Health, well-being, and persisting symptoms in the pandemic: What is the role of psychological flexibility?

Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

Long COVID involves ongoing symptoms that appear right after COVID-19 infection.

“Long COVID includes persisting symptoms, following directly after an infection with the COVID-19 virus”

• cites Crook et al., 2021 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source
• cites Nalbandian et al., 2021 sourceSupported

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Certain psychosocial studies point to psychological flexibility as a key target for treating and helping affected individuals recover.

“Some of these identify psychological flexibility, or the ability to act with openness, awareness, and engagement (Hayes et al., 2006) as an important target in the treatment and recovery of those adversely affected”

• cites Crasta et al., 2020 sourceSupported
• cites Daks et al., 2020 sourceSupported
• cites Dawson & Golijani-Moghaddam, 2020 sourceSupported

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

PHQ-9 has adequate validity and internal consistency.

“The PHQ-9 has shown to have adequate validity and internal consistency, α = 0.89 (0.88 in the current sample)”

• cites Kroenke et al., 2001 sourceSupported
• cites Kroenke & Spitzer, 2002 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

The MPFI generally performed well across most aspects.

“On a practical note the MPFI, newly translated and validated in Swedish, appeared to perform well in most respects”

May combine two claims.

Among flexibility facets, seven of 24 correlations with persistent symptoms were medium, none large, 13 small or less than small, four.

“Amongst the flexibility facets seven of 24 correlations were medium-sized, none were large, and the remainder, 13, were small, or less than small, four.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

90.5% of participants were women.

“Mean age was 47.8 years (SD = 11.5) and 90.5% of participants were women.”

May combine two claims.

Self-as-content significantly predicted depression and anxiety, and inaction did as well.

“self-as-content was also significant in predicting depression and anxiety, as was inaction.”

May combine two claims.

Total R-square values for PF equations were .54 for depression, .43 for anxiety, and .32 for insomnia.

“Total R-square values for the equations were respectable at .54 for depression, 0.43 for anxiety and 0.32 for insomnia.”

May combine two claims.

Among inflexibility facets, eight of 24 correlations with persistent symptoms were large, seven medium, nine small.

“Amongst the inflexibility facets, eight of 24 correlations were large, seven were medium, and nine were small.”

May combine two claims.

Five PF facets (all except acceptance) correlated significantly with persistent post-COVID symptoms, with small correlations.

“Here five of the PF facets (with the exception of acceptance) correlated significantly with these symptoms, albeit the correlations were small in size.”

May combine two claims.

PF facets accounted for significant additional variance in depression (7.6%), anxiety (8.1%), and insomnia (3.0%) after adjusting for background, health status, COVID-19 infection, and persistent symptoms.

“And finally, the variance accounted for by the psychological flexibility facets entered in the final block was significant in each case, including 7.6% for depression, 8.1% for anxiety, and 3.0% for insomnia.”

May combine two claims. The quote only partly states this claim.

PI facets accounted for significant additional variance in depression (18%), anxiety (23%), and insomnia (8%) after adjusting for background, health status, COVID-19 infection, and persistent symptoms.

“Another difference was in the final block where variance accounted for at entry was substantially greater, 18% for depression, 23% for anxiety, and 8% for insomnia.”

May combine two claims.

The findings imply either that acceptance does not matter here or that the subscale needs improvement.

“The results obtained suggest either that acceptance is irrelevant in this context, an interpretation that seems unlikely given the weight of evidence to the contrary, or that the subscale requires some revision or refinement.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

The female predominance might stem from recruitment distortion, though the exact reason is unknown.

“That 90.5% were women may be a result of some kind of distortion in the recruitment process, but the nature of this is unclear.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

Psychological flexibility is a worthwhile target for improving broad health and well-being during the pandemic, covering both typical effects and long-COVID symptoms.

“This finding is relevant from a clinical and public health perspective as it indicates that the capacity for psychological flexibility is a target for enhancing health and well-being broadly in the pandemic context, both for the generally expected impacts but also for the unexpected persistent post COVID symptoms.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

The results strengthen the evidence that psychological flexibility matters for future treatment design in pandemic-related mental health and well-being.

“Our findings may not be entirely new but add reliability and generality to the evidence base for PF as an important factor in future treatment designs for mental health and well-being in the pandemic context.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

Social media recruitment likely yielded a biased sample, perhaps including those most affected or worried.

“The recruitment via social media seems to have produced a selected sample, possibly a sample of those most affected or most concerned.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

Self-report data may be susceptible to bias and distortion.

“Of course, self-report measures can be open to bias and distortion”

• cites Podsakoff et al., 2003 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

Whether the findings generalize remains uncertain pending further research.

“In any case, generalizability remains a question until further studies are done.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Interventions that increase psychological flexibility could help individuals with complex ongoing mental and physical conditions after COVID-19.

“It appears that methods to enhance psychological flexibility may also benefit people who suffer with complex persistent mental and physical health conditions following COVID-19.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

An earlier Swedish survey found that 84.5% reported at least one of 25 persistent symptoms, while 49.7% linked one or more to COVID-19.

“In a previous study including 1482 participants surveyed in Sweden 84.5% reported at least one of 25 persistent symptoms, and 49.7% attributing one or more of these to COVID-19 infection”

• cites Brocki et al., 2022Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

May combine two claims.

Swedish version of MPFI has been found reliable with sufficient support for validity.

“The instrument has been translated and validated in Swedish and this version has been found to be a reliable instrument with sufficient support for validity”

• cites Tabrizi et al., 2022Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

The GAD-7 demonstrated strong psychometric properties in the general population and adequate internal consistency.

“The GAD-7 has shown strong psychometric properties in the general population, including adequate internal consistency, α = 0.89 (0.89 in the current sample)”

• cites Löwe et al., 2008Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

• cites Spitzer et al., 2006 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

ISI has good validity and internal consistency in population-based sample.

“In a population-based sample the validity and internal consistency were good, α = 0.90 (0.91 in current sample)”

• cites Bastien et al., 2001 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

MPFI has adequate validity and reliability.

“Studies show that MPFI has adequate validity and reliability”

• cites Landi, Pakenham, Crocetti, et al., 2021a, 2021bNot matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

• cites Rolffs et al., 2018 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

Persistent symptom measure represents evidence-based list but not validated psychometric instrument.

“although the persistent symptom measure used in this study represents an evidence-based list of symptoms, it does not constitute a validated psychometric instrument.”

May combine two claims.

Psychological flexibility might protect against poor mental and physical health during the pandemic, while inflexibility might worsen it.

“Our results are consistent with the growing number of studies, showing that psychological flexibility may play a protective role against poor physical and mental health in the pandemic context, and that inflexibility does the opposite”