Forward-focused coping predicts better mental health outcomes in mid- to late-life during the COVID-19 pandemic

Predictors of Anxiety, Stress, and Concern of COVID-19 Infection in Older Adults During the First and the Second Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Slovakia

“…Although the current research was a part of a broader Slovak study involving a general adult sample as well as an older adult sample (Bavo ˇlár et al, 2021), the results presented in this paper cannot be fully compared with the general adult sample as some variables were measured with different instruments. However, the current findings can be compared with similar research studies conducted on a cohort of older adults in different countries during the COVID-19 pandemic (Ahorsu et al, 2020;Bergman et al, 2020;Bidzan-Bluma et al, 2020;Carriedo et al, 2020;García-Portilla et al, 2020;Grossman et al, 2021;Han et al, 2021;Jordan et al, 2021;Parlapani et al, 2020;Reppas-Rindlisbacher et al, 2021;Robb et al, 2020;Shrira et al, 2020;Tyler et al, 2021;Zhou et al, 2021).…”

“…Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of research focuses on the mental health of older adults is increasing. However, these studies have mostly looked at the first wave of the pandemic ( Ahorsu et al, 2020 ; Bergman et al, 2020 ; Bidzan-Bluma et al, 2020 ; Carriedo et al, 2020 ; García-Portilla et al, 2020 ; Grossman et al, 2021 ; Jordan et al, 2021 ; Parlapani et al, 2020 ; Robb et al, 2020 ; Shrira et al, 2020 ; Tyler et al, 2021 ). The present research contributes to the existing knowledge about the mental health of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic by analyzing the role of socio-demographic and psychological characteristics in predicting levels of anxiety, stress, and concern of COVID-19 infection during both the first and the second waves of the pandemic.…”

“…Coping self-efficacy (the perceived ability to cope with stressful events) has been found to be related to posttraumatic distress ( Benight & Harper, 2002 ; Benight et al, 1999 ; Cieslak et al, 2008 ). In addition, perceived control over stressful situations (low perceived control—powerlessness vs. high perceived control), locus of control (internal vs. external), and coping strategies have been found to be associated with anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life ( Bjørkløf et al, 2013 ; Helvik et al, 2016 ; Jordan et al, 2021 ). In particular, external locus of control is related to poorer health-related quality of life ( Helvik et al, 2016 ), while coping flexibility and forward-focused coping predicted low levels of depression and anxiety ( Jordan et al, 2021 ).…”

“…In addition, perceived control over stressful situations (low perceived control—powerlessness vs. high perceived control), locus of control (internal vs. external), and coping strategies have been found to be associated with anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life ( Bjørkløf et al, 2013 ; Helvik et al, 2016 ; Jordan et al, 2021 ). In particular, external locus of control is related to poorer health-related quality of life ( Helvik et al, 2016 ), while coping flexibility and forward-focused coping predicted low levels of depression and anxiety ( Jordan et al, 2021 ). Research has also shown that expectations of positive future outcomes (optimism) can decrease the negative emotional experience ( Anzaldi & Shifren, 2019 ; Fischer et al, 2018 ; Scheier et al, 1994 ).…”

Adapting to Crisis: A Binational Study on the Impact of Flexibility on Latent Profiles of Coping with COVID-19

“…Although previous findings imply a key role of flexibility in successful coping with trauma, which is informative for identifying potential predictors for coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, and the widely held belief that flexibility is particularly critical for coping with multidimensional long-term stressors, only few studies have examined how flexibility may influence coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. First studies investigating the impact of trauma-related regulatory flexibility (Cheng et al, 2021;Jordan et al, 2021;Shigeto et al, 2021) and cognitive flexibility (Kalia et al, 2020;Seiter & Curran, 2021) on responses to the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that low flexibility is linked to more negative responses.…”