The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal: The role of personality traits and emotion regulation strategies

Abstract

Recent evidence suggests that both personality traits (PT) and emotion regulation (ER) strategies play an important role in the way people cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was two folded. First, to longitudinally investigate the psychological distress (depression, anxiety, and stress levels) taking in consideration PT and ER strategies in 3 different moments: during the first lockdown period (April/20), at the first deconfinement (May/20) and 1-month after the first deconfinement (Jun/20)–Experiment I. Second, to cross-sectionally evaluate the impact of the pandemic in psychological distress and the correlates with PT and ER 6-months after the first deconfinement November/20 to February/21 –Experiment II. A total of 722 volunteers (Experiment I = 180; Experiment II = 542) aged 18 years or older participated in this online survey. The findings from Experiment I show that psychological distress decreased after the lockdown period, however, neuroticism traits predicted higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, while difficulties in ER strategies were identified as a risk factor for depression and stress. For experiment II, neuroticism traits and being infected with COVID-19 were associated to higher levels of symptomatology, while unemployment and the use of emotional suppression strategies to cope with emotional situations were associated to depressive and anxiety symptoms. Although the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak decreased over time in our sample, the current findings suggest that difficulties in emotional regulation and high levels of neuroticism traits might be potential risk factors for psychiatric symptomatology during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, people with difficulties in ER and neuroticism traits would benefit from psychological interventions that provide personality-appropriate support and promote emotion regulation skills during stressful events, such as the case of the global pandemic.

Psychological Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…This finding is consistent with previous findings, indicating that emotional dysregulation moderates or is related to psychological problems in the general population, in contexts other than the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] This suggests that difficulties in understanding, accepting, and managing emotions is sig-nificant for psychological problems in the context of COVID-19, similar to other traumatic events. Therefore, one target of psychological interventions that aim at the management of psychological problems may be emotional dysregulation.…”

“…9 Within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, emotion regulation strategies, such as reappraisal, refocus and suppression, can predict post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, stress, anxiety and depression. 10- 13 Indeed, evidence has also suggested that difficulties in regulating emotions are risk factors for psychological problems, such as depression and stress, 14 and that reappraisal and suppression are mediators in the relationship between perceived parental support and depression. 15 Previous studies have indicated that secure attachment protects against psychological problems, while insecure attachment increases the risk of psychological problems.…”

Emotion regulation, hope, and optimism during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of age and personality

“…It is worth mentioning that contagion waves lasted throughout 2020 and 2021, protracting the emergency and resulting in mandatory periods of home confinement and social distancing. Nonetheless, few studies have been conducted to examine the emotional and psychological responses to such a prolonged crisis in its various later stages from an age- and individual-differences perspective (e.g., up to October 2020 in Maggi et al [ 30 ]; December 2020 in Carbone et al [ 1 ]; February 2021 in Kluwe-Schiavon et al [ 31 ]; July 2021 in Fields et al [ 32 ]). Although the COVID-19 pandemic has sadly created an unavoidable, prolonged global crisis, it also represents a suitable context to examine further the age-related and individual differences between young and older adults in those emotional and psychological processes likely to influence and differentiate individuals’ psychological responses to adversities, namely emotion regulation, optimism, and hope.…”