Possibilities of Dispositional and Situational Variants of Coping Strategies Assessment (on the Model of General and Pandemic-Specific Versions of COPE)

The problem of stability / variability of ways of coping with stress and of the need of diagnostic of situational coping is actual for both psychology of stress and self-regulation psychology. The pandemic situation presents a model of the overall stressful situation that allows such a comparison. The aim is to reveal methodological differences in assessing general and specific (for a pandemic situation) coping strategies and their relationship with the reaction to a pandemic and subjective well-being, and their dynamics over 3—4 weeks of the self-isolation regime. 402 adults filled the general and situational (for a pandemic) versions of COPE, Satisfaction With Life Scale, Scale of Positive And Negative Experiences, measures for anxiety and adherence to self-isolation recommendation. After 3—4 weeks, 203 respondents re-completed the well-being and pandemic reaction scales. The results demonstrate that in a pandemic situation, people are more likely to report using behavioral disengagement, restraint and acceptance, and less often to report all other strategies than in general. Situational use of emotional support and emotions venting improve the prediction of anxiety of the negative consequences of a pandemic and anxiety of infection. Denial and non-acceptance of the pandemic predict low adherence with recommendations. An increase in infection anxiety in 3—4 weeks is more pronounced in those using emotional support and substances, while decrease in anxiety of negative consequences — in those with lower use of emotional support and lower behavioral disengagement in pandemic.

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