Predictors of emotional distress during the COVID-19 pandemic; a Croatian study

Branimir Margetić; Tina Peraica; Kristina Stojanović; Dragutin Ivanec

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.110691

Predictors of emotional distress during the COVID-19 pandemic; a Croatian study

Pers Individ Dif. 2021 Jun:175:110691. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110691. Epub 2021 Jan 26.

Authors

Branimir Margetić¹, Tina Peraica¹, Kristina Stojanović¹, Dragutin Ivanec²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Dubrava, Avenija Gojka Šuška 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
² Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb, Croatia.

Abstract

The study aimed to assess relations between coronavirus-related psychological distress and its potentially predictive factors. An online sample of 2860 Croatian adults filled in questionnaires on socio-demographic characteristics, distress (the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21), coping (the Brief COPE), personality (the International Personality Item Pool), and social support (the Duke-UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire) during the COVID-19 lockdown and after the capital was hit by an earthquake. Results indicated that 15.9% of the respondents experienced severe to extreme depression, 10.7% severe to extreme anxiety, and 26.2% severe to extreme stress. The hierarchical regressions analysis indicated that the considered variables explained a substantial percentage of the variance in depression (51.4%), anxiety (35.2%), and stress (45.5%). Main predictors of emotional distress were lower scores of Emotional Stability, higher scores of Agreeableness, avoidant coping, lack of active coping and perceived social support. The negative effect of the earthquake was weak. Results provide information on a broad range of potentially protective or vulnerability factors that could help identify those at risk for developing coronavirus-related psychological distress. Findings suggest that promoting active coping styles and social interactions could be preventive and potentially therapeutic in general populations.

Keywords: Anxiety; COVID-19; Coping; Depression; Emotional distress; Personality.