Abstract
BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, most people had to cope with the restrictions of the lockdown, leaving them to their fears, insecurity and isolation. On the other hand, due to the unexpected ‘extra time’ there was room for new experiences and for personal reflections on what is essential in life, to perceive nature and relations more consciously etc. We, therefore, intended to analyze perceived changes of attitudes and behaviors during the time of lockdown, and whether these perceptions would contribute to personal wellbeing during the pandemic.MethodsAn anonym cross-sectional online survey was performed for data collection, using standardized questionnaires, i.e., the WHO-Five Well-being Index (WHO-5), Brief Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale (BMLSS), Awe/Gratitude scale (GrAw-7), and the newly developed Perceived Changes Questionnaire (PCQ).ResultsWithin the number of respondents (n = 1277), women were predominating (67.5%). Participants’ mean age was 50.9 ± 14.9 years. Exploratory factor analyses showed that the 24-item Perceived Changes Questionnaire differentiated five factors that would account for 61% of variance: (1) Nature/Silence/Contemplation (Cronbach’s alpha = .87), (2) Spirituality (Cronbach’s alpha = .83), (3) Relationships (Cronbach’s alpha = .80), (4) Reflection on life (Cronbach’s alpha = .74), (5) Digital media usage (Cronbach’s alpha = .74). Strongest changes were observed for Relationships and Nature/Silence/Contemplation. Perceived changes were stronger among older persons, among persons with higher wellbeing, and among those who relied on their faith as a resource. These changes were predicted best by a person’s perception of wondering awe in distinct situations with subsequent feelings of gratitude. Stepwise regression analyzes revealed that participants’ wellbeing was explained best by low perceived burden and high life satisfaction (R2 = .46). Awe/gratitude, perceived changes in terms of Nature/Silence/Contemplation and low Reflections of live are further variables that would predict a person’s wellbeing among the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionsDuring the Corona pandemic, people tried to find ways to adapt to the outcomes of the restrictions. The perceived changes of attitudes and behaviors can be interpreted in terms of a reappraisal strategy. These can be measured with the extended version of the PCQ which was found to have good quality indices and a plausible factor structure. The reported changes contribute to persons’ wellbeing only to some extend, indicating that they represent an independent quality of relevance in peoples’ life.
Highlights
Like in almost every country in the world, the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about in Germany a complete social and economic lockdown in spring 2020.Büssing et al Health Qual Life Outcomes (2020) 18:374The public health system has focused on diagnosis, quarantine, and supportive treatment possibilities for infected patients [1, 2]
We identified several topics of perceived changes during the Corona pandemic which were of relevance to the participants: (1) conscious experience of quiet times in life, mindful perceptions of nature and contemplative reflections, (2) interest in spiritual issues, religious trust, and more intense praying/meditation to connect with the Sacred, (3) more intense and closer relations with partner, family and friends as resources of social support, (4) reflections about meaning in life and the lifetime one may have; these were, associated with the perception of loneliness, (5) usage of digital media to stay connected with others and to be inspired by specific website content
During the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic people tried to find ways to adapt to the outcomes of the restrictions
Summary
Like in almost every country in the world, the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about in Germany a complete social and economic lockdown in spring 2020.Büssing et al Health Qual Life Outcomes (2020) 18:374The public health system has focused on diagnosis, quarantine, and supportive treatment possibilities for infected patients [1, 2]. Managing of people at risk was seen as a challenging task by health professional, because there is currently no cure or reliable treatments established [3, 4]. This insecurity resulted in fears and worries among the general population, too, because the only preventive option seems to be personal hygiene and social distancing. Some experienced a degree of fear getting into contact with potentially infected persons [4, 7] They avoided direct contact and allowed themselves to go to the grocery and pharmacies only (which was in some countries the strictest form of lockdown). We intended to analyze perceived changes of attitudes and behaviors during the time of lockdown, and whether these perceptions would contribute to personal wellbeing during the pandemic
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