PERSONAL RESOURCES THAT HELP IN COPING WITH DISTRESS: WHAT HAS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC REVEALED TO US?

The COVID-19 pandemic has run into all aspects of people’s life and individuals were emotionally drained from its social, financial, and emotional impact. Thus, this global situation has resulted in increased levels of distress (e.g., stress, anxiety, and depression). Given the individual differences observed in how people faced the pandemic, it was hypothesized that certain personal resources may help in coping with distress. The aim of the research was to evaluate the impact of psychological inflexibility, mindfulness, and resilience on the susceptibility to experiencing stress, anxiety, and depression. Study 1 recruited 501 participants (58.9% women; mean age = 26.97 years, SD = 11.85) who completed the following scales: theAcceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II), the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). The same measures were administered to 423 participants in Study 2 (62.4% women; mean age = 30.97, SD = 12.46) selected from a larger sample because they had a more intense subjective perception of loneliness (scored a 3-item-UCLA Loneliness Scale ≥ 6). In Study 1, linear regression showed that the AAQ predicted stress (β=.29), anxiety (β=.34), and depression (β=.44). Moreover, the higher the MAAS score, the lower the stress (β=-.15) and anxiety (β=-.10), while the CD-RISC was not a significant predictor. In Study 2, the predictive role of the AAQ on stress, anxiety, and depression was confirmed (β=.42, β=.40, and β=.46, respectively), Moreover, resiliency was negatively associated with depression (β=-.17). The current results showed that psychological inflexibility interferes with coping with distress, and mindfulness and resilience can prevent stress, anxiety, and depression even in an unexpected and complex situation, such as the pandemic. Indeed, some personal resources continued to act as protective factors as previously documented in the literature on “everyday” time also among people who subjectively perceived greater loneliness. This result underlines the relevance of these resources and, therefore, the need to develop interventions aimed at strengthening them.