. Self-isolation regime is an effective measure to contain the pandemic (Alfano, Ercolano, 2020), but the psychological factors predicting compliance with stay-at-home recommendations (CSHR) are understudied. We hypothesized that 1) defensive optimism and constructive optimism will have opposite effects on CSHR, 2) the effect of defensive optimism will be mediated through a decrease of anxiety (fear of infection).

. The purpose of this study was to assess the direct and indirect (through the fear of infection) effects of defensive optimism (belief that coronavirus problem is exaggerated) and constructive optimism (belief that people’s efforts help to prevent infection and spread of the virus) on CSHR, controlling for dispositional optimism.

. A longitudinal study (from 10/4/2020 till 2/6/2020) was conducted on a sample of 306 university students (89% women, MA=21.20, SD=4.54) using a single-item measure of CSHR, LOT-R (Scheier et al., 1994), the scales of defensive and constructive optimism (Gordeeva, Sychev, 2020), and anxiety in a pandemic situation questionnaire (Tkhostov, Rasskazova, 2020).

. During seven-week interval CSHR has decreased dramatically (Cohen’s d=0.66, p<0.001) while the other variables remained stable. Using SEM we have showed that CSHR at the end of study (T2) is predicted by the CSHR (T1) and through it by the defensive optimism (negative effect, p<0.05) and constructive optimism (positive effect, p<0.001). Negative effect of defensive optimism on CSHR is also mediated by the fear of infection (T2), reducing it. Dispositional optimism is associated only with constructive optimism.

. Defensive and constructive optimism/ pessimism are essential in explaining health-related behavior.

No significant relationships.

Individuals’ beliefs about COVID-19 pandemic may affect their health-related behavior including self-isolation. “Positive” beliefs may be realistic (constructive belief that efforts help to prevent infection and spread of the virus) or rose-colored glasses (defensive belief that coronavirus problem is exaggerated aimed to cope with anxiety) with different consequences for behavior and mental health.

Objectives: The aim was to develop the scales of defensive and constructive optimism towards COVID-19 pandemic (DCO-Covid) and analyze their psychometric properties, factor structure using CFA, internal consistency and validity.

The sample comprised 1403 university students (68% women, M=20.59, SD=3.66) from large cities of Russia. Online survey conducted from 10/4/2020 till 25/4/2020. Test battery included the scales of constructive and defensive optimism (each of 3 items) and measure of dispositional optimism (LOT-R, Scheier et al., 1994). Part of the sample (N=306) completed anxiety in a pandemic questionnaire (Tkhostov, Rasskazova, 2020).

CFA indicated a good fit for the two-factor model (χ2=27.11, df=8, p<.001, CFI =.985, TLI=.971, RMSEA = .041, p[RMSEA≤.05] = .78) with negative correlations between factors (–.28). Cronbach’s alpha for defensive optimism and constructive optimism were α=.75 and α=.70 respectively. As expected constructive and defensive optimism correlated with dispositional optimism (r=.24; p < .001 and r=–.06; p<.05 respectively) and anxiety (fear of infection, r=.08; n.s and r= –.23; p < .001).

The results show that DCO-C is a reliable measure of defensive and constructive optimism towards COVID-19 pandemic. The construct validity of these scales is confirmed by CFA and obtained correlations.

Previous research shows that subjective well-being during pandemic (SWB-P) is related to sociodemographic variables (de Pedraza et al., 2020) and coping (Rasskazova et al., 2020). We hypothesized that SWB-P depends on specific types of optimism and coping with pandemic situation, namely defensive optimism (belief the coronavirus problem is exaggerated) and constructive optimism (belief that people’s efforts help prevent infection and spread of the virus) which effects are mediated by the effects of destructive and constructive coping.

This study aimed to assess the effects of situation specific optimism and coping on SWB controlling for gender.

The sample comprised 1403 university students (68% women, M=20.59, SD=3.66). Online survey has been conducted from 10/4/2020 till 25/4/2020. The measures included LOT-R, the scales of defensive and constructive optimism, and the scales of destructive and adaptive coping with pandemic situation (Gordeeva, Sychev, 2020). Well-being was assessed by sum of positive affect minus negative affect (PANAS) and SWLS (Diener et al., 1985).

Structural equation modeling shows that SWB-P is related directly to gender (less well-being in women), dispositional optimism, adaptive coping and destructive coping (negatively). The negative effect of defensive optimism was mediated only by destructive coping (p<0.001), the effects of constructive optimism on well-being was mediated by adaptive and destructive coping (both p<0.01) (χ2 (4)= 8.97; p = 0.06; CFI = 0.996; TLI = 0.978; RMSEA = 0.030; PCLOSE = 0.886).

Dispositional optimism together with situation-specific defensive and constructive types of optimism and coping are essential for explaining well-being during Covid-19 lockdown.