ABSTRACT

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic was a novel chronic stressor that necessitated figuring out how to cope with it. We hypothesized that disengagement coping – coping with a stressor by disengaging from it – would be effective because the pandemic featured heightened uncertainty and enduring intensity.

Design

We assessed the disengagement strategies of distraction – taking a break from a stressor – and avoidance – avoiding thoughts and feelings associated with a stressor – and emotional well-being outcomes (positive/negative emotions, stress) in three waves one week apart (305 participants completed all three waves).

Results

Distraction was one of the most frequently endorsed coping strategies. The results of multi-level models and cross-lagged panel models showed that participants who used distraction habitually experienced better emotional well-being overall and that using distraction led to better emotional well-being that week, but did not predict increases in well-being from one week to the next. Those who used avoidance also experienced better emotional well-being that week, but habitual use of avoidance was associated with worse emotional well-being overall.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that in the midst of chronic stressors like this pandemic, the disengagement coping strategy of distraction is popular and effective for temporarily improving people’s well-being.

中文翻译：

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应对 COVID-19：脱离接触对应对大流行的慢性压力的功效

摘要

背景

COVID-19 大流行是一种新型慢性压力源，需要弄清楚如何应对它。我们假设脱离应对——通过脱离压力源来应对——将是有效的，因为大流行病的特点是不确定性增加和强度持续。

设计

我们评估了分散注意力的脱离策略 - 从压力源中休息 - 和回避 - 避免与压力源相关的想法和感受 - 以及情绪健康结果（积极/消极情绪，压力）相隔一周的三波（305名参与者完成所有三波）。

结果

分散注意力是最常被认可的应对策略之一。多层次模型和交叉滞后面板模型的结果表明，习惯性使用分心的参与者总体上体验到更好的情绪健康，使用分心会导致当周更好的情绪健康，但并未预测幸福感会增加从一周到下一周。那些使用回避的人在那一周也经历了更好的情绪健康，但习惯性使用回避与整体情绪健康较差有关。

结论

这些发现表明，在像这种流行病这样的慢性压力源中，分散注意力的脱离应对策略很受欢迎，并且可以有效地暂时改善人们的幸福感。