Does the attribution of responsibilities modify the relationship between coping styles and mental health? A survey of Chinese adults during the COVID-19 pandemic
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online August, 2022
Does the attribution of responsibilities modify the relationship between coping styles and mental health? A survey of Chinese adults during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS) and self-reported Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) in the general population. This study used linear regressions for analyses, based on an online survey conducted during the COVID-19 lockdown among 2441 Chinese adults in February 2020. The results showed negative coping and attributing responsibilities to individuals were associated with more PTSS, while both positive and negative coping, as well as attributing responsibilities to individuals were related to more PTG. Moreover, attribution of responsibilities modified the association between coping and PTSS, but not PTG. These findings shed light on mental health interventions in a pandemic context.
ArceneauxKSteinRM (2006) Who is held responsible when disaster strikes? The attribution of responsibility for a natural disaster in an urban election. Journal of Urban Affairs28: 43–53.
2.
BittonMS (2014) PTSD, posttraumatic growth, and coping among ultra-orthodox Jewish battered women in Israel. Journal of Loss and Trauma19: 155–172.
3.
BrickmanPRabinowitzVCKaruzaJ, et al. (1982) Models of helping and coping. American Psychologist37: 368–384.
4.
BrooksSKWebsterRKSmithLE, et al. (2020) The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: Rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet395: 912–920.
5.
CampbellSBFortneyJSimpsonTL, et al. (2019) Change in social support while participating in behavioral activation for PTSD. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy11: 905–908.
6.
ChanEYYHuangZLoESK, et al. (2020) Sociodemographic predictors of health risk perception, attitude and behavior practices associated with health-emergency disaster risk management for biological hazards: The case of COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong, SAR China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health17: 3869.
7.
ChiXBeckerBYuQ, et al. (2020) Prevalence and psychosocial correlates of mental health outcomes among Chinese college students during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Frontiers in Psychiatry11: 00803.
8.
CohenPBrookJSCohenJ, et al. (1990) Common and uncommon pathways to adolescent psychopathology and problem behavior. In: RobinsLNRutterM (eds) Straight and Devious Pathways from Childhood to Adulthood. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, pp.242–258.
9.
CoriLBianchiFCadumE, et al. (2020) Risk perception and covid-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health17: 3114.
10.
DrapeauCWLockmanJDMooreMM, et al. (2019) Predictors of posttraumatic growth in adults bereaved by suicide. Crisis40: 196–202.
11.
FestingerL (1957) A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
12.
FirstMB (2013) DSM-5® Handbook of Differential Diagnosis. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Publishing.
13.
FolkmanSMoskowitzJT (2004) Coping: Pitfalls and promise. Annual Review of Psychology55: 745–774.
14.
FredricksonBL (2004) The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences359: 1367–1377.
15.
FuWWangCZouL, et al. (2020) Psychological health, sleep quality, and coping styles to stress facing the COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. Translational Psychiatry10: 225–234.
16.
GaleaSAciernoRRuggieroK, et al. (2006) Social context and the psychobiology of posttraumatic stress. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences1071: 231–241.
17.
GiordaniRCFZanoni da SilvaMMuhlC, et al. (2020) Fear of COVID-19 scale: Assessing fear of the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil. Journal of Health Psychology. Epub ahead of print 16 December. DOI: 10.1177/1359105320982035.
18.
GuoJFengXLWangXH, et al. (2020) Coping with COVID-19: Exposure to covid-19 and negative impact on livelihood predict elevated mental health problems in Chinese adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health17: 1–18.
19.
Harmon-JonesE (2012) Cognitive dissonance theory. In: RamachandranVS (ed.) Encyclopedia of Human Behavior: Second Edition. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, pp.543–549.
20.
HeirTSandvikLWeisæthL (2009) Hallmarks of posttraumatic stress: Symptom Z-scores in a tsunami-affected tourist population. Psychopathology42: 157–164.
21.
Janoff-BulmanRYopykDJ (2004). Random outcomes and valued commitments. In: GreenbergJKooleSLPyszczynskiT (eds) Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology. New York, NY: Guilford Press, pp.122–138.
22.
JaspalRFinoEBreakwellGM (2020) The COVID-19 own risk appraisal scale (CORAS): Development and validation in two samples from the United Kingdom. Journal of Health Psychology. Epub ahead of print 28 October. DOI: 10.1177/1359105320967429.
23.
JieY (1998) Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of coping style scale. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology2: 114–115.
24.
JinYXuJLiuD (2014) The relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder and post traumatic growth: Gender differences in PTG and PTSD subgroups. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology49: 1903–1910.
25.
KahlorLADunwoodySGriffinRJ (2002) Attributions in explanations of risk estimates. Public Understanding of Science11: 243–257.
26.
LauALDChiICumminsRA, et al. (2008) The SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) pandemic in Hong Kong: Effects on the subjective wellbeing of elderly and younger people. Aging and Mental Health12: 746–760.
27.
LiangLGaoTRenH, et al. (2020) Post-traumatic stress disorder and psychological distress in Chinese youths following the COVID-19 emergency. Journal of Health Psychology25: 1164–1175.
28.
MakIWCChuCMPanPC, et al. (2010) Risk factors for chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in SARS survivors. General Hospital Psychiatry32: 590–598.
29.
MakWWSMoPKHCheungRYM, et al. (2006) Comparative stigma of HIV/AIDS, SARS, and tuberculosis in Hong Kong. Social Science and Medicine63: 1912–1922.
30.
MarkusH (1977) Self-schemata and processing information about the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology35: 63–78.
31.
MatiasTDominskiFHMarksDF (2020) Human needs in COVID-19 isolation. Journal of Health Psychology25: 871–882.
32.
MesidorJKSlyKF (2019) Religious coping, general coping strategies, perceived social support, PTSD symptoms, resilience, and posttraumatic growth among survivors of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Mental Health, Religion and Culture22: 130–143.
33.
MoorAFarchiM (2011) Is rape-related self-blame distinct from other post traumatic attributions of blame? A comparison of severity and implications for treatment. Women and Therapy34: 447–460.
34.
NickersonAAderkaIMBryantRA, et al. (2013) The role of attribution of trauma responsibility in posttraumatic stress disorder following motor vehicle accidents. Depression and Anxiety30: 483–488.
35.
NowickiGJŚlusarskaBTucholskaK, et al. (2020) The severity of traumatic stress associated with covid-19 pandemic, perception of support, sense of security, and sense of meaning in life among nurses: Research protocol and preliminary results from Poland. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health17: 1–18.
36.
O’ConnorAMEvansAD (2020) Dishonesty during a pandemic: The concealment of COVID-19 information. Journal of Health Psychology. Epub ahead of print 17 August. DOI: 10.1177/1359105320951603.
37.
OcchipintiSChambersSKLeporeS, et al. (2015) A longitudinal study of post-traumatic growth and psychological distress in colorectal cancer survivors. PLoS One10: e0139119.
38.
Odriozola-GonzálezPPlanchuelo-GómezÁIrurtiaMJ, et al. (2020) Psychological symptoms of the outbreak of the COVID-19 confinement in Spain. Journal of Health Psychology. Epub ahead of print 30 October. DOI: 10.1177/1359105320967086.
39.
PfefferbaumBNorthCS (2020) Mental health and the Covid-19 pandemic. The New England Journal of Medicine383: 510–512.
40.
PrinsteinMJAikinsJW (2004) Cognitive moderators of the longitudinal association between peer rejection and adolescent depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology32: 147–158.
41.
QiZ-HChenJJiangH, et al. (2012) Relation of attribution styles and attribution flexibility to mental health in college students. Chinese Mental Health Journal26: 310–314.
42.
SareenJ (2014) Posttraumatic stress disorder in adults: Impact, comorbidity, risk factors, and treatment. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry59: 460–467.
43.
SchaeferJAMoosRH (1998) The context for posttraumatic growth: Life crises, individual and social resources, and coping. In: TedeschiRGParkCLCalhounLG (eds) Posttraumatic Growth: Positive Changes in the Aftermath of Crisis. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp.99–125.
44.
SommaAGialdiGFrauC, et al. (2020) COVID-19 pandemic preventive behaviors and causal beliefs among Italian community dwelling adults. Journal of Health Psychology. Epub ahead of print 13 October. DOI: 10.1177/1359105320962243.
45.
StalderDRAndersonKM (2014) Are depressed individuals more susceptible to cognitive dissonance?Current Research in Social Psychology22: 10–19.
46.
SteinsGWeinerB (1999) The influence of perceived responsibility and personality characteristics on the emotional and behavioral reactions to people with aids. Journal of Social Psychology139: 487–495.
TedeschiRGShakespeare-FinchJTakuK, et al. (2018) Posttraumatic Growth: Theory, Research, and Applications. New York, NY: Routledge.
49.
WalsterE (1966) Assignment of responsibility for an accident. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology3: 73–79.
50.
WangHXiaQXiongZ, et al. (2020) The psychological distress and coping styles in the early stages of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic in the general mainland Chinese population: A web-based survey. PLoS One15: e0233410.
51.
WeathersFWLitzBTKeaneTM, et al. (2013) The PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Scale available from the National Center for PTSD atwww.ptsd.va.gov
52.
WongCMLJensenO (2020) The paradox of trust: Perceived risk and public compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. Journal of Risk Research23: 1021–1030.
53.
WuXKamingaACDaiW, et al. (2019) The prevalence of moderate-to-high posttraumatic growth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders243: 408–415.
54.
ZhangWYanTTDuYS, et al. (2013) Relationship between coping, rumination and posttraumatic growth in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders7: 1204–1210.
55.
ZoellnerTMaerckerA (2006) Posttraumatic growth in clinical psychology: A critical review and introduction of a two-component model. Clinical Psychology Review26: 626–653.
56.
ZysbergLZisbergA (2020) Days of worry: Emotional intelligence and social support mediate worry in the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Health Psychology. Epub ahead of print 18 August. DOI: 10.1177/1359105320949935.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
