Fluharty, M;
Bu, F;
Steptoe, A;
Fancourt, D;
(2021)
Coping strategies and mental health trajectories during the first 21 weeks of COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom.
Social Science & Medicine
, 279
, Article 113958. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113958.
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Abstract
RATIONALE: The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health is well evidenced. However, there is little research on how individuals' coping strategies were related to changes in mental health over time. METHODS: The current study used data from the COVID-19 Social Study in the United Kingdom (N = 26,505) to explore whether coping strategies (problem-focused, emotion-focused, avoidant, and socially-supportive) were associated with (i) better mental health as lockdown was introduced, and (ii) faster recovery over time. RESULTS: People with greater use of problem-focused, avoidant, and supportive coping displayed more mental health symptoms, while greater use of emotion-focused coping was associated with fewer mental health symptoms. Symptoms decreased over time for all coping strategies, but only socially-supportive coping was associated with a faster decrease in anxiety and depressive symptoms, indicating a potential protective effect of social support on psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: Problem-, avoidant- and emotion-focused coping strategies were not associated with faster improvements in mental health. Suggesting the adoption of one of these coping styles in itself is not necessarily a driver of improvements in mental health; rather, specific attributes of the behaviours expressed as part of this coping style appear to be important in and of themselves.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Coping strategies and mental health trajectories during the first 21 weeks of COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom. |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113958 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113958 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Anxiety, Coping, Covid-19, Depression, Longitudinal, Mental health |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Behavioural Science and Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10128972 |
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