Emotional experiences and psychological well-being in 51 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Sun R 1 , Balabanova A 1 , Bajada CJ 2 , Liu Y 3 , Kriuchok M 4 , Voolma SR 5 Show all authors , Đurić M 6 , Mayer CH 7 , Constantinou M 8 , Chichua M 9 , Li C 10 , Foster-Estwick A 11 , Borg K 12 , Hill C 7 , Kaushal R 13 , Diwan K 14 , Vitale V 15 , Engels T 1 , Aminudin R 16 , Ursu I , Fadhlia TN 1 , Wu YJ 17 , Sekaja L 7 , Hadchity M , Deak A 18 , Sharaf S 1 , Figueras P 19 , Kaziboni A 20 , Whiston A 21 , Ioumpa K 22 , Montelongo A 23 , Pauw L 24 , Pavarini G 25 , Vedernikova E 14 , Vu T 26 , Nummenmaa L 27 , Cong YQ 1 , Nikolic M 28 , Olguin A 29 , Hou WK 30 , Israelashvili J 31 , Koo HJ 32 , Khademi S 33 , Ukachukwu CG 34 , Juma DO 35 , Kamiloğlu RG 1 , Makhmud A 36 , Lunga PS 37 , Rieble C 1 , Rizwan M 38 , Helmy M 39 , Vuillier L 40 , Manokara K 1 , Quezada EC 1 , Tserendamba D 41 , Yoshie M 42 , Du AH 43 , Philip-Joe K 44 , Kúld PB 14 , Damani K 45 , Osei-Tutu A 46 , Sauter D 43

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam
  • 2 Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta
  • 3 Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland
  • 4 Faculty of Computer Science, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
  • 5 Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu
  • 6 Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • 7 Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, University of Johannesburg
  • 8 Center for Applied Neuroscience, University of Cyprus
  • 9 Applied Research Division for Cognitive and Psychological Science, IEO European Institute of Oncology IRCCS
  • 10 East2west International
  • 11 George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre
  • 12 Department of Public Policy, Faculty of Economics, Management & Accountancy, University of Malta
  • 13 Department of Information Technology, Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women
  • 14 School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University
  • 15 Department of Psychology of Developmental and Socialization Processes, Sapienza University of Rome
  • 16 Department of Political Science, International Islamic University Malaysia
  • 17 Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • 18 Institute of Psychology, University of Pecs
  • 19 School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London
  • 20 Institute for the Future of Knowledge, University of Johannesburg
  • 21 Department of Psychology, University of Limerick
  • 22 Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 23 Operations Research Department, Management School, University Federal of Rio Grande do Sul
  • 24 Department of Social, Health and Organisational Psychology, Utrecht University
  • 25 Ethox Centre, Oxford Population Health, University of Oxford
  • 26 Department of Clinical, Neuro-, and Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • 27 Turku PET Centre, University of Turku
  • 28 Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam
  • 29 Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge
  • 30 Department of Psychology, Centre for Psychosocial Health, Education University of Hong Kong
  • 31 Department of Psychology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • 32 Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine
  • 33 Nijmegen School of Management, Radboud University
  • 34 My Mind Our Humanity, Lancet Youth Leader for Global Mental Health
  • 35 Healthy Brains Global Initiative
  • 36 Department of Psychology, Durham University
  • 37 Department of Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • 38 Department of Psychology, University of Haripur
  • 39 Psychology Department, College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University
  • 40 Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University
  • 41 National Psychological Centre in Mongolia
  • 42 Department of Information Technology and Human Factors, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington
  • 43 School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington
  • 44 John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, Department of Pediatrics
  • 45 EdTech Hub
  • 46 Department of Psychology, University of Ghana
Emotion, 2024 Mar;24(2):397-411.
PMID: 37616109 DOI: 10.1037/emo0001235

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges to psychological well-being, but how can we predict when people suffer or cope during sustained stress? Here, we test the prediction that specific types of momentary emotional experiences are differently linked to psychological well-being during the pandemic. Study 1 used survey data collected from 24,221 participants in 51 countries during the COVID-19 outbreak. We show that, across countries, well-being is linked to individuals' recent emotional experiences, including calm, hope, anxiety, loneliness, and sadness. Consistent results are found in two age, sex, and ethnicity-representative samples in the United Kingdom (n = 971) and the United States (n = 961) with preregistered analyses (Study 2). A prospective 30-day daily diary study conducted in the United Kingdom (n = 110) confirms the key role of these five emotions and demonstrates that emotional experiences precede changes in well-being (Study 3). Our findings highlight differential relationships between specific types of momentary emotional experiences and well-being and point to the cultivation of calm and hope as candidate routes for well-being interventions during periods of sustained stress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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