RE-COVER project: A survey on resilience, mental health, and fear of Covid-19 in four countries

• Published in: BMC research notes 2021-11, Vol.14 (1), p.409-4, Article 409
• Main Authors: Sugawara, Daichi, Gu, Yuan, Masuyama, Akihiro, Ng, Siew Li, Phoo, Evone Y M, Raja Reza Shah, Raja Intan Arifah Binti, Kubo, Takahiro, Chishima, Yuta, Tee, Eugene Y J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anxiety; Child; China; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Cultural differences; Data Note; Depression; Emotions; Epidemics; Fear; Fear of COVID-19; Health attitudes; Humans; Infections; Japan; Malaysia; Medical research; Mental depression; Mental Health; Mental health surveys; Pandemics; Psychological aspects; Questionnaires; Resilience; Resilience (Personality trait); Resilience, Psychological; SARS-CoV-2; Self compassion; Social classes; Social interactions; Stress; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Trauma; United States; Well-being
• ISSN: 1756-0500; 1756-0500
• DOI: 10.1186/s13104-021-05819-x

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health of people worldwide. Psychological resilience has been shown to buffer against the threat of the pandemic (i.e., COVID-19 fear) and sustain mental health. The extent to which psychological resilience factors impact mental health maintenance, however, is unclear, given broad differences in infection rates, prevention approaches, government interventions across different cultures and contexts. Our study examines resilience factors and how they protect individuals from COVID-19-related fear and sustain their mental health. Data were collected from 1583 (M  = 32.22, SD = 12.90, Range = 19-82) respondents from Japan, China, the United States, and Malaysia between October to November 2020. We collected data across age and sex, marital status, number of children, and occupations. We also accounted for stay-at-home measures, change in income, COVID-19 infection status, place of residence, and subjective social status in the study. Our variables included mental health-related and resilience constructs, namely (i) fear of COVID-19, (ii) depression, anxiety, and stress; (iii) present, past, and future life satisfaction, (iv) sense of control, (v) positive emotions, (vi) ego-resilience, (vii) grit, (viii) self-compassion, (ix) passion, and (x) relational mobility. All questionnaires were assessed for their suitability across the four countries with the necessary translation checks. Results from this study can be instrumental in examining the impact of multiple resilience factors and their interaction with demographic variables in shaping mental health outcomes.