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- Understanding differential stress and mental health reactions to COVID-19 related eventsPublication . Sebastião, Rita; Neto, David Dias; Costa, VascoThe effects of the pandemic on mental health can be studied through different variables, such as the number of COVID-19 stressors, the stressor types, and the stress responses. Understanding the sources of mental strain is crucial for developing effective interventions. The present study analyzed the relationship between these COVID-19-related variables and positive and negative mental health. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 666 individuals from the Portuguese general population, mostly females (65.5%) between 16–93 years old. They completed self-report measures regarding the number of COVID-19 stressors, the stressor types, the stress responses (IES-R), and positive (MHC-SF) and negative mental health (BSI-18). The results demonstrated that a higher number of COVID-19-experienced stressors and more stress responses were related to worse mental health. Regarding stressor types, experiences not related to the COVID-19 infection (e.g., tension at home) presented the largest effects on mental health. The strongest predictor was the stress responses for negative (β = 0.50) and positive mental health (β = −0.17). The predictors explained more about negative mental health than positive. These findings support the idea that individual appraisals play a crucial role in mental health.
- Longitudinal association of stress with mental health in the context of COVID‐19: The mediating role of psychological flexibility and emotional schemasPublication . Sebastião, Rita; Neto, David DiasStress is a known contributor to psychosocial pathologi-cal conditions and reduction of well-being. The literaturehas highlighted the role of emotional schemas and psy-chological flexibility as psychological processes underly-ing this relationship in the short term. This two-wavelongitudinal study analyses the mediating role of psycho-logical flexibility and emotional schemas in the relation-ship between stress responses to COVID-19-relatedevents and mental health 6 months later. Two hundredand seventy-six individuals were included in this study,completing measures of stress responses, emotionalschemas, psychological flexibility and positive and nega-tive mental health. Negative evaluation of emotions wasa significant mediator in the longitudinal relationshipbetween stress responses and negative mental health.Valued action and openness to experience mediate thelongitudinal relationship between stress responses andpositive mental health. This study underscores theimportance of the different dimensions of psychologicalprocesses, suggesting that over time, more maladaptivepsychological processes play a significant role in eluci-dating the relationship between stress responses and negative mental health. Similarly, it suggests that moreadaptive processes may help explain the relationshipbetween stress responses and positive mental health.This contributes to a better understanding of the stabilityof these processes, which is important for determiningwhich intervention targets should be prioritised
- Stress and mental health: The role of emotional schemas and psychological flexibility in the context of COVID-19Publication . Sebastião, Rita; Neto, David DiasStress has been associated with mental health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, stress responses were identified as an important factor affecting mental health. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Following a process-based approach, emotional schemas and psychological flexibility seem to be promising processes for understanding these impacts. The present study aims to evaluate the role of two potential processes – emotional schemas and psychological flexibility – in the relationship between stress responses and (positive and negative) mental health. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 583 individuals from the Portuguese population (M age = 44.8, 64.3% females). They completed measures of stress responses, emotional schemas, psychological flexibility, positive and negative mental health. The results demonstrated that emotional schemas and psychological flexibility significantly mediate the relationship between stress responses and mental health. Our findings highlight the importance of attending to emotional schemas and psychological flexibility within stressful contexts. Furthermore, it stresses the need to develop individualised intervention programs that target emotional schemas and psychological flexibility to promote and protect mental health, ultimately decreasing symptoms and increasing well-being.