The DOI matches its Crossref record; 38 of the 39 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Optimism, mindfulness, and resilience as potential protective factors for the mental health consequences of fear of the coronavirus
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has a substantial impact on mental health. Prior reports have shown that depression, anxiety, and stress have increased throughout the pandemic. Nonetheless, not everyone is affected by these negative consequences and some people may be relatively unaffected. In this online study in a predominantly Dutch and Belgian sample (N = 546), we investigated whether positive personality traits such as optimism, mindfulness, and resilience may protect against the negative mental health consequences (i.e., fear of the coronavirus, depression, stress, and anxiety) of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that fear of COVID-19 was related to higher depression, stress, and anxiety. However, for participants scoring high on mindfulness, optimism, and resilience, this relationship was weakened. In addition to these findings, we present the results of network analyses to explore the network structure between these constructs. These results help to identify possible ways through which psychological well-being can be promoted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“Moreover, trait mindfulness can also moderate the relationship between fear of the coronavirus and psychological distress (Vos et al., 2021).”
From The association between facets of mindfulness and COVID-19 related distress: A cross-sectional study (2023) · cites this paper as Vos et al., 2021
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“In addition, individual differences exist in the level of COVID-19 related concerns and therefore in the vulnerability to the psychosocial effects of the pandemic (Mertens, Gerritsen, et al., 2020; Taylor et al., 2021; Vos et al., 2021).”
From The association between facets of mindfulness and COVID-19 related distress: A cross-sectional study (2023) · cites this paper as Vos et al., 2021
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Alimoradi, Z., Ohayon, M. M., Griffiths, M. D., Lin, C., & Pakpour, A. H. (2022) · BJPsych Open · doi:10.1192/bjo.2022.26 · Cited by 194
Hope and Optimism as an Opportunity to Improve the “Positive Mental Health” Demand
Laranjeira, C., & Querido, A. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.827320 · Cited by 87
Pellerin, N., Raufaste, É., Corman, M., Teissèdre, F., & Dambrun, M. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-14572-5 · Cited by 76
Li, X., Yu, H., & Yang, N. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-04336-y · Cited by 78
Han, S.-S., Zhang, Y.-S., Zhu, W., Ye, Y.-P., Li, Y.-X., Meng, S., Feng, S., Han, L., Cui, Z.-L., Zhang, Y., et al. (2025) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-025-22443-7 · Cited by 78
Metadata
- Authors
- Vos, L. M. W., Habibović, M., Nyklíček, I., Smeets, T., & Mertens, G.
- Affiliations
- Tilburg University (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Mertens, Gaëtan
- Venue
- Psychiatry Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-06
- Volume
- 300
- Pages
- 113927
- ISSN
- 0165-1781 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9755114
- OpenAlex
- W3141266007
- Cited by
- 152
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 18
- FWCI
- 21.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Psychiatry Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- Research portal (Tilburg University) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Tilburg University Research Portal (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Keywords
- optimism, mindfulness, resilience, COVID-19 pandemic, fear of COVID-19, depression, anxiety, stress, protective factors, mental health, personality traits, psychological well-being, network analysis
- MeSH terms
- Optimism, COVID-19, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Anxiety, Depression, Fear, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Young Adult, Pandemics, Mindfulness, Protective Factors
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