Resilience and Mental Health in the Polish Population during the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Mediation Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to assess the state of resilience and well-being in the Polish population during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also assessed the relationship between resilience and mental health. Finally, we tested the mediating role of COVID-19 anxiety, persistent thinking, and the stress burden in the relationship between mental health and resilience. This research perspective can provide important insights into how individuals can become mentally stronger during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study included 1758 people (73% women) aged 18–80 years. The procedure consisted of completing a questionnaire measuring well-being, COVID-19 anxiety, obsession with COVID-19, stress over COVID-19, and resilience. Results: Bootstrap sampling analysis showed significant partial mediators for the relationship between resilience and well-being. Important mediators were coronavirus anxiety, persistent thinking, and perceived stress. Conclusions: The results of the present study clearly indicate that resilience as a protective factor is associated with reduced anxiety about COVID-19, perceived stress burden, obsessive thoughts about the pandemic, and increased well-being of individuals. Resilience plays an important role in minimizing negative and enhancing positive health indicators in the face of challenging life events.

Resilience and Mental Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Serial Mediation by Persistent Thinking and Anxiety About Coronavirus

“…Active infection also increases exposure to COVID-19 information (e.g., health reports from your doctor). These observations correspond to previous reports (25,32,33). In addition, it should be noted that researchers believe the link between exposure to stress and the level of resilience may be moderated by individual differences, including the nature and intensity of psychological and physiological reactions to stress and the frequency of exposure to stress, which allows for further potential explanation of the negative association between active coronavirus infection and resilience (42).…”

“…According to researchers, well-being may be compromised during a pandemic by direct and indirect trauma, potential risk perception, disruption of daily routines, reduced social support, and feelings about perceived loss of control (39). Furthermore, our data suggest that resilience may increase the level of well-being during the spread of an infectious disease, which also supports previous empirical findings in this area (28,31,32). We were the first to show that the relationship between resilience and well-being may be serially mediated by persistent thinking about COVID-19 and coronavirus anxiety (partial mediation).…”

“…The response manner is coherent with OCS. The Polish version of the CAS is characterized by good psychometric properties (Cronbach's α = 0.86) (32). Sample items: "I lost interest in eating when I thought about or was exposed to information about the coronavirus"; "I felt nauseous or had stomach problems when I thought about or was exposed to information about the coronavirus.…”

“…Moreover, Skalski et al (31) showed that fear of the spread of infectious disease mediated the relationship between resilience and PTSD symptoms among the general population. Meanwhile, Surzykiewicz et al (32) exhibited that the relationship of resilience and well-being, in addition to coronaphobia, was also mediated by persistent dysfunctional thinking about COVID-19. However, with respect to the indicated studies and assumptions, Beck et al (16) and LeDoux (17), it appears that the link between resilience and coronavirus anxiety (with well-being as an outcome variable) may be further mediated by persistent thinking about COVID-19.…”

“…While this relationship is obvious, little attention has been paid in the literature to the role of potential mediators in the link between resilience and well-being. On the other hand, available reports generally agree that resilient individuals are less likely to report symptoms of distress and anxiety during traumatic events, thereby maintaining optimal levels of well-being (32). At the same time, stress, anxiety, fear, and depressive symptoms have been identified as key negative predictors of mental health (30).…”