Resilience of people with chronic medical conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic: a 1-year longitudinal prospective survey

Lorenzo Tarsitani¹, Irene Pinucci^{2

3}, Federico Tedeschi⁴, Martina Patanè³, Davide Papola⁴, Christina Palantza³, Ceren Acarturk⁵, Emma Björkenstam⁶, Richard Bryant⁷, Sebastian Burchert⁸, Camille Davisse-Paturet⁹, Amanda Díaz-García¹⁰, Rachel Farrel¹¹, Daniela C Fuhr¹², Brian J Hall^{13

14}, Anja C Huizink¹⁵, Agnes Iok Fong Lam^{16

17}, Gülşah Kurt⁵, Ingmar Leijen¹⁸, Ellenor Mittendorfer-Rutz⁶, Naser Morina¹⁹, Catherine Panter-Brick^{11

20}, Fredrick Dermawan Purba²¹, Soledad Quero^{22

23}, Soraya Seedat²⁴, Hari Setyowibowo²¹, Judith van der Waerden²⁵, Massimo Pasquini², Marit Sijbrandij³, Corrado Barbui⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. lorenzo.tarsitani@uniroma1.it.
² Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Clinical, Neuro-, and Developmental Psychology and WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
⁴ WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey.
⁶ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Insurance Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Berzelius väg 3, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁷ School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
⁸ Department of Education and Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, CESP, 94807, Villejuif, France.
¹⁰ Department of Psychology and Sociology, Universidad de Zaragoza (Teruel), Teruel, Spain.
¹¹ Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, USA.
¹² Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Tavistock Place, London, UK.
¹³ Center for Global Health Equity, NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
¹⁴ New York University School of Global Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Clinical, Neuro-, and Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹⁶ Centre for Macau Studies, University of Macau, Macau, SAR, People's Republic of China.
¹⁷ Department of Communications, University of Macau, Macau, SAR, People's Republic of China.
¹⁸ Department of Marketing, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
¹⁹ Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital of Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
²⁰ Jackson School for Global Affairs, Yale University, New Haven, USA.
²¹ Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jatinangor, Indonesia.
²² Department of Basic, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain.
²³ CIBER de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain.
²⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
²⁵ INSERM U1136, Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Social Epidemiology Research Team, Paris, France.

PMID: 36183067
PMCID: PMC9525930
DOI: 10.1186/s12888-022-04265-8

Resilience of people with chronic medical conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic: a 1-year longitudinal prospective survey

Lorenzo Tarsitani et al. BMC Psychiatry. 2022.

. 2022 Oct 1;22(1):633.

doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-04265-8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. lorenzo.tarsitani@uniroma1.it.
² Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Clinical, Neuro-, and Developmental Psychology and WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
⁴ WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey.
⁶ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Insurance Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Berzelius väg 3, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁷ School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
⁸ Department of Education and Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Inserm, CESP, 94807, Villejuif, France.
¹⁰ Department of Psychology and Sociology, Universidad de Zaragoza (Teruel), Teruel, Spain.
¹¹ Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, USA.
¹² Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Tavistock Place, London, UK.
¹³ Center for Global Health Equity, NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
¹⁴ New York University School of Global Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Clinical, Neuro-, and Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹⁶ Centre for Macau Studies, University of Macau, Macau, SAR, People's Republic of China.
¹⁷ Department of Communications, University of Macau, Macau, SAR, People's Republic of China.
¹⁸ Department of Marketing, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
¹⁹ Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital of Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
²⁰ Jackson School for Global Affairs, Yale University, New Haven, USA.
²¹ Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jatinangor, Indonesia.
²² Department of Basic, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain.
²³ CIBER de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain.
²⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
²⁵ INSERM U1136, Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Social Epidemiology Research Team, Paris, France.

PMID: 36183067
PMCID: PMC9525930
DOI: 10.1186/s12888-022-04265-8

Abstract

Backgrounds: Individuals with chronic medical conditions are considered highly exposed to COVID-19 pandemic stress, but emerging evidence is demonstrating that resilience is common even among them. We aimed at identifying sustained resilient outcomes and their predictors in chronically ill people during the first year of the pandemic.

Methods: This international 4-wave 1-year longitudinal online survey included items on socio-demographic characteristics, economic and living situation, lifestyle and habits, pandemic-related issues, and history of mental disorders. Adherence to and approval of imposed restrictions, trust in governments and in scientific community during the pandemic were also investigated. The following tools were administered: the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale, the PTSD Checklist DSM-5, the Oslo Social Support Scale, the Padua Inventory, and the Portrait Values Questionnaire.

Results: One thousand fifty-two individuals reporting a chronic condition out of 8011 total participants from 13 countries were included in the study, and 965 had data available for the final model. The estimated probability of being "sustained-resilient" was 34%. Older male individuals, participants employed before and during the pandemic or with perceived social support were more likely to belong to the sustained-resilience group. Loneliness, a previous mental disorder, high hedonism, fear of COVID-19 contamination, concern for the health of loved ones, and non-approving pandemic restrictions were predictors of not-resilient outcomes in our sample.

Conclusions: We found similarities and differences from established predictors of resilience and identified some new ones specific to pandemics. Further investigation is warranted and could inform the design of resilience-building interventions in people with chronic diseases.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Chronic medical conditions; Resilience; Stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Graphical representation of the Mover-Stayer model

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References

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Resilience of people with chronic medical conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic: a 1-year longitudinal prospective survey

Affiliations

Resilience of people with chronic medical conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic: a 1-year longitudinal prospective survey

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical