Active Coping and Anxiety Symptoms during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spanish Adults

Abstract

The features of the COVID-19 pandemic and the social operations to contain the spread of the virus might have limited or altered coping, including healthy habits such as exercise, this contributing to a myriad of negative consequences for the mental health of the global population. We explored the contribution of coping and physical activity to the management of anxiety in Spanish adults during an active phase of the epidemic, as well as the relationship between these strategies. A total of 200 young and adult individuals (70% women) voluntarily completed an anxiety inventory, a coping skills self-report and a personal data section including exercise practice. The participants reported in average a mild yet existing level of anxiety symptoms; a third reported noticeable symptoms. At the time of the study, the participants used more adaptive than maladaptive coping styles. Participants’ anxiety was inversely correlated with an active coping style, and positively with an avoidant style; physical activity correlated positively with an active coping style, and regular exercisers used more frequently active coping. Controlling for confounders, active coping, avoidant coping and exercise during the pandemic predicted anxiety symptoms. Other findings indicated that exercise was used as a coping strategy for dealing with emotional distress. Our results highlight the positive impact of functional coping and exercise for the management of negative states such as anxiety during the pandemic, and underline the importance of developing interventions aimed at enhancing coping skills for promoting physical and mental well-being of the population during health and social crises.

Multivariate Analysis on Physical Activity, Emotional and Health Status of University Students Caused by COVID-19 Confinement

“…These results follow the trend of similar studies conducted in Latin American [ 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 ] and Caribbean countries [ 83 , 84 ], Spain [ 47 ], Italy [ 85 ], the United States [ 86 ], France, and Switzerland [ 87 ], as well as other studies carried out in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and China [ 88 ].…”

The Role of Self-Care Activities (SASS-14) in Depression (PHQ-9): Evidence From Slovakia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Again, interestingly, this study showed that more IICS were associated with more depression in individuals with the lowest depression score. The opposite view was presented by Lara et al ( 68 ), whose results indicated that active coping strategies may be helpful in the management of negative mental states during the COVID-19 pandemic. Miklowitz ( 69 ) also stated that cognitive and interpersonal coping strategies are effective for depressive symptoms.…”

Coping and Life Satisfaction in Colombian Older Adults

“…The results obtained are similar to previous research that obtained a significant and negative relationship between emotion-focused coping and SWB [16]; however, this research obtained showed a higher predictive power in the relationship between emotion-focused strategies and well-being. Functional coping strategies have been shown to positively affect the mental health of older adults [8].…”

“…It is also important to examine coping trajectories of older adults later in life, as functional coping has a positive impact in mental health and wellbeing [8]. Coping is 2 of 8 a set of cognitive and behavioral efforts and resources that the individual carries out to manage external and internal demands that the individual evaluates as stressful and exceed its control [9].…”