Sense of coherence and social support as predictors of mental health during COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: to verify the role of sense of coherence, sense of national coherence, social support and trust in institutions to predict mental health in Brazilians during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: a cross-sectional study, carried out from November, 2020 to January, 2021 via an online survey. Standardized instruments were used. The sample consisted of 1,630 Brazilians. Pearson's correlation and linear regression were performed in data analysis. RESULTS: sense of coherence was the only predictor of anxiety [ß= -0.61; p<0.001], explaining 38% of the variance in its scores, while sense of coherence [ß= 0.52; p<0.001], sense of national coherence [ß= 0.16; p<0.001], and social support [ß= 0.15; p<0.001] predicted positive mental health and together explained 51% of its variance. CONCLUSIONS: the findings suggest that sense of coherence, sense of national coherence and social support represent important predictors for mental health and that strengthening these resources, could potentially promote Brazilians' mental health.

Sense of coherence and social support as predictors of mental health during COVID-19 pandemic / Senso de coerência e apoio social como preditores de saúde mental durante a pandemia de COVID-19 / Sentido de coherencia y apoyo social como predictores de salud mental durante la pandemia de COVID-19

ABSTRACT Objectives: to verify the role of sense of coherence, sense of national coherence, social support and trust in institutions to predict mental health in Brazilians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: a cross-sectional study, carried out from November, 2020 to January, 2021 via an online survey. Standardized instruments were used. The sample consisted of 1,630 Brazilians. Pearson's correlation and linear regression were performed in data analysis. Results: sense of coherence was the only predictor of anxiety [β= -0.61; p<0.001], explaining 38% of the variance in its scores, while sense of coherence [β= 0.52; p<0.001], sense of national coherence [β= 0.16; p<0.001], and social support [β= 0.15; p<0.001] predicted positive mental health and together explained 51% of its variance. Conclusions: the findings suggest that sense of coherence, sense of national coherence and social support represent important predictors for mental health and that strengthening these resources, could potentially promote Brazilians' mental health.

RESUMO Objetivos: verificar o papel do senso de coerência, senso de coerência nacional, apoio social e confiança em instituições como preditores da saúde mental dos brasileiros durante a pandemia de COVID-19. Métodos: estudo transversal, realizado de novembro de 2020 a janeiro de 2021 por meio de questionário online. Foram utilizados instrumentos padronizados. A amostra foi composta por 1.630 brasileiros. Foram realizadas correlação de Pearson e regressão linear na análise dos dados. Resultados: o senso de coerência foi o único preditor de ansiedade [β=-0,61; p<0,001], explicando 38% da variação em seus escores, enquanto senso de coerência [β=0,52;p<0,001], senso de coerência nacional [β=0,16;p<0,001] e apoio social [β=0,15;p<0,001] foram preditores da saúde mental positiva e juntos explicaram 51% da sua variação. Conclusões: os achados sugerem que senso de coerência, senso de coerência nacional e apoio social representam importantes preditores da saúde mental e que o fortalecimento desses recursos, poderia potencialmente promover a saúde mental dos brasileiros.

RESUMEN Objetivos: verificar el papel del sentido de coherencia, sentido de coherencia nacional, apoyo social y confianza en las instituciones como predictores de salud mental en brasileños durante la pandemia de COVID-19. Métodos: estudio transversal, realizado de noviembre de 2020 a enero de 2021 mediante cuestionario online. Se utilizaron instrumentos estandarizados. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 1.630 brasileños. En el análisis de datos se realizaron correlación de Pearson y regresión lineal. Resultados: el sentido de coherencia fue el único predictor de ansiedad [β= -0,61;p<0,001], explicando el 38% de la variación de sus puntuaciones, mientras que el sentido de coherencia [β=0,52;p<0,001], sentido de coherencia nacional [β= 0,16;p<0,001] y apoyo social [β=0,15;p<0,001] fueron predictores de salud mental positiva y en conjunto explicaron el 51% de su variación. Conclusiones: los hallazgos sugieren que sentido de coherencia, sentido de coherencia nacional y el apoyo social representan importantes predictores de salud mental y que el fortalecimiento de estos recursos, podría potencialmente promover la salud mental de los brasileños.

How Do People Cope During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Stay Well? A Salutogenic Longitudinal Study in Israel.

Employing the salutogenic approach, this longitudinal study explored the effects of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, as it evolved from an acute to a chronic stress situation, during the first year. We examined the role of individual [sense of coherence (SOC)], social (perceived social support), and national [sense of national coherence (SONC)] coping resources, as well as situational and demographic factors, in predicting mental health and anxiety. Data was collected in five phases between March 2020 and February 2021 via a repeated panel sample and included 198 Jewish Israelis (52% males) age 18-64 (M = 43.5). The results confirmed the expected pattern of moving from acute to chronic stressful situation: levels of general anxiety were higher in the first phase of the pandemic outbreak as compared to the other phases. Levels of social and national coping resources significantly decreased over time. However, as expected, the salutogenic resource of the individual sense of coherence remained stable and was also found as the main predictor of both anxiety and mental health in the 5 phases of the study. Beyond the explanatory factor of SOC, mental health was better explained by the social and national coping resources, while anxiety was explained by situational factors (level of financial risk and gender). The discussion delineates the longitudinal effects of individual, social, and national coping resources on mental health and anxiety during the dynamic process of the long period of 1 year of the pandemic, evolving from acute to chronic phases of the complicated health, economic, social, and political crisis.

Who is to blame for COVID-19? Examining politicized fear and health behavior through a mixed methods study in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Political ideologies drove public actions and health behaviors in the first year of the global pandemic. Different ideas about contagion, health behaviors, and the actions of governing bodies impacted the spread of the virus and health and life. Researchers used an immediate, mixed methods design to explore sociocultural responses to the virus and identified differences and similarities in anxiety, fear, blame, and perceptions of nation across political divides. METHODS: Researchers conducted 60 in-depth, semi-structured interviews and administered over 1,000 questionnaires with people living in the United States. The team analyzed data through an exploratory and confirmatory sequential mixed methods design. RESULTS: In the first months of the pandemic interviewees cited economic inequality, untrustworthy corporations and other entities, and the federal government as threats to life and pandemic control. Participants invoked ideas about others to determine blame. Findings reveal heavy associations between lack of safety during a public health crisis and blame of "culture" and government power across the political spectrum. CONCLUSION: Data indicate anxiety across political differences related to ideas of contagion and the maleficence of a powerful elite. Findings on how people understand the nation, politics, and pandemic management contribute to understanding dimensions of health behaviors and underlying connections between anxiety and the uptake of conspiracy theories in public health. The article ends with recommendations drawn from project findings for future pandemic response.

Living in opposition: How women in the United States cope in spite of mistrust of federal leadership during the pandemic of Covid-19.

International research collaborators conducted research investigating sociocultural responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our mixed methods research design includes surveys and interviews conducted between March and September of 2020 including 249 of 506 survey responses and 18 of 50 in-depth, exploratory, semi-structured interviews with self-defined politically left-leaning women in the United States. We employ a sequential design to analyze statistical and qualitative data. Despite international data suggesting that trust in federal governments reduces anxiety, women who did not trust and actively opposed the Trump administration reported lower levels of anxiety than expected. Results indicate reliance on and development of new forms of connection that seem to mitigate symptomatic anxieties when living in opposition. Women living in opposition to the leadership of the federal government use and develop resources to help them cope. Research on coping strategies and mental health and anxiety during crisis can inform recommendations for ways to support and strengthen sense of coherence during tumultuous times.

Individual, social and national coping resources and their relationships with mental health and anxiety: A comparative study in Israel, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Employing the salutogenic model, we asked how individuals in different countries cope with the COVID-19 crisis and stay healthy. We were interested in exploring the individual (i.e. sense of coherence) as well as the social and national resources (i.e. social support, sense of national coherence, and trust in governmental institutions) that could explain levels of mental health and anxiety during the outbreak of the pandemic. Data collection was conducted via convenience sampling on online platforms, during the end of March and the beginning of April 2020. The data included four samples: 640 Israeli participants (319 males), 622 Dutch participants (177 males), 924 Italian participants (338 males) and 489 Spanish participants (117 males); age range of 18-88 years. The questionnaires included standard tools (MHC-SF, GAD-7, SOC, SONC). Several questions were adapted to the context of coronavirus and measured levels of exposure to COVID-19, trust in governmental institutions, and social support. The results significantly confirmed the suggested salutogenic model regarding the contribution to individual and national coping resources to anxiety levels and mental health. The patterns of the coping resources in explaining anxiety and mental health were similar in the four samples, and SOC was the main predictor these outcomes. Despite these similarities, a different pattern and also different magnitudes of the predictive value of the coping resources were found for the two different reactions: anxiety vs. mental health. While SOC and situational factors (like financial threat) were significant in explaining anxiety levels, the SOC and national resources were found as significant in explaining mental health levels. The findings support the salutogenic approach in studying reactions during pandemic time. They also shed some light on the difference between pathogenic and salutogenic measures in studying psychological reactions to stressful situations.

Sense of community coherence and inter-religious relations.

The current article attempts to broaden the individual-based concept of sense of coherence to the community level. We examine sense of community coherence and its connection with perceptions of collective narratives and acculturation tendencies in the social context of Palestinian Muslims and Christians living in Israel. Questionnaires that were developed and adapted for the unique population in this study were distributed to a representative sample of 1034 Muslims (455 males) and 720 Christians (354 males), all Israeli citizens aged 18 and up. As expected, sense of community coherence was negatively related to the level of acceptance of the out-group collective narratives and positively related to the level of acceptance of the in-group collective narratives. In the same vein, it was also positively related to the tendency for separation and negatively related to the tendency for integration and assimilation. The discussion focuses on the contribution of the research findings to the deepening of our understanding of the concepts of sense of coherence and sense of community coherence.

An integrated acculturation model of immigrants' social identity.

The authors investigated how 2 groups with unequal social power - immigrant adolescents from Ethiopia (n = 241) and the former USSR (n = 531)-and their Israeli host peers (n = 854) might construct an immigrant identity regarding adaptation to life in their new country. The authors introduce the concept of immigrant identity representations based an integrative model combining parts of J. W. Berry's (1990) acculturation model (BAM) and H. Tajfel's (1981) version of social identity theory (SIT). The findings reveal a common pattern of identity representations and are interpreted in terms of the integrative combination of the BAM and SIT frameworks.