Abstract
During the COVID-19 outbreak, individuals with or without mental disorders may resort to dysfunctional psychological strategies that could trigger or heighten their emotional distress. The current study aims to explore the links between maladaptive daydreaming (MD, i.e., a compulsive fantasy activity associated with distress and psychological impairment), psychological symptoms of depression, anxiety, and negative stress, and COVID-19-related variables, such as changes in face-to-face and online relationships, during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A total of 6,277 Italian adults completed an online survey, including socio-demographic variables, COVID-19 related information, the 16-item Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16), and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 Items (DASS-21). Based on an empirically derived cut-off score, 1,082 participants (17.2%) were identified as probable maladaptive daydreamers (MDers). A binary logistic regression revealed that compared to controls, probable MDers reported that during the COVID-19 lockdown they experienced higher levels of anxiety and depression, decreased online social relationships, and, surprisingly, stable or increased face-to-face social relationships. Given the peculiar characteristics of the pandemic context, these findings suggest that the exposure to the risk of contagion had probably exacerbated the tendency of probable MDers to lock themselves inside their mental fantasy worlds, which in turn may have contributed to further estrangement from online social relationships and support, thus worsening their emotional distress.
Highlights
The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and its related syndrome, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO), has evolved into a global health threat
Independent variables were gender, age, education, residence area, having children, marital status, job loss during the lockdown, working in direct contact with the public during the lockdown, having been infected by the coronavirus, having been in quarantine, having someone close infected by the coronavirus, loss of a loved one due to the pandemic, number of people with whom the participant was living with during the lockdown, house size of the location in which the respondent was living during the lockdown, the availability of a garden in that location, perceived changes in the frequency of the respondent’s face-to-face and online relationships, negative stress, anxiety and depression levels as measured by DASS-21 variables
Age was negatively associated with maladaptive daydreaming (MD) (p > 0.001; or extremely severe (OR): 0.98; 95% CI: 0.97–0.99)
Summary
The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and its related syndrome, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO), has evolved into a global health threat. As highlighted by the same authors, increased levels of distress and loneliness associated with social isolation and the profound destabilization of life, may exacerbate the risk of mental health problems, even in the general population It is plausible, that under the threat of a highly contagious and untreatable disease, maladaptive psychological strategies may develop in healthy individuals, as well as aggravate the pre-existing psychiatric conditions (Mucci et al, 2020). As for etiopathogenesis, Soffer-Dudek and Somer (2018) proposed a stress-diathesis model for MD, in which individuals who have an innate predisposition to immerse themselves in an internal fantasy world may become MDers if they are exposed to stressful or traumatic life events In line with this perspective, several studies have suggested that individuals are likely to take shelter in comforting daydreams in the context of stressful circumstances and mental pain (e.g., Greenwald and Harder, 1994, 2003). In view of the reviewed literature, we expected a pattern of positive associations between decreased face-to-face and online social relationships, and MD as well as between psychological symptom levels and MD
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