Mindfulness, social support, and approach-oriented coping (i.e., active, meaning-focused, support-seeking) were hypothesized to predict greater wellbeing and less distress. On the other hand, avoidant strategies that are generally maladaptive, such as substance use coping, have also been related to higher levels of distress, specifically following community-wide crises (e.g., Park et al., 2012). Older age, higher levels of mindfulness and social support, and meaning focused coping predicted better adjustment, reflecting resilience, while avoidance coping was particularly unhelpful. This study provides empirical evidence on the heterogeneity of coping strategies in a culturally devout population (Sánchez-Fuentes et al., 2018), highlighting the central role of religious engagement in shaping distinct psychosocial profiles. However, they also reported elevated levels of passive coping (3.82) and emotional avoidance (3.76), suggesting a dual pattern of engagement and internalized distress.

Furthermore, infection of COVID-19 has left many more vulnerable to developing a mental health condition (Thye et al., 2022). As the pandemic has gone on, it is more and more likely that most people will have had a firsthand encounter with personal infection or infection of loved ones. Studies have shown that resilience (to be discussed in the next section) serves as a mediator between stress and burnout, meaning that resilience can mitigate the detrimental effect of stress on burnout (Deldar et al., 2018; Hao et al., 2015). To reduce this potential tension, it is recommended that relationships in the family be forged and maintained during the extra time spent together to offset the consequences of otherwise distressing situations such as loneliness (Prime et al., 2020). Additionally, for some, not having to deal with the potential social anxiety of in-person socialization was beneficial when being able to use more streamlined online interactions (Ho & Moscovitch, 2021). There have been mixed findings on the impact this increased use has had on mental health (Hou et al., 2020a, b), with some studies finding negative outcomes (Gao et al., 2020) and others suggesting potential for positive outcomes (Yousri et al., 2021).

Social Support.

International samples have evidenced effects similar to those secured in American samples in terms of the impact of mindfulness on pandemic-related resilience. Also, individuals practicing mindfulness meditation reported engaging in prosocial behaviors to promote social connection during the pandemic (Farris et al., 2021). In a large sample of American adults quarantined at home in accordance with government mandates, trait mindfulness was negatively related to anxiety, depression, and stress, and greater mindfulness was related to fewer anxiety symptoms among those who quarantined with a partner (Dailey et al., 2023; Dillard & Meier, 2021).

Sample

• In addition, coping styles play a mediating role in the relationship between stress and life satisfaction, as well as in a reciprocal direction.
• Relatedly, an interview study of American nurses caring for COVID-19 patients revealed that accepting uncertainty in their roles diminished their anxiety and strengthened patient care (White, 2021).
• Therefore, if you pay attention to the symptoms that arise when you are stressed, you may find clues into the right coping mechanisms for you.
• Controlled breathing may disrupt the brain circuits involved in depression, he explains.

Denial showed a U-type association with increased use by both the young (18–23) and the elderly.24 Voronin et al,25 in a cross-cultural comparison of Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and Peru, found that regardless of the country, older participants reported higher active coping, planning, turning to religion, and lower mental disengagement and venting. More use of maladaptive strategies and less use of adaptation strategies has also been found in younger students in Pakistan.47 Huang, Lei, Xu, Liu, and Yu48 found that nursing students were less proactive in using problem-focused coping during the COVID-19 outbreak than nurses, which may have been due to their having less life and professional experience. Polish PE male students surveyed in 2012–2014 clearly preferred task-oriented strategies, while female students preferred to look for support (instrumental and emotional) and placed higher importance on focusing on and venting of emotions.37 Similar gender differences were found during the first wave of the pandemic in the group of Polish PE students.29 In Pakistan, male students were observed to use planning and humor more frequently, while self-distraction, acceptance, and religious coping less frequently than female students.47 Also in the general population in the United States23 and Greece,24 the differences between women and men in coping with the pandemic stress were similar. The lower tendency of men to seek or use the available social support in order to cope with stress is explained by fear of being negatively judged.46

Think about another time that you were stressed, what helped to ground you at that time? Therefore, if you pay attention to the symptoms that arise when you are stressed, you may find clues into the right coping mechanisms for you. Your coping mechanisms are the methods that you use in an effort to moderate your stress. It may be a process to attune the boundaries you need, however, creating these limitations are certainly a helpful tactic to reduce the amount of stress you let into your life. While this may change over time, it is helpful to pay attention to trends of what makes your stress better or worse. A key difference between stress and anxiety is the false sense of control that may arise from over worrying and overcompensating.

In summary, the COVID-19 pandemic and its countermeasures exuded a complex pattern of NEJM article on mental health challenges effects on physical and mental health, and factors shaping human stress resilience during the pandemic in the short and long run constitute a central research focus34,35. Most studies on stress resilience and mental health outcomes during the pandemic are observational, cross-sectional, using convenience samples with often rather small sample sizes and rather limited assessment of contextual and personal characteristics that are essential to understand stress vulnerability and resilience. Another systematic review and meta-analysis that included 19 studies about the mental health status of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic reported a prevalence between 5 and 38% for depression and anxiety symptoms (overall prevalence of 25%) and a pooled overall prevalence of anxiety of 42% (Fan et al., 2020). To avoid long-term effects of stress, strategies to counteract the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, particularly in highly affected populations, may be helpful.