Abstract
Introduction: The pandemics crisis had consequences in psychological adjustment of persons all over the world. The current study analyzes comparatively the topics of quality of life, and well-being, considering as predictors trait anxiety, feeling of threat, difficulty to relax, empathy and pro-social attitude, health care, sleep quality and optimism, in a population of German and Portuguese adults during the pandemics, in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the psychological reactions to crisis across countries and cultures.Methods: A sample of 470 adults divided in three age groups – —young adults (18—34 years), middle-age adults (34–54 years) and old adults (55 years and older)— completed a self-report questionnaire assessing socio-demographic data, quality of life, well-being, quality of sleep, trait anxiety, Coronavirus threat, optimism regarding the pandemics, difficulty to relax, empathy, and pro-social attitude during the pandemics period.Results: Portuguese participants expresses higher empathy and pro-social attitude and health care but in Germany people have higher quality of sleep. Young adults (a) rated their quality of life lower than middle-age adults and old adults, (b) showed also lower optimism than middle-age and old adults, and (c) showed lower well-being than middle-age,.Conclusions: Young adults rated their quality of life, optimism and well-being during pandemics lower than middle-age and old adults, and experienced higher levels of trait anxiety and difficulty to relax. It seems that young adults show a lower psychological adjustment than other age groups during COVID-19 crisis. It is concluded that quality of life, optimism, and well-being during the pandemics are affected differently according to country and group of age, suggesting individual differences across cultures and ages, and consequently the need of specific interventions to cope with the psychological reactions to pandemics crisis.
Highlights
The pandemics crisis had consequences in psychological adjustment of persons all over the world
The analyses of psychological adjustment, quality of life, well-being, and optimism in German and Portuguese population of adults during COVID-19 pandemics crisis were performed on the basis of descriptive statistics
With the aim to test the hypothesis regarding the predictors of psychological adjustment, namely, quality of life, well-being, and sleep quality in German and Portuguese population of adults during COVID19 pandemics crisis, a regression analyses were performed to better understand the predictors of well-being and quality of life during pandemics
Summary
The pandemics crisis had consequences in psychological adjustment of persons all over the world. It is universally known that the disease affects several body systems Notwithstanding, it is becoming more and more evident that mental health may be heavily affected, in infected people, and in health-care professionals working in hospitals and in the population as a whole. Vindegaard and Benros (2020) searched studies measuring psychiatric symptoms or morbidities associated with COVID-19 among infected patients and among non-infected groups (psychiatric patients, health care workers and non-health care workers). They found a high level of post-traumatic stress and of depressive symptoms in infected persons. Negative symptoms were associated to factors like female gender, poor-self-related health and infected relatives
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
