How Do People Cope During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Stay Well? A Salutogenic Longitudinal Study in Israel

Abstract

Employing the salutogenic approach, this longitudinal study explored the effects of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, as it evolved from an acute to a chronic stress situation, during the first year. We examined the role of individual [sense of coherence (SOC)], social (perceived social support), and national [sense of national coherence (SONC)] coping resources, as well as situational and demographic factors, in predicting mental health and anxiety. Data was collected in five phases between March 2020 and February 2021 via a repeated panel sample and included 198 Jewish Israelis (52% males) age 18–64 (M = 43.5). The results confirmed the expected pattern of moving from acute to chronic stressful situation: levels of general anxiety were higher in the first phase of the pandemic outbreak as compared to the other phases. Levels of social and national coping resources significantly decreased over time. However, as expected, the salutogenic resource of the individual sense of coherence remained stable and was also found as the main predictor of both anxiety and mental health in the 5 phases of the study. Beyond the explanatory factor of SOC, mental health was better explained by the social and national coping resources, while anxiety was explained by situational factors (level of financial risk and gender). The discussion delineates the longitudinal effects of individual, social, and national coping resources on mental health and anxiety during the dynamic process of the long period of 1 year of the pandemic, evolving from acute to chronic phases of the complicated health, economic, social, and political crisis

Coping of Chronically-Ill Patients during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparison between Four Groups

“…The final outcome of coping with stress depends on various individual and external factors. While some of them, such as optimism or self-esteem, cannot be rapidly and easily targeted, research highlights the impact of others with the example of social support also in the circumstances of the global pandemic [ 30 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. While the pandemic-related restrictions largely reduced access to social interactions and, therefore, social support increasing the risk of worsened mental health, the impact on the population of chronically-ill patients was even more deleterious.…”

Gender differences in sense of coherence among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey

“…Also, high SoC was significantly associated with a sufficient level of psychological well-being, none/one psychosomatic complaint, and low FA among all students, which was in line with the available literature. Mana et al ( Mana et al , 2021b ) have shown a strong association between SoC and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic among seven countries despite their socio-cultural differences. In two recent studies, Dodd et al ( Dodd et al , 2021 ) found a significant association between SoC and well-being among university students in Australia, and Dadaczynski et al ( Dadaczynski et al , 2021a ) have illustrated the association of the subdimensions of SoC, namely comprehensibility, meaningfulness, and manageability with psychological well-being.…”

Salutogenesis in the time of COVID-19: What coping resources enable people to face the crisis and stay well? International and longitudinal study

“…SOC levels remained stable while the other coping resources levels gradually decreased. Strong correlations were found between the level of SOC at the outbreak of the pandemic and the mental health level after a year of COVID-19 crisis (Mana et al, 2021c).…”