults, females, single individuals, and those with lower education experienced higher distress. Neuroticism was strongly associated with all dimensions of psychological distress and the overall BSI. Maladaptive coping strategies (self-distraction, denial, self-blame, behavioral disengagement) were positively correlated with distress, whereas agreeableness and positive reframing were negatively correlated. Regression analysis showed that gender, age, education, and psychiatric diagnosis predicted 12% of distress; adding neuroticism increased prediction to 34% and coping strategies to 37%, with self-blame among coping strategies being the strongest predictor. Personality traits and coping strategies were significant predictors of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings emphasize the need for interventions that target neuroticism and maladaptive coping strategies to improve mental health outcomes during public crises. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-76b8b3ea552b4d09817ef4987868f53f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1678-4464 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cadernos de Saúde Pública |
| spelling | doaj-art-76b8b3ea552b4d09817ef4987868f53f2025-01-14T07:40:57ZengEscola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo CruzCadernos de Saúde Pública1678-44642025-01-01401210.1590/0102-311xen096123Psychological distress and the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of personality and coping strategiesSónia Catarina Carvalho Simõeshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6691-7941Laura Maria Carreira Marqueshttps://orcid.org/0009-0005-4295-0519Diogo André Fonseca Sequeira de Andradehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5435-0407Sandra Isabel Ferreira das Neves Henriqueshttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5877-6862Luís André Abreu Paraíso Ferreirahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8034-9776Helena Maria Amaral do Espírito-Santohttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2625-3754Personality traits and coping strategies significantly predict predisposition to psychopathology. This study aimed to examine the predictive role of coping strategies in psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of Portuguese individuals, considering personality and sociodemographic variables. Data were collected using Google Forms from 2402 individuals (86.8% women; mean age ± SD = 36.80 ± 11.80) between March and June 2020, found primarily through Facebook. The evaluation instruments included the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), NEO Five-Factor Inventory, and Brief-COPE. Younger adults, females, single individuals, and those with lower education experienced higher distress. Neuroticism was strongly associated with all dimensions of psychological distress and the overall BSI. Maladaptive coping strategies (self-distraction, denial, self-blame, behavioral disengagement) were positively correlated with distress, whereas agreeableness and positive reframing were negatively correlated. Regression analysis showed that gender, age, education, and psychiatric diagnosis predicted 12% of distress; adding neuroticism increased prediction to 34% and coping strategies to 37%, with self-blame among coping strategies being the strongest predictor. Personality traits and coping strategies were significant predictors of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings emphasize the need for interventions that target neuroticism and maladaptive coping strategies to improve mental health outcomes during public crises.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-311X2024001201400&lng=en&tlng=enCOVID-19Psychological DistressCoping StrategiesPersonality |
| spellingShingle | Sónia Catarina Carvalho Simões Laura Maria Carreira Marques Diogo André Fonseca Sequeira de Andrade Sandra Isabel Ferreira das Neves Henriques Luís André Abreu Paraíso Ferreira Helena Maria Amaral do Espírito-Santo Psychological distress and the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of personality and coping strategies Cadernos de Saúde Pública COVID-19 Psychological Distress Coping Strategies Personality |
| title | Psychological distress and the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of personality and coping strategies |
| title_full | Psychological distress and the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of personality and coping strategies |
| title_fullStr | Psychological distress and the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of personality and coping strategies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Psychological distress and the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of personality and coping strategies |
| title_short | Psychological distress and the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of personality and coping strategies |
| title_sort | psychological distress and the covid 19 pandemic the role of personality and coping strategies |
| topic | COVID-19 Psychological Distress Coping Strategies Personality |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-311X2024001201400&lng=en&tlng=en |
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