Subjective wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: A 3-year, 35-wave longitudinal study

ABSTRACT

This article reports the results of a longitudinal study conducted between December 2019 and December 2022 (35 waves) with 979 participants in Germany. Based on event, transition, and adaptation theories, trajectories of subjective wellbeing (i.e. life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect) were hypothesized and tested across multiple national lockdown and restriction periods. In addition, based on the transactional stress model, this study examined how individuals’ stress appraisals (i.e. threat, challenge) and coping strategies (i.e. active coping, behavioral disengagement) moderate trajectories of subjective wellbeing. There was evidence for some relatively weak lockdown effects on wellbeing and for subsequent recovery effects. Evidence for moderating effects of stress appraisals and coping strategies was mixed. Overall, findings suggest that national lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic had negative, albeit on average relatively weak, effects on subjective wellbeing. Moreover, certain stress appraisals and coping strategies might help individuals maintain wellbeing in times of crisis.

KEYWORDS:

• Appraisal
• coping
• COVID-19
• pandemic
• wellbeing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

data availability

The data are openly accessible at https://osf.io/4rcmh/ or will be made available upon request by contacting the corresponding author

Open scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badges for Open Data and Open Materials through Open Practices Disclosure. The data and materials are openly accessible at https://osf.io/4rcmh/

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2023.2224757

Additional information

Funding

The study reported in this article is funded by Volkswagen Foundation (Az. 96 849-1, “Work and Health in the Time of COVID-19: A Longitudinal Study”). The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose