Predicting the role of coping factors on pandemic-related anxiety

Abstract

The year 2020 saw the emergence of a worldwide pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Measures against further spread of the virus were taken nearly everywhere in the world. Many countries also imposed social distancing rules and lockdowns on their population. This situation has caused a lot of fear and insecurity, along with reactance and even unrest in some countries. In this study, we measured the psychological concepts of resilience, reactance, positive schemas, social solidarity, and anxiety among psychiatric patients and in how far these factors influence their psychopathological anxiety during the pandemic. The aim was to better understand in what ways these factors influence pandemic anxiety to be able to reduce its negative psychological effects. Findings show a significant effect of positive schemas and social solidarity on the level of pandemic anxiety in a sample of psychiatric patients, but no correlation between resilience or reactance and pandemic anxiety. Based on these insights, the inclusion of positive schemas and social solidarity for therapy should be considered. Looking deeper into the relation between positive schemas and pandemic anxiety could provide insight into the different ways that schemas influence people's anxiety and determine whether some of them are particularly important.

Keywords: Pandemic-related anxiety; Positive schemas; Reactance; Resilience; Social solidarity.