An international study on psychological coping during COVID-19: Towards a meaning-centered coping style

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.

Explaining illness with evil: pathogen prevalence fosters moral vitalism

Pathogens represent a significant threat to human health leading to the emergence of strategies designed to help manage their negative impact. We examined how spiritual beliefs developed to explain and predict the devastating effects of pathogens and spread of infectious disease. Analysis of existing data in studies 1 and 2 suggests that moral vitalism (beliefs about spiritual forces of evil) is higher in geographical regions characterized by historical higher levels of pathogens. Furthermore, drawing on a sample of 3140 participants from 28 countries in study 3, we found that historical higher levels of pathogens were associated with stronger endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs. Furthermore, endorsement of moral vitalistic beliefs statistically mediated the previously reported relationship between pathogen prevalence and conservative ideologies, suggesting these beliefs reinforce behavioural strategies which function to prevent infection. We conclude that moral vitalism may be adaptive: by emphasizing concerns over contagion, it provided an explanatory model that enabled human groups to reduce rates of contagious disease.

Preocupação com a honra no Nordeste brasileiro: correlatos demográficos

Esta pesquisa pretendeu conhecer os correlatos demográficos da preocupação com a honra, considerando três grupos religiosos (católicos, batistas e espíritas) em duas cidades do Nordeste brasileiro (João Pessoa e Recife). Dois estudos foram realizados. No Estudo 1, participaram 312 pessoas, contatadas em igrejas e templos, que apresentaram média de idade de 32 anos (dp = 15,28), sendo a maioria mulheres (63%). No Estudo 2, participaram 178 pessoas da população geral, a maioria mulheres (69%), com média de idade de 32 anos (dp = 10,51). Os participantes responderam à Escala de Preocupação com a Honra e questões demográficas. Os resultados indicaram que a honra social e familiar foram consideradas mais importantes. Os principais correlatos da preocupação com a honra em ambos os estudos foram a idade e a religião dos participantes. A importância da religião na preocupação com a honra é discutida, assim como limitações e propostas para pesquisas futuras.

Sexual Liberalism-Conservatism: the effect of human values, gender, and previous sexual experience

Despite theoretical associations, there is a lack of empirical studies on the axiological basis of sexual liberalism-conservatism. Two studies demonstrated important associations between these constructs for young adults. In Study 1, participants were 353 undergraduate students with a mean age of 20.13 (SD = 1.84), who completed the Sexual Liberalism-Conservatism Scale and the Basic Values Survey. In Study 2, participants were 269 undergraduate students, with a mean age of 20.3 (SD = 1.82), who completed a social desirability scale in addition to Study 1 instruments. Results showed how values can predict sexual liberalism-conservatism after controlling for social desirability. Attitudes towards one's own sexual behavior were more conservative whereas attitudes towards other's sexual behavior were more liberal. Gender was not a significant predictor of sexual attitudes whereas previous sexual experience showed a significant association to this construct. In general, results corroborated previous findings, showing that participants with a tendency to present socially desirable answers also tended to present themselves as sexually conservative.

Cultural Values Predict Coping Using Culture as an Individual Difference Variable in Multicultural Samples

Three studies establish the relations between cultural values and coping using multicultural samples of international students. Study 1 established the cross-cultural measurement invariance of subscales of the Cope inventory Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989) used in the article. The cultural value dimensions of embeddedness versus autonomy and hierarchy versus egalitarianism predicted how international students from 28 (Study 2) and 38 (Study 3) countries coped with adapting to living in a new country. Cultural values predicted coping by religion, and this relation was only partly mediated by personally valuing tradition, cultural norms, and perceived difficulty of adapting. Cultural values predicted emotion-focused/avoidant coping beyond neuroticism and seeking social support beyond extraversion. Mediators to the relations between cultural values and these coping strategies were also found. The results demonstrate the power of cultural values to predict coping and bring to the forefront the use of multicultural samples as an important method in cross-cultural research.

The Community, Autonomy, and Divinity Scale (CADS): A New Tool for the Cross-Cultural Study of Morality

Moral rules are an important aspect of culture.Yet to date, no published scale exists to measure the endorsement of different moral codes. We report the development of the Community, Autonomy, and Divinity Scale (CADS), based on Shweder’s moral codes, as a means to measure cross-cultural, subcultural, and individual differences in the contents of morality. Scale development, confirmatory factor analysis, and convergent and discriminant validity are reported in Studies 1 and 2, as well as analysis for structural invariance and meaningful differences across British and Brazilian cultural contexts. The authors find the CADS to be a reliable and valid scale, thereby enabling the cross-cultural quantitative study of similarities and differences in endorsement of moral codes.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and liver-related mortality: a population-based cohort study in southern Italy. The Association for the Study of Liver Disease in Puglia

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a common cause of chronic liver diseases but the degree to which these diseases contribute to liver-related mortality is not well established. The aim of this study was to estimate the absolute and relative effects of HCV infection on liver-related mortality.

METHODS

A population random sample of 2472 subjects aged > or = 30 years was enrolled and followed up from 1985 to 1996. At enrollment, a structured interview and a clinical evaluation were performed. Serum samples were tested using HCV ELISA and RIBA HCV. Outcomes were overall and liver-related mortality and tracing procedures included review of office and hospital records, death certificates, and interviews with general practitioners, attending hospital and next of kin. Statistical analysis was performed using Poisson and binomial prospective data regression.

RESULTS

Crude overall and liver-related mortality rates were 7.66 (95% CI : 6.68-8.79) and 0.9 (95% CI : 0.3-2.2) per 10(3) person-years, respectively. For HCV infection effect, incidence rate ratio and difference (per 10(3) person-year), risk ratio and difference were 27.5 (95% CI : 6.5-115.6), 4 (95% CI : 3-7), 33.1 (95% CI : 7.8- 139.3) and 0.06 (95% CI : 0.04-0.08), respectively; all measures were adjusted for age at death, sex and daily alcohol intake.

CONCLUSIONS

The results show a strong relative but weak absolute effect of HCV infection on liver-related mortality in the 10-year period considered. Poisson and binomial models are virtually equivalent, but the choice of the summarizing measure of effect may have a different impact on health policy.