Changes in Stress, Coping Styles, and Life Satisfaction between the First and Second Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Cross-Lagged Study in a Sample of University Students.

Aleksandra Rogowska,Dominika Ochnik,Cezary Kuśnierz

doi:10.3390/jcm10174025

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to explain the interplay mechanism between stress, life satisfaction, and coping styles among university students. A cohort study was performed during the first (wave 1; W1) and second (wave 2; W2) waves of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The total sample included 231 university students, of which 59.31% were women. The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) were included in one online survey. Stress, emotion-oriented, and avoidance-oriented coping styles increased from W1 to W2 of the COVID-19 pandemic, while life satisfaction and task-oriented coping decreased. The partial mediation effect of all three coping styles during W1 and W2 (in a cross-sectional approach) on the relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction was confirmed in this study. The task-oriented and emotion-oriented coping styles can play a mediating role in the reciprocal relationship between life satisfaction and perceived stress during W1 and W2 of the pandemic. There were no mutual interactions between stress and life satisfaction from a longitudinal approach. Coping styles changed subsequently due to stressful environmental changes related to lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having a wide range of coping strategies from which to choose during an unstable situation should help manage stress and well-being.

Highlights

Satisfaction with life can be defined as the global cognitive self-judgment of wellbeing across a broad set of human activities at school, work, with family, and in social life [1]
We examined for the first time the mediating effect of coping style on the relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction in both cross-sectional and longitudinal models, in an extraordinary stressful situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic
The results of this study indicate that a reciprocal association occurs between life satisfaction and stress, but it can only be observed at a given moment

Summary

Introduction

Satisfaction with life can be defined as the global cognitive self-judgment of wellbeing across a broad set of human activities at school, work, with family, and in social life [1]. Life satisfaction is considered a significant predictor of mental and physical health and successful adaptation to life [2,3,4,5]. Research indicates that higher levels of perceived stress are related to decreased levels of life satisfaction [4,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14]. Physical and mental health was found to be a significant positive predictor of life satisfaction during the pandemic [37]. The most desirable skill in a pandemic situation seems to be coping strategies aimed at regulating and reducing negative emotions or pessimistic and unrealistic thinking, as well as solving current problems related to quarantine restrictions, isolation, job loss, deterioration of economic status, and countless lifestyle changes

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Conclusion