258
Views
2
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Core self-evaluations as resilience and risk factors of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic

, &
Pages 95-109 | Received 06 Jun 2021, Accepted 12 Jan 2022, Published online: 24 Jan 2022
 

ABSTRACT

In view of the grave consequences of distress reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic, this study investigated CSE (Core Self-evaluations) – internal/external health locus of control, generalized self-efficacy and trait optimism – and intolerance of uncertainty as potential correlates of distress reactions. We conducted an online questionnaire-based cross-sectional study with 422 Israeli respondents. Pandemic-related distress was defined by perceived stress, negative and positive affect, and worries. Predictors were: health locus of control, generalized self-efficacy, trait optimism, and intolerance of uncertainty. The findings show that CSEs and intolerance of uncertainty added between 11% (to perceived stress) and 22% (to negative affect) of explained variance beyond the background variables. Specifically, higher trait optimism and generalized self-efficacy were associated with less distress, and greater intolerance of uncertainty was correlated with higher distress. In conclusion, the CSE framework is useful for explaining psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond their theoretical contribution, the findings may have practical implications for increasing resilience and ameliorating distress during a pandemic.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Notes

1. While self-esteem is part of the CSE taxonomy, measures of self-esteem have considerable overlap with measures of self-efficacy and are often used interchangeably (Kammeyer-Mueller et al., Citation2009). Due to overload considerations, we did not measure self-esteem in the study.

2. The survey included additional measures that were not part of this study (e.g. coronavirus representations, adherence to protective health behaviors).

3. Intolerance of uncertainty was combined with CSEs in the Tables.

4. Dichotomous variables were recoded as dummy variables prior to analyses.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 65.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 402.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.