Double jeopardy: How lower levels of support during COVID-19 exacerbated the relationship between loneliness and distress.

While the relationship between loneliness and psychological distress is well documented, the mechanisms underlying this relationship are less clear. One factor known to be related to loneliness as well as psychological distress, is social support, with some studies suggesting that support-both received and provided-can serve as a mechanism to reduce the distress associated with loneliness. In this paper we examine the mediating role of both aspects of support in the relationship between loneliness and psychological distress in the COVID-19 context. We used a multi-country dataset collected at two timepoints during the pandemic; the first during the early stages (N = 6,842, 11 countries) and the second collected for a subset of countries (N = 1,299, 3 countries) 3 months later. Across all eleven countries, results revealed significant positive associations between loneliness and distress. Furthermore, using longitudinal data, we investigated the directionality of this relationship and found that increased loneliness over time was associated with increased psychological distress. The data also showed that both feeling unsupported and feeling unable to provide support to others mediated this relationship. These findings point to the need to facilitate people's ability to draw effective social support and help others-particularly at times when social connectedness is threatened-as a way of alleviating the psychological distress that commonly presents with loneliness.

Cracks before the crisis: Polarization prior to COVID-19 predicts increased collective angst and economic pessimism

We examine how polarization within societies is associated with reduced confidence in national responses to the COVID-19 crisis. We surveyed 4,731 participants across nine countries at Wave 1 (France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, UK and US) and then at Wave 2 (three months later) recontacted 840 participants from two countries (UK and US). We found that perceived polarization in the years preceding COVID-19 predicted enhanced perception that a country's COVID response was anomic (i.e., disorganized, chaotic), which in turn predicted greater collective angst and economic pessimism. Moreover, polarization measured at Wave 1 continued to predict perceptions that the COVID-19 response was anomic at Wave 2, and in turn, enhanced collective angst, pessimism, and the perception that dramatic political change was required to recover from COVID-19. Our findings highlight how polarization may be associated with reduced confidence in leaders and government at times of crisis and how this predicts future-focused anxiety and pessimism. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Unlocking collective cooperation in the midst of COVID-19: The role of social support in predicting the social class disparity in cooperation.

We examined whether (the lack of) social support can explain why researchers have found lower rates of adherence to follow public health guidelines amongst people who perceived themselves as coming from lower social class backgrounds during the COVID-19 pandemic. To do this, we surveyed 5818 participants from 10 countries during the first wave of lock-down. Contrary to previous findings, social class was not related to general adherence to COVID-19 regulations or desire to engage in citizenship behaviours (e.g., showing initiatives to help others during the pandemic). However, we found evidence of an indirect effect whereby those who perceived themselves as higher social class were more likely to be both the recipient and provider of social support which in turn predicted greater adherence and desire to engage in citizenship behaviours during the earlier wave of the pandemic. Our findings highlight the importance of social support in unlocking potential for collective cooperation (i.e., adherence to COVID-19 rules and desire to engage in citizenship behaviours). They suggest that instead of enforcing strict regulations, government authorities need to address existing social support barriers within lower income communities to facilitate cooperation from everyone in the community.