Coping with COVID-19: Exploring coping strategies, distress, and post-traumatic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia

Bianca E Kavanagh; Josephine S O'Donohue; Melanie M Ashton; Mojtaba Lotfaliany; Maddy McCallum; Anna L Wrobel; Sarah Croce; Michael Berk; Lucy Saunders; Jerry Lai; Lesley Berk

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1025767

Coping with COVID-19: Exploring coping strategies, distress, and post-traumatic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Oct 20:13:1025767. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1025767. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Bianca E Kavanagh¹, Josephine S O'Donohue¹, Melanie M Ashton¹, Mojtaba Lotfaliany¹, Maddy McCallum¹, Anna L Wrobel^{1

2}, Sarah Croce¹, Michael Berk^{1

2

3

4}, Lucy Saunders¹, Jerry Lai^{5

6}, Lesley Berk¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine, Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, Barwon Health, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
² Orygen, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
³ Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁵ Deakin University, eResearch, Deakin eSolutions, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
⁶ Intersect Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to explore coping strategies, distress, and post-traumatic growth among Australians with and without a history of a mental health diagnosis during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and methods: Australians (N = 381) completed an online survey between 4-August 2020 and 25-October-2020. Coping strategies, distress, and post-traumatic growth were ascertained via the Brief COPE, Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), respectively. Linear regression was conducted to examine the relationship between the Brief COPE, DASS-21, and PTGI, adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Models were conducted separately for those with/without a history of a mental health diagnosis.

Results: Higher distress was found among those with a history of a mental health diagnosis. Significant differences in the types of coping strategies associated with distress and post-traumatic growth were identified between the groups, however, behavioral disengagement and self-blame consistently predicted depression, anxiety, and stress. For those with a history of a mental health diagnosis, positive reframing decreased anxiety. Self-distraction was associated with post-traumatic growth across both groups.

Conclusion: There are important differences in the way people with and without a history of a mental health diagnosis cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; coping; distress; mental health; post-traumatic growth.