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Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perceived Changes in Psychological Vulnerability, Resilience and Social Cohesion before, during and after Lockdown

Author

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  • Sarita Silveira

    (Sarita Silveira, Social Neuroscience Lab, Max Planck Society, Bertha-Benz-Strasse 3, 10557 Berlin, Germany)

  • Martin Hecht

    (Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany)

  • Hannah Matthaeus

    (Sarita Silveira, Social Neuroscience Lab, Max Planck Society, Bertha-Benz-Strasse 3, 10557 Berlin, Germany)

  • Mazda Adli

    (Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, CCM, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
    Fliedner Klinik Berlin, Center for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, 10117 Berlin, Germany)

  • Manuel C. Voelkle

    (Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 12489 Berlin, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Tania Singer

    (Sarita Silveira, Social Neuroscience Lab, Max Planck Society, Bertha-Benz-Strasse 3, 10557 Berlin, Germany
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have posed unique and severe challenges to our global society. To gain an integrative understanding of pervasive social and mental health impacts in 3522 Berlin residents aged 18 to 65, we systematically investigated the structural and temporal relationship between a variety of psychological indicators of vulnerability, resilience and social cohesion before, during and after the first lockdown in Germany using a retrospective longitudinal study design. Factor analyses revealed that (a) vulnerability and resilience indicators converged on one general bipolar factor, (b) residual variance of resilience indicators formed a distinct factor of adaptive coping capacities and (c) social cohesion could be reliably measured with a hierarchical model including four first-order dimensions of trust, a sense of belonging, social interactions and social engagement, and one second-order social cohesion factor. In the second step, latent change score models revealed that overall psychological vulnerability increased during the first lockdown and decreased again during re-opening, although not to baseline levels. Levels of social cohesion, in contrast, first decreased and then increased again during re-opening. Furthermore, participants who increased in vulnerability simultaneously decreased in social cohesion and adaptive coping during lockdown. While higher pre-lockdown levels of social cohesion predicted a stronger lockdown effect on mental health, individuals with higher social cohesion during the lockdown and positive change in coping abilities and social cohesion during re-opening showed better mental health recovery, highlighting the important role of social capacities in both amplifying but also overcoming the multiple challenges of this collective crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarita Silveira & Martin Hecht & Hannah Matthaeus & Mazda Adli & Manuel C. Voelkle & Tania Singer, 2022. "Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perceived Changes in Psychological Vulnerability, Resilience and Social Cohesion before, during and after Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-30, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:6:p:3290-:d:768606
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    Cited by:

    1. Audrone Dumciene & Jurate Pozeriene, 2022. "The Emotions, Coping, and Psychological Well-Being in Time of COVID-19: Case of Master’s Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Ilaria Cataldo & Dora Novotny & Alessandro Carollo & Gianluca Esposito, 2023. "Mental Health in the Post-Lockdown Scenario: A Scientometric Investigation of the Main Thematic Trends of Research," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-21, July.
    3. Jordi Miró & Elisabet Sánchez-Rodríguez & M. Carme Nolla & Rui M. Costa & J. Pais-Ribeiro & Alexandra Ferreira-Valente, 2022. "The Role of Resilience, Happiness, and Social Support in the Psychological Function during the Late Stages of the Lockdown in Individuals with and without Chronic Pain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-10, May.
    4. Saule Sipaviciene, 2022. "The Relationships between Psychological Well-Being, Emotions and Coping in COVID-19 Environment: The Gender Aspect for Postgraduate Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-13, August.
    5. Siyao Liu & Bin Yu & Chan Xu & Min Zhao & Jing Guo, 2022. "Characteristics of Collective Resilience and Its Influencing Factors from the Perspective of Psychological Emotion: A Case Study of COVID-19 in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-19, November.
    6. Hanson, S. & Belderson, P. & Ward, E. & Naughton, F. & Notley, C., 2023. "Lest we forget. Illuminating lived experience of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 332(C).

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