Primary Capacities as a Predictor of Perceived Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in the Pandemic Crisis of Covid-19

Abstract

Fifty years of worldwide success of Positive Psychotherapy practice suggested that primary capacities, postulated by prof. Nossrat Peseschkian, are reliable criteria to diagnose the integration level of personal psychological functioning. If this assumption is correct, then the higher level of integration of primary capacities should correlate with better adaptability, and inversely the lower level of integration should correlate with a higher level of perceived stress, anxiety and depression under the pressure of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. To test this hypothesis, we surveyed internationally 1165 respondents, collecting data on emotional reactions and coping strategies engaging primary capacities of personality structure. As a result of this research, we discovered that a lower integration level of 4 out of 8 primary capacities, namely: ideal, trust, love, and time significantly correlate with a higher level of perceived depression, anxiety and stress. Those results support our initial hypothesis that the lower level of primary capacities would allow a higher level of depression and anxiety.