Psychological impact of a country-wide lockdown. Role of personal, behavioral, social, and physical conditions on negative and positive affect and meaning in life

The spread of COVID-19 became the main public health risk for most countries in 2020. The Spanish government declared a state of emergency, implemented lockdown measures and imposed severe restrictions on mobility and compulsory home isolation. Given this sudden situation, we tested the levels of risk perception, the psychological impact of isolation conditions and of coping behaviors. A total of 1343 adult residents in Spain participated in the study. We measured with an online questionnaire (a) risk perception; (b) individual, social, and physical conditions of isolation; and (c) a set of coping behaviors. We tested how the conditions of isolation and the individual behavior affected positive and negative affect and meaning in life. We observed that risk perception was directly linked with the individual and social situation of the participants. Personal resilience, employment status, profile of cohabitants, and using open air spaces in the house are linked with the emotional situation of the participants. Additionally, we found that some behaviors were related with positive affect, meaning in life, and negative affect. The psychological impact of a nation-wide lockdown is not universal and there are key factors that moderate this impact. We have identified key personal, behavioral, social, and physical factors that may help policy makers and citizens in critical isolation situations

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Savouring as an Intervention to Decrease Negative Affect in Anxious Mothers of Children with Autism and Neurotypical Children

Brain Sciences ◽

10.3390/brainsci11050652 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 652

Author(s):

Ariel Pereira ◽

Atiqah Azhari ◽

Chloe Hong ◽

Gerin Gaskin ◽

Jessica Borelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Well Being ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Positive Experience ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Mother Child Relationships ◽

Potential Benefits ◽

The Individual

Savouring is an emotion regulation strategy and intervention that focuses on the process of attending, intensifying and prolonging positive experiences and positive affect associated with these memories. Personal savouring involves a reflection on positive memories that are specific to the individual and do not involve others. In contrast, relational savouring entails reflecting on instances when people were responsive to the needs of their significant others. Such interventions hold potential benefits in enhancing positive affect (PA) and reducing negative affect (NA) for both parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and parents of neurotypical children. Adults with greater symptoms of generalised anxiety have been found to have less PA and more NA. However, no study has investigated the effects of a mother’s anxiety symptoms on the efficacy of savouring in enhancing PA and reducing NA. Thus, this paper combined personal and relational savouring to investigate whether savouring may enhance PA and reduce NA of a pooled sample of mothers of neurotypical children and mothers of children with ASD. 52 mothers of neurotypical children and 26 mothers of children with ASD aged 3–7 years old were given a series of questionnaires and randomly assigned to either relational savouring or personal savouring conditions. In relational savouring, mothers were asked to reflect upon a shared positive experience with their child while in the personal savouring condition, a personal positive experience was recalled. Across mothers of children with ASD and neurotypical children, findings suggest that savouring leads to a decrease in NA (p < 0.01) but not increases in PA. Similarly, mothers with higher levels of anxiety experience a greater decrease in NA (p < 0.001) compared to mothers with lower levels of anxiety post-savouring. This study proposes that a brief savouring intervention may be effective among mothers of preschoolers. As lower levels of negative affect is linked to healthier psychological well-being, mothers might be able to engage in more effective and warm parenting after savouring exercises, which would cultivate positive mother-child relationships that benefit their children in the long-term.

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Fading Affect Bias in Intergroup Relations

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000449 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 52 (4) ◽

pp. 203-214

Author(s):

Michèle D. Birtel ◽

Gian Antonio Di Bernardo ◽

Loris Vezzali

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Intergroup Relations ◽

Intergroup Contact ◽

Memory Strength ◽

Buffering Effect ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

The Individual ◽

Opposite Gender ◽

Over Time

Abstract. Negative affect associated with autobiographical events fades faster over time than positive affect. This Fading Affect Bias (FAB) has been established in the individual and interpersonal domains. Two studies tested the FAB in intergroup relations with Muslims ( N= 76 White British non-Muslim) and opposite gender ( N = 242 women and men) as target outgroups. The results indicated that the FAB exists in an intergroup context, for both ingroup and outgroup memories. Mediation analyses showed that intergroup contact is related to a lower fading of positive affect associated with the outgroup memory, through greater memory strength and a more positive outgroup member evaluation. The findings are important for understanding affect associated with intergroup memories and the buffering effect of positive contact.

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Meaning in Life, Self-Control, Positive and Negative Affect: Exploring Gender Differences Among Adolescents

Youth & Society ◽

10.1177/0044118x19883736 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 0044118X1988373 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Liat Hamama ◽

Yaira Hamama-Raz

Keyword(s):

Gender Differences ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Meaning In Life ◽

Self Control ◽

Positive And Negative Affect ◽

Use Of Self ◽

And Gender

The present study explores gender differences in adolescence with regard to meaning in life and self-control skills and in relation to positive and negative affect. Participants were 500 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 16 years. Outcomes revealed that females reported higher negative affect and self-control skills in comparison with males. Moreover, the association between self-control skills and negative affect was stronger among females than among males. In contrast to our assumptions, positive affect was not found to be higher among females although females scored higher in meaning in life than their male counterparts. In addition, self-control skills mediated the association between meaning in life and negative affect, and gender moderated the association between self-control skills and negative affect only among females. Considering these findings, gender seems to be vital in explaining differences in the use of self-control skills and meaning in life and their links to positive and negative affect.

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Exposure to authoritarian values leads to lower positive affect, higher negative affect, and higher meaning in life

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0256759 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (9) ◽

pp. e0256759

Author(s):

Jake Womick ◽

John Eckelkamp ◽

Sam Luzzo ◽

Sarah J. Ward ◽

S. Glenn Baker ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Real World ◽

Meaning In Life ◽

Negative Mood ◽

Right Wing ◽

Adolf Hitler ◽

Future Directions ◽

Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽

And Control

Five studies tested the effect of exposure to authoritarian values on positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), and meaning in life (MIL). Study 1 (N = 1,053) showed that simply completing a measure of right-wing authoritarianism (vs. not) prior to rating MIL led to higher MIL. Preregistered Study 2 (N = 1,904) showed that reading speeches by real-world authoritarians (e.g., Adolf Hitler) led to lower PA, higher NA, and higher MIL than a control passage. In preregistered Studies 3 (N = 1,573) and 4 (N = 1,512), Americans read authoritarian, egalitarian, or control messages and rated mood, MIL, and evaluated the passages. Both studies showed that egalitarian messages led to better mood and authoritarian messages led to higher MIL. Study 5 (N = 148) directly replicated these results with Canadians. Aggregating across studies (N = 3,401), moderational analyses showed that meaning in life, post manipulation, was associated with more favorable evaluations of the authoritarian passage. In addition, PA was a stronger predictor of MIL in the egalitarian and control conditions than in the authoritarian condition. Further results showed no evidence that negative mood (or disagreement) spurred the boost in MIL. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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GAMBARAN KEJADIAN BODY SHAMING DAN KONSEP DIRI PADA REMAJA DI SMKN 1 KUOK

PREPOTIF : Jurnal Kesehatan Masyarakat ◽

10.31004/prepotif.v5i2.2371 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 1170-1179

Author(s):

Alini Alini ◽

Langen Nidhana Meisyalla

Keyword(s):

Quantitative Research ◽

Descriptive Analysis ◽

Univariate Analysis ◽

Physical Appearance ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Self Concept ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Physical Conditions ◽

Analysis Design ◽

The Individual

Adolescence is a period where there is a change or transition from children to adults that begins at the age of 12 years and will end in the early 20s. Physical condition can be one of the differentiator in teenagers. Physical conditions can make a teenager feel afraid in social relationships. The term body shaming is intended to mock those who have a physical appearance that is considered quite different from society in general.Body shaming is one type of bullying where the individual is seen as a negative side of his physical appearance by others. Body shaming can affect adolescent self-concept. Self-concept is the way an individual sees himself as a whole. In adolescence, self-concept is an important category to reveal about his identity. The purpose of the study was to find out the description of body shaming and self-concept in students at SMK Negeri 1 Kuok in 2021. The type of research was quantitative research with descriptive analysis design. The study was conducted on July 8, 2021 with a sample of 158 students at SMK Negeri 1 Kuok using a stratified random sampling technique. Data collection using an online questionnaire. Analysis of the data used is univariate analysis. The results of univariate analysis showed that 85 respondents (53.8%) experienced high body shaming and 89 respondents (56.6%) had low self-concept. Respondents are expected to be able to further improve their self-concept by starting to love themselves to stay happy, and for respondents who experience body shaming further increase their potential.

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Escala de Autoeficácia para a Atividade com Sentido: Encontrando sentido no envelhecimento ativo

Revista Portuguesa de Investigação Comportamental e Social ◽

10.7342/ismt.rpics.2016.2.1.28 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 3-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Albertina Oliveira ◽

Margarida Pedroso de Lima ◽

Patrícia Portugal

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Activities Of Daily Living ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Meaning In Life ◽

Daily Living ◽

Satisfaction With Life ◽

Satisfaction With Life Scale ◽

Life Questionnaire ◽

Life Scale ◽

Meaning In Life Questionnaire

Objetivos: O presente artigo apresenta um estudo que visa aprofundar as qualidades psicométricas da Escala de Autoeficácia para a Atividade com Sentido (EAASentido), através de análises de fidelidade e validade. A escala foi desenvolvida a partir dos constructos teóricos da autoeficácia, da aprendizagem autodirigida e da atividade de pessoas de idade avançada no âmbito do projeto europeu PALADIN, com o objetivo de criar um instrumento apto a avaliar até que ponto os seniores se sentem confiantes para realizarem atividades com sentido, por si próprios. Método: A investigação é de natureza não experimental e incidiu sobre uma amostra de 503 seniores e idosos das regiões Norte e Centro de Portugal com uma média etária de 71,66 (51 a 96 anos) a quem foram aplicadas a EAASentido, a Escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg (Rosenberg, 1989), a Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scale (Watson e Clark, 1994), a Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985), o Meaning in Life Questionnaire (Steger, Frazier, Oishi e Kaler, 2006), a Escala de Autoeficácia para a Autodireção na Saúde (Oliveira, 2011) e a Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (Lawton e Brody, 1969). Resultados: A consistência interna encontrada foi de 0,94 (alfa de Cronbach) e a validade de constructo revelou muito bons indicadores. No que respeita à análise de componentes principais, os resultados apontaram para três dimensões e não as cinco inicialmente previstas: atividades de desenvolvimento pessoal e participação social, atividades instrumentais, e atividades espirituais/religiosas. Analisadas as saturações dos itens propôs-se a reformulação da escala, eliminando cinco itens. A consistência interna global dos 15 itens manteve-se elevada (0,92). Conclusões: Conclui-se que a EAASentido, com 15 itens, é bastante consistente e adequada para avaliar em que medida os seniores têm confiança na sua capacidade para se envolverem em atividades com sentido (em termos de indicador global), possuindo boa validade de constructo. Em estudos futuros sugere-se a continuidade da avaliação da sua estrutura dimensional, nomeadamente através de análises confirmatórias.

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Positive and Negative Affect: Impact on Empathy and Prosocial Behaviour among College Going Adolescents

International Journal of Indian Psychology ◽

10.25215/0203.060 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Parul Sharma

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Prosocial Behavior ◽

Positive Emotions ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Positive And Negative Affect ◽

Prosocial Behaviour ◽

College Going ◽

The Individual ◽

The Impact

The positive affect means the different level of moods of an individual on subjective basis such as joy, interest and being alert. It refers to the condition where the individual have positive emotions and feelings involving physiological arousal, thinking process and behaviour. Positive affect also involving the interaction of an individual with the environment and its surroundings. The people shows the characteristics of being full of energy, active, are generally high on positive affect and characteristics like sad, lethargic, stress are examples of the negative affect. Empathy refers to the different kind of experiences. The researchers have defined empathy as ability of a person to feel other’s emotions including the feeling and thinking. Therefore it includes an experience that involves understanding others conditions or emotions from their perspective. Empathy increases the prosocial behaviour. The prosocial behaviour means actions which are positive in nature but does benefit others and it includes the moral values, sense of responsibility and does not have any personal gains from such behaviour. It is a kind of voluntary actions that benefits not only the individual itself but also the society as a whole. The aim of the current investigation was to study the impact of positive and negative affect on empathy and prosocial behaviour. For this study, Positive and negative affect scale (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988), Empathy scale (Levine et al., 2009), and Prosocial Tendencies Measure scale (Randall et al., 2003) were administered to the sample of 100 students in the age range of 18-21 years. The sample was taken from different colleges of Chandigarh. An inter-correlation matrix was calculated to see the relationship. The results have shown significant and positive relationship between positive affect, empathy and prosocial behavior. The correlation between positive and empathy is (r = 0.33) and positive affect and prosocial behavior is (r = 0.30). The significant and negative relationship is found between negative affect, empathy and prosocial behavior. The correlation between negative affect and empathy is(r = -0.29) and negative affect and prosocial behavior is (r = -0.27). The result is found to be significant at 0.01 levels.

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Affect and psychological well-being in spouses of cancer patients: the mediating role of meaning in life and self-efficacy

Family Forum ◽

10.25167/ff/3806 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

pp. 267-286

Author(s):

Dariusz Krok

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Meaning In Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Personal Resources ◽

Positive And Negative Affect ◽

Psychological Well Being

The examination of the psychological functioning of cancer patients’ spouses implies that affect and personal resources play an important role in their psychological well-being. This is a consequence of the severe stress caused by the medical conditions of a spouse and of responsibilities related to caregiving. This study aimed to examine the role of affect and purpose-oriented personal resources (meaning in life and self-efficacy) in shaping psychological well-being in the spouses of cancer patients. The participants were 214 spouses of gastrointestinal patients who were either undergoing medical treatment in hospital units or attending scheduled clinic appointments at outpatient medical clinics. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-X), Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWB), Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), and General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) were used. The results indicated that positive affect was positively correlated with meaning in life, self-efficacy, and psychological well-being. In contrast, negative affect was negatively correlated with positive affect, meaning in life, self-efficacy, and psychological well-being. The mediation analyses demonstrated that meaning in life and self-efficacy were mediators between positive and negative affect and psychological well-being. The mediating function of meaning in life and self-efficacy revealed the significant role of personal resources based on purpose and self-motivation in the relationship between affect and psychological well-being. Positive and negative affect can influence motivational processes that enable patients and their families to constructively deal with challenging and illness-related situations. Caregivers and medical staff could take into account the important role of purpose-oriented resources as they affect the functioning of both patients and their families.

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The Positive and Negative Affect Relation in the Context of Stress and Age

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.3070 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 846-847

Author(s):

Jessica Blaxton ◽

Niccole Nelson ◽

Cindy Bergeman

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Inverse Relationship ◽

Later Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Positive And Negative Affect ◽

Multi Level ◽

Midlife Adults ◽

The Individual

Abstract Research suggests that the within-person inverse relationship between negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) indicates poorer emotional well-being, and this interaffect correlation fluctuates in relation to the context of the individual. Specifically, age, stress, and global PA all relate to changes in the interaffect correlation. The current study uses comprehensive data from the Notre Dame Study of Health & Well Being (NDHWB), which allows us to uniquely examine between-person differences in within-person change and variability in the interaffect correlation, thereby examining these constructs from a process-oriented perspective. Midlife and later life participants (N = 965) completed daily questionnaires assessing stress, NA, and PA. Three-level multi-level models illustrated that the interaffect correlation becomes more negative during times of stress, adults with greater global PA experience a stronger inverse interaffect correlation during times of stress, and days of higher stress relate to a stronger inverse interaffect correlation for older adults compared to midlife adults. The findings illustrate the idiographic nature of these relationships and suggest that later life adults and adults with high levels of global PA undergoing higher than typical stressful situations experience stronger inverse interaffect correlations.

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RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ATTACHMENT DIMENSIONS AND AFFECT IN ADULTHOOD

Primenjena psihologija ◽

10.19090/pp.2021.2.173-188 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 173-188

Author(s):

Aleksandra Hadžić ◽

Dejan Kantar

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Practical Importance ◽

Psychological Flexibility ◽

Attachment Anxiety ◽

Snowball Sampling ◽

Attachment Avoidance ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

The Republic ◽

Attachment Dimensions

This research was conducted during the state of emergency in response to coronavirus pandemic with the aim to further examine the relationships between attachment dimensions – attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance – and affect and to test the mediating role of psychological flexibility in these relationships. The sample which was obtained by using the snowball sampling method consists of 1515 adults from the Republic of Srpska, entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina (70.4% females) aged between 18 and 65 who filled an online questionnaire battery. Attachment dimensions were measured by the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ), affect by the Negative and Positive Affect Scale (NAPAS), and psychological flexibility by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II). The results indicate that attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance correlate positively with the negative affect and correlate negatively with the positive affect. Furthermore, the results showed that the relationships between attachment dimensions and negative affect can be explained through psychological flexibility – higher values of attachment dimensions contribute to lower psychological flexibility, which then leads to higher negative affect. The obtained findings have been considered in the light of theoretical and practical importance.

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