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

Eisenbeck, Nikolett; Carreno, David F.; Wong, Paul T.P.; Hicks, Joshua A.; María, Ruíz-Ruano García; Puga, Jorge L.; Greville, James; Testoni, Ines; Biancalani, Gianmarco; López, Ana Carla Cepeda; Villareal, Sofía; Enea, Violeta; Schulz-Quach, Christian; Jansen, Jonas; Sanchez-Ruiz, Maria-Jose; Yıldırım, Murat; Arslan, Gökmen; Cruz, José Fernando A.; Sofia, Rui Manuel; Ferreira, Maria José; Ashraf, Farzana; Wąsowicz, Grażyna; Shalaby, Shahinaz M.; Amer, Reham A.; Yousfi, Hadda; Chukwuorji, JohnBosco Chika; Guerra, Valeschka M.; Singh, Sandeep; Heintzelman, Samantha; Hutapea, Bonar; Béjaoui, Bouchara; Dash, Arobindu; Schlosser, Karoly Kornel; Anniko, Malin K.; Rossa, Martin; Wongcharee, Hattaphan; Avsec, Andreja; Kocjan, Gaja Zager; Kavčič, Tina; Leontiev, Dmitry A.; Taranenko, Olga; Rasskazova, Elena; Maher, Elizabeth; García-Montes, José Manuel

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.