Exploring the Heterogeneity and Trajectories of Positive Functioning Variables, Emotional Distress, and Post-traumatic Growth During Strict Confinement Due to COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic-related confinement may be a fruitful opportunity to use individual resources to deal with it or experience psychological functioning changes. This study aimed to analyze the evolution of different psychological variables during the first coronavirus wave to identify the different psychological response clusters, as well as to keep a follow-up on the changes among these clusters. The sample included 459 Spanish residents (77.8% female, M_age = 35.21 years, SD_age = 13.00). Participants completed several online self-reported questionnaires to assess positive functioning variables (MLQ, Steger et al. in J Loss Trauma 13(6):511-527, 2006. 10.1080/15325020802173660; GQ-6, McCullough et al. in J Person Soc Psychol 82:112-127, 2002. 10.1037/0022-3514.82.1.112; CD-RISC, Campbell-Sills and Stein in J Traum Stress 20(6):1019-1028, 2007. 10.1002/jts.20271; CLS-H, Chiesi et al. in BMC Psychol 8(1):1-9, 2020. 10.1186/s40359-020-0386-9; SWLS; Diener et al. in J Person Assess, 49(1), 71-75, 1985), emotional distress (PHQ-2, Kroenke et al. in Med Care 41(11):1284-1292, 2003. 10.1097/01.MLR.0000093487.78664.3C; GAD-2, Kroenke et al. in Ann Internal Med 146(5):317-325, 2007. 10.7326/0003-4819-146-5-200703060-00004; PANAS, Watson et al. in J Person Soc Psychol 47:1063-1070, 1988; Perceived Stress, ad hoc), and post-traumatic growth (PTGI-SF; Cann et al. in Anxiety Stress Coping 23(2):127-137, 2010. 10.1080/10615800903094273), four times throughout the 3 months of the confinement. Linear mixed models showed that the scores on positive functioning variables worsened from the beginning of the confinement, while emotional distress and personal strength improved by the end of the state of alarm. Clustering analyses revealed four different patterns of psychological response: "Survival", "Resurgent", "Resilient", and "Thriving" individuals. Four different profiles were identified during mandatory confinement and most participants remained in the same cluster. The "Resilient" cluster gathered the largest number of individuals (30-37%). We conclude that both the heterogeneity of psychological profiles and analysis of positive functioning variables, emotional distress, and post-traumatic growth must be considered to better understand the response to prolonged adverse situations.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10902-021-00469-z.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Clustering analyses; Emotional distress; Positive functioning variables; Post-traumatic growth; Trajectories.

Fig. 1

State of alarm milestones in Spain

Fig. 2

Differences in study variables over time. Notes: Error bars represent ± 1 standard deviation. Colors represent the periods: MLQ= The Meaning in Life Questionnaire; GQ-6=The Gratitude Questionnaire-6; CD-RISC= The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale; CLS-H= The Compassionate Love Scale for Humanity; SWLS= The Satisfaction with Life Scale; PS= Perceived Stress; PHQ-2= The Patient Health Questionnaire-2; GAD – 2= The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-2; PANAS Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; PTGI-SF= short form of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory

Fig. 3

Graphical representation of the standardized scores (0–1) for each cluster and assessed periods. Notes: MLQ = The Meaning in Life Questionnaire; GQ-6 = The Gratitude Questionnaire-6; CD-RISC = The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale; CLS-H = The Compassionate Love Scale for Humanity; SWLS = The Satisfaction with Life Scale; PSS-2 = The Perceived Stress Scale; PHQ-2 = The Patient Health Questionnaire-2; GAD- 2 = The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire-2; PANAS Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; PTGI-SF = short form of the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory; NP = New possibilities; RO = Relating to others; PS = Personal strength; AL = Appreciation of life; SC = Spiritual change

Fig. 4

Graphical representation of the percentage of participants that migrated among clusters over time. Notes: Cluster 1 = “Survival” group; Cluster 2 = “Resurgent” group; Cluster 3 = “Resilient” group; Cluster 4 = “Thriving” group. The first column represents Period 1, the second column represents Period 2, the third column represents Period 3, and the fourth column represents Period 4