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Relationship between personality, adherence to (mental) health behaviours and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

A.T. Pereira ,
C. Cabacos ,
S. Soares ,
A. Araújo ,
A. Manão ,
A.P. Amaral ,
R. De Sousa  and
A. Macedo
A.T. Pereira*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
C. Cabacos
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
S. Soares
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
A. Araújo
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
A. Manão
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
A.P. Amaral
Affiliation:
Polytechnical Institute of Coimbra, Coimbra Health School, Coimbra, Portugal
R. De Sousa
Affiliation:
ACeS Baixo Mondego, Usf Coimbra Centro, Coimbra, Portugal
A. Macedo
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Public health authorities around the world have been disseminating messages to support mental health and psychosocial well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the Portuguese guidelines, we have developed the Adherence Scale to the Recommendations for Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic (ASR-MH-COVID19) to better understand this health behaviour.

Objectives

To analyse the relationship between sociodemographics, personality traits, Adherence (to the Recommendations for Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic) and psychological distress.

Methods

413 individuals (69.2% female; mean age=31.02±14,272) completed an on-line survey, in September-December 2020, including sociodemographic questions, ASR-MH-COVID19, NEO-FFI-20 and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Health Perception Scale.

Results

Adherence scores did not significantly differ by gender, age and years of education. Women presented higher DASS and Neuroticism scores (p<.01). Adherence were negatively correlated with Neuroticism (r=-.247) and with Depression/Anxiety/Stress (all r».-200), positively with Openness to Experience (r=.174), Conscientiousness (r=.194) and Perceived Health (Physical, r=.173 and Psychological, r=.215) (all p<.01). Mediation analysis (Hays’ Macro Process - Model 4) revealed that Adherence is a partial mediator between Openness and DASS and Conscientiousness and DASS; when considering Neuroticism, only the direct effect was significant. The effect of Perceived Health (both Physical and Psychological) on DASS was also mediated by Adherence.

Conclusions

The Health Behaviour Model proposes a pathway linking personality and health that applies to these results about adherence and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Personality and perceived health (also a trait) influence both adherence to mental health behaviours and psychological distress. Understanding personality is vital for health care providers.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

Health behavioursCovid-19personality
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S266
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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