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Cited by 95Optimism, Hope, and Well-beingCOVID-19 and Mental HealthResilience and Mental Health

Hope and Resilience During a Pandemic Among Three Cultural Groups in Israel: The Second Wave of Covid-19

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Braun-Lewensohn, Orna, Abu-Kaf, Sarah, Kalagy, Tehila·2021·Frontiers in Psychology
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.637349PMC PMC7930000
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Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the coping resources of hope and sense of coherence, which are rooted in positive-psychology theory, as potential resilience factors that might reduce the emotional distress experienced by adults from three cultural groups in Israel during the chronic-stress situation of a pandemic. The three cultural groups examined were secular Jews, Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and Arabs. We compared these cultural groups during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, just before the Jewish New Year (mid-September 2020) as a second lockdown was announced. Data were gathered from 248 secular Jews, 243 Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and 203 Arabs, who were 18–70 years old (M= 37.14,SD= 12.62). The participants filled out self-reported questionnaires including the Brief Symptom Inventory as a measure of emotional/psychological distress (i.e., somatization, depression, and anxiety) and questionnaires about sense of coherence and different types of hope (i.e., intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpersonal) as measures of coping resources and resiliency. Differences were found between the three groups in terms of several variables. The Arab participants reported the highest levels of emotional distress and the lowest levels of interpersonal and transpersonal hope; whereas the Ultra-Orthodox participants revealed the highest levels of sense of coherence and other resilience factors. A structural equation model revealed that, in addition to the sociodemographic factors, only sense of coherence and intrapersonal hope played significant roles in explaining emotional distress, explaining 60% of the reported distress among secular Jews, 41% among Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and 48% among Arabs. We discuss our findings in light of the salutogenic and hope theories. We will also discuss their relevancy to meaning-seeking and self-transcendence theory in the three cultural groups.

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  • The current findings differed from the findings of Braun-Lewensohn et al. (2021) who found that PACs experienced similar or less hope and meaning during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with secular and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis.

    “The current findings differed from the findings of Braun‐Lewensohn et al. (2021) who found that PACs experienced similar or less hope and meaning during the COVID‐19 pandemic compared with secular and Ultra‐Orthodox Jewish Israelis”

    From Parenthood during the <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 pandemic: <scp>Post‐traumatic</scp> growth amongst university students (2023) · cites this paper as Braun‐Lewensohn et al. (2021)

    The Results (Table 2; page unavailable) show that Arab participants had lower hope scores than Ultra-Orthodox participants and similar or lower intrapersonal and interpersonal hope than secular participants. But Arabs had significantly higher transpersonal hope than secular participants, so the blanket description of their hope as ‘similar or less’ does not hold. The study measured sense of coherence, which it discusses in relation to meaningfulness, rather than a separate measure of meaning. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • This enhancement of meaning and purpose fosters PTG and resilience to stress and enhances coping during the pandemic.

    “and this, it appears, both fosters PTG and resilience to stress (Bonanno, 2004) and enhances coping during the pandemic (Braun‐Lewensohn et al., 2021).”

    From Parenthood during the <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 pandemic: <scp>Post‐traumatic</scp> growth amongst university students (2023) · cites this paper as Braun‐Lewensohn et al., 2021

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Braun-Lewensohn, O., Abu-Kaf, S., & Kalagy, T.
Affiliations
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (IL)
ORCID
Kalagy, Tehila
Venue
Frontiers in Psychology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2021-02-18
Volume
12
Pages
637349-637349
ISSN
1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2021.637349
PMC
PMC7930000
OpenAlex
W3130366699
Cited by
95
References
7
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 17
FWCI
18.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Optimism, Hope, and Well-being
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
Keywords
hope, resilience, sense of coherence, COVID-19 pandemic, emotional distress, salutogenesis, search for meaning, self-transcendence, ultra-Orthodox Jews, secular Jews, Arab adults, cultural groups, lockdown, anxiety, depression, somatization

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