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Coping with COVID-19: the efficacy of disengagement for coping with the chronic stress of a pandemic.
- Source :
- Anxiety, Stress & Coping; Jan2023, Vol. 36 Issue 1, p52-66, 15p, 1 Diagram, 3 Charts
- Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic was a novel chronic stressor that necessitated figuring out how to cope with it. We hypothesized that disengagement coping – coping with a stressor by disengaging from it – would be effective because the pandemic featured heightened uncertainty and enduring intensity. We assessed the disengagement strategies of distraction – taking a break from a stressor – and avoidance – avoiding thoughts and feelings associated with a stressor – and emotional well-being outcomes (positive/negative emotions, stress) in three waves one week apart (305 participants completed all three waves). Distraction was one of the most frequently endorsed coping strategies. The results of multi-level models and cross-lagged panel models showed that participants who used distraction habitually experienced better emotional well-being overall and that using distraction led to better emotional well-being that week, but did not predict increases in well-being from one week to the next. Those who used avoidance also experienced better emotional well-being that week, but habitual use of avoidance was associated with worse emotional well-being overall. These findings suggest that in the midst of chronic stressors like this pandemic, the disengagement coping strategy of distraction is popular and effective for temporarily improving people's well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- STRESS management
PSYCHOLOGICAL stress
MULTILEVEL models
PANDEMICS
WELL-being
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10615806
- Volume :
- 36
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Anxiety, Stress & Coping
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 161465485
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2022.2081841