Background/Objective

This study examined the role of different psychological coping mechanisms in mental and physical health during the initial phases of the COVID-19 crisis with an emphasis on meaning-centered coping.

Method

A total of 11,227 people from 30 countries across all continents participated in the study and completed measures of psychological distress (depression, stress, and anxiety), loneliness, well-being, and physical health, together with measures of problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, and a measure called the Meaning-centered Coping Scale (MCCS) that was developed in the present study. Validation analyses of the MCCS were performed in all countries, and data were assessed by multilevel modeling (MLM).

Results

The MCCS showed a robust one-factor structure in 30 countries with good test-retest, concurrent and divergent validity results. MLM analyses showed mixed results regarding emotion and problem-focused coping strategies. However, the MCCS was the strongest positive predictor of physical and mental health among all coping strategies, independently of demographic characteristics and country-level variables.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that the MCCS is a valid measure to assess meaning-centered coping. The results also call for policies promoting effective coping to mitigate collective suffering during the pandemic.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 期间心理应对的国际研究：迈向以意义为中心的应对方式

背景/目标

本研究考察了 COVID-19 危机初期不同心理应对机制在身心健康中的作用，重点是以意义为中心的应对。

方法

共有来自各大洲 30 个国家的 11,227 人参与了这项研究，并完成了心理困扰（抑郁、压力和焦虑）、孤独感、幸福感和身体健康的测量，以及以问题为中心和情绪的测量。重点应对，以及在本研究中开发的一种称为以意义为中心的应对量表（MCCS）的测量方法。在所有国家都对 MCCS 进行了验证分析，并通过多层次建模 (MLM) 评估数据。

结果

MCCS 在 30 个国家显示出稳健的单因素结构，具有良好的重测、并发和发散效度结果。传销分析显示关于情绪和以问题为中心的应对策略的结果好坏参半。然而，MCCS 是所有应对策略中身心健康最强的积极预测因子，与人口特征和国家层面的变量无关。

结论

研究结果表明，MCCS 是评估以意义为中心的应对的有效措施。结果还要求制定促进有效应对的政策，以减轻大流行期间的集体痛苦。