Stress in the time of coronavirus pandemic: the role of psychological resilience and hope for the future

Koronavirusna bolest (COVID-19), prema službenoj definiciji Svjetske zdravstvene organizacije (2020), „zarazna je bolest čiji je uzročnik novootkriveni koronavirus SARS-CoV-2“. Ova je bolest, prouzročivši globalnu pandemiju, u kratko vrijeme odnijela mnogo života. Budući da su se svijet i znanstvenici prvi put susreli s ovim virusom, na samom se početku pokazala alarmantna potreba za istraživanjem karakteristika samog virusa, kao i posljedica pandemije koju je virus uzrokovao na fizičko ali i mentalno zdravlje ljudi. Taylor (2019) sugerira kako će „psihološki učinak sljedeće pandemije biti izraženiji, rašireniji i dugotrajniji od samih somatskih učinaka infekcije“. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi odnose stresa u vrijeme pandemije koronavirusa te potencijalnih osobnih zaštitnih faktora - psihološke otpornosti i nade u budućnost te ispitati spolne razlike. Istraživanje je provedeno online na ukupno 638 sudionika, odnosno 524 žena te 114 muškaraca u dobi između 18 i 79 godina (Mmuškarci=30.86; Mžene=29.08; SDmuškarci=13.00; SDžene =12.17). Za ispitivanje stresa u vrijeme pandemije koronavirusa koristila se Skala Covid stresa (Taylor i sur., 2020) koja je prevedena i validirana u ovom istraživanju, za ispitivanje psihološke otpornosti Kratka skala otpornosti (Slišković i Burić, 2018), a za procjenu nade u budućnost Skala nade u budućnost (Tucak Junaković, 2010). Faktorskom analizom Skale Covid stresa potvrđena je 6-faktorska struktura skale koju navode autori skale (Taylor i sur., 2020). Ispitivanjem spolnih razlika u mjerenim varijablama, utvrđeno je da žene iskazuju veći stres uzrokovan strahom od opasnosti od koronavirusa u odnosu na muškarce, no razine stresa proživljenog uslijed straha od socio-ekonomskih posljedica, ksenofobije, straha od zaraze, simptoma traumatskog stresa i kompulzivnog provjeravanja te ukupne razine stresa nisu se značajno razlikovale između muškaraca i žena. Nadalje, muškarci su izvještavali o višim razinama psihološke otpornosti te izraženijoj nadi u budućnost u odnosu na žene. Korelacijskim je analizama utvrđena negativna povezanost otpornosti i nade u budućnost s određenim aspektima kovid stresa, a općenito pojedinci koji navode više razine psihološke otpornosti navode i više nade u budućnost.Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to the official definition of the World Health Organization (2020), “is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 ”. This disease, causing a global pandemic, took many lives in a short time. Since the world and scientists first encountered this virus, there was an alarming need to investigate the characteristics of the virus itself, as well as the consequences of the pandemic caused by the virus on human physical and mental health. Taylor (2019) suggests that “the psychological effects of the next pandemic will likely be more pronounced, more widespread, and longer-lasting than the purely somatic effects of infection”. The aim of this study was to determine the relationships between stress during a coronavirus pandemic and potential personal protective factors - psychological resilience and hope for the future, and to examine gender differences. The study was conducted online on a total of 638 participants, ie 524 women and 114 men aged between 18 and 79 years (Mmen = 30.86; SDmen = 13.00; Mwomen = 29.08; SDwomen = 12.17). The Covid Stress Scale (Taylor et al., 2020), which was translated and validated in this study, was used to examine stress during the coronavirus pandemic, the Brief Resilience Scale (Slišković and Burić, 2018) to examine psychological resilience, and the Scale of Hope for the future was used to assess hope for the future (Tucak Junaković, 2010). Factor analysis of the Covid Stress Scale confirmed the 6-factor structure of the scale which is cited by the authors of the scale (Taylor et al., 2020). Examining gender differences in the measured variables found that women, compared to men, are more stressed due to fear of the virus, but the levels of stress experienced due to the fear of socio-economic consequences, xenophobia, fear of contamination, symptoms of traumatic stress and compulsive checking and overall stress levels at the time of the coronavirus pandemic do not differ significantly between men and women. Furthermore, men reported higher levels of psychological resilience and more pronounced hope for the future compared to women. Correlation analyses have found a negative association between resilience and hope for the future with certain aspects of covid stress, and in general, individuals who report higher levels of psychological resilience also report more hope for the future