Predictors of Positive and Negative Emotions Experienced by Poles during the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Estera Twardowska-Staszek,Krzysztof Biel,Irmina Rostek,Anna Seredyńska

doi:10.3390/ijerph182211993

Estera Twardowska-Staszek, Krzysztof Biel + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182211993

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Abstract

The objective of the research was to specify the predictors of positive and negative emotions experienced by Poles during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers used the following standardized measurement tools: emotions (PANAS), mood (UMACL), satisfaction with life (SWLS), optimism (LOT-R), and coping with stress (CISS). They also used a questionnaire to collect sociodemographic information and data concerning COVID-19 infections. In total, 595 participants (80.50% women) aged 18–75 participated in the research. It was concluded that the predictors of positive emotions included a task-oriented coping style, level of satisfaction with life, being a man, hedonic tone in the description of mood, and being an employed student. The negative predictors of positive emotions included emotion-oriented coping and the level of energetic arousal in the description of mood. The predictors of negative emotions were tense arousal in the description of mood, emotion-oriented coping, being over 60 years of age, and changes in respondents’ standard of living. The negative predictors of negative emotions included living in a medium-sized town or in a village. The research conclusions encourage us to pay special attention to possible at-risk groups threatened with mental health disorders and to factors that protect people against negative psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which was first diagnosed in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, was first recognized in a Polish patient on 4 March 2020 [1]
Surveys that diagnose the mental state of people in different countries are very useful in preventing negative consequences for their inhabitants’ mental health. Such a diagnosis should take into account the high dynamic of changes people face during a pandemic, as well as different ways of experiencing and interpreting pandemic stress by people from a variety of cultural contexts
In the presented research, which was conducted during the second wave of the pandemic (December 2020), 60% of the participants revealed a high level of negative emotions

Summary

Introduction

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which was first diagnosed in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, was first recognized in a Polish patient on 4 March 2020 [1]. This day is the beginning of the first wave of the epidemic in Poland. Over the following 2 months, the government implemented various preventive measures. Mass events were cancelled, followed by severe restrictions on international travel to and from Poland. Within the following few weeks, educational institutions at all levels were closed, and switched from teaching and learning on-site to teaching and learning online. Serious limitations in movement were introduced (parks, beaches, boulevards, and, forests were closed), along with fines for breaches of those restrictions. The obligation to cover one’s mouth and nose in public spaces was implemented [1]

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