I feel you: Prepandemic physiological synchrony and emotional contagion during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a major impact on mental well-being and interpersonal relationships. Nonetheless, little is known about the complex interactions between one's overall perceived interpersonal closeness and physiological or psychological aspects of interpersonal functioning. This study aimed to understand the interaction between perceived interpersonal closeness during COVID-19 and interpersonal mechanisms in predicting well-being. We focused on two interpersonal mechanisms, one physiological and the other psychological: (a) prepandemic physiological synchrony, a physiological measure of interpersonal coupling, and (b) peripandemic emotional contagion, one's tendency to "catch" others' emotions. One hundred fifty-five participants took part in the study. Cardiological interbeat interval synchrony was collected 1.5 to 3 years prior to the beginning of the COVID pandemic in two previous lab studies. Participants were recontacted during the pandemic, this time to complete several questionnaires tapping into perceived interpersonal closeness, tendency for emotional contagion, and psychological well-being during COVID. As hypothesized, overall perceived interpersonal closeness was positively related to well-being. Moreover, this effect was moderated by one's tendency for emotional contagion or by physiological synchrony. Thus, individuals with higher emotional contagion scores or higher physiological synchrony had higher well-being if their interpersonal closeness was perceived as greater. Conversely, their well-being was lower if they perceived their interpersonal closeness as weaker. These results emphasize that individuals may be differentially susceptible to the effects of their relationships on their well-being. Future mental health interventions should consider both the quality of one's perceived interpersonal closeness and the extent to which one is sensitive to others' emotional experiences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Trust in Political Leadership During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Positive Trend Between Trust in Government Decisions and COVID-19-Related Worries

A possible explanation for the positive association may be related to the fact that during the period of the study (i.e., upon the announcement of the second lockdown), the leaders in Israel conveyed the message that the virus was very dangerous. [...]those who had trust in the leaders were more afraid of the virus than those who did not have trust (something along the lines of, "Wow, if they - the people I trust - are afraid, then there must really be reason to be afraid"). According to attachment style studies, leaders' or caregivers' own avoidance and anxiety, which might be related to a failure to defend and take care of "their people," can lead to negative implications for "their people's" mental health (7). Coping with COVID-19: Exposure to COVID-19 and negative impact on livelihood predict elevated mental health problems in Chinese adults.

Searching for Certainty During a Pandemic: A Longitudinal Investigation of the Moderating Role of Media Consumption on the Development of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms During COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: The current study longitudinally examined the moderating effects of consuming different types of media ( i.e. , formal [news] and informal [social media, WhatsApp]) in the association among COVID-19-related worries, intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs). Data were collected at two time points during July and September 2020, with approximately 60 days between measurements. Results showed that both COVID-19-related worries and IU were found to be positively associated with PTSSs. An interaction with formal media consumption was found, so that when one's formal media consumption was high, he or she were most vulnerable to the aforementioned effects on the development of PTSSs. Our findings point to the interactive effects of both COVID-19 worries and IU with media consumption on the development of PTSSs. Although media consumption might provide information during uncertainty, it may also intensify PTSSs during times of crisis. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Pre-pandemic electrodermal activity predicts current COVID-related fears: household size during lockdown as a moderating factor.

Background: Despite the immense impact of COVID-19 on mental health, there is a lack of prospective studies examining physiological predictors of current risk factors. Moreover, although physiological processes evidently interact with socio-demographic factors to modulate individuals' response to a crisis, it remains largely unknown how these complex interactions shape people's mental responses to COVID-19. To fill these gaps of knowledge, we chose a potent physiological marker of distress - heightened baseline electrodermal activity (EDA) measured before the pandemic began - and hypothesized it would be related to greater COVID-related fears and worries as a function of individuals' household size.Method: 185 individuals (71% women), who had participated in our lab studies 2-3 years ago, in which we assessed their baseline EDA, completed several questionnaires online, including assessments of their current fears regarding COVID. Participants also reported the number of people in their household, with whom they had been together during a lockdown which was taking place at the time. We used pre-pandemic EDA measures in combination with their household size to predict participants' current fears.Results: Pre-pandemic EDA measures predicted current COVID-related fears and worries. Specifically for the EDA measure "number of skin conductance responses", we further found that the number of people in the household during the lockdown, moderated the abovementioned relationship, such that it occurred in individuals with average and larger households and not in those with small households.Conclusions: We provide a highly relevant and unique combination of physiological, socio-demographic, and psychological measures, which augments the potential to optimally target populations vulnerable to COVID-related distress, and subsequently offer them early mental health interventions.

Pre-pandemic autonomic nervous system activity predicts mood regulation expectancies during COVID-19 in Israel.

Despite the unfolding impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological well-being, there is a lack of prospective studies that target physiological markers of distress. There is a need to examine physiological predictors from the pre-pandemic period to identify and treat individuals at-risk. In this study, our aim was to use pre-pandemic markers of autonomic nervous system (ANS) parasympathetic and sympathetic regulation to predict individuals' psychological well-being during the crisis. We also assessed the role of mood regulation expectancies as a mediator of the association between pre-pandemic physiological measures and COVID-related well-being. In May to June 2020, 185 Israeli adults completed online questionnaires assessing their mood regulation expectancies since COVID-19 began, and their current well-being. These individuals had participated in lab studies 1.5-3 years prior to this assessment, where their physiological measures were taken, including respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and skin conductance level (SCL). RSA was positively related to mood regulation expectancies during COVID-19 (b = 3.46, 95% CI [0.84, 6.05]). Mood regulation expectancies, in turn, positively predicted well-being during the crisis (b = 0.021, 95% CI [0.016, 0.027]). The mediation was significant and moderated by SCL (index = -0.09, 95% CI [-0.02, -0.0001]), such that it was strongest for individuals with low SCL. We point to pre-pandemic physiological mechanisms underlying individuals' mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings have theoretical, diagnostic, and clinical implications that may refine our understanding of the physiological basis of resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic and thus may be implemented to identify and assist individuals in these times.

Traumatic stress in the age of COVID-19: A call to close critical gaps and adapt to new realities.

THE ISSUE: Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) is transforming every aspect of our lives. Identified in late 2019, COVID-19 quickly became characterized as a global pandemic by March of 2020. Given the rapid acceleration of transmission, and the lack of preparedness to prevent and treat this virus, the negative impacts of COVID-19 are rippling through every facet of society. Although large numbers of people throughout the world will show resilience to the profound loss, stress, and fear associated with COVID-19, the virus will likely exacerbate existing mental health disorders and contribute to the onset of new stress-related disorders for many. RECOMMENDATIONS: The field of traumatic stress should address the serious needs that will emerge now and well into the future. However, we propose that these efforts may be limited, in part, by ongoing gaps that exist within our research and clinical care. In particular, we suggest that COVID-19 requires us to prioritize and mobilize as a research and clinical community around several key areas: (a) diagnostics, (b) prevention, (c) public outreach and communication, (d) working with medical staff and mainstreaming into nonmental health services, and (e) COVID-19-specific trauma research. As members of our community begin to rapidly develop and test interventions for COVID-19-related distress, we hope that those in positions of leadership in the field of traumatic stress consider limits of our current approaches, and invest the intellectual and financial resources urgently needed in order to innovate, forge partnerships, and develop the technologies to support those in greatest need. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Risk factors for psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel: Loneliness, age, gender, and health status play an important role.

OBJECTIVE: Research on the psychological toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is being conducted in various countries. This study aimed to examine risk factors for mental health problems among Israeli adults during this crisis. METHODS: A total of 204 participants took part in the study. They completed self-report questionnaires assessing perceived stress, anxiety, quality of life, and various questions related to quarantine, pre-existing health issues, and worries related to the virus. The study took place during the last two weeks of March 2020. RESULTS: The majority of participants reported relatively high levels of perceived stress and corona-related worries, but low levels of anxiety. Female gender, younger age, corona-related loneliness, and pre-existing chronic illness were all related to higher levels of psychological distress and lower levels of quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: While considering the preliminary nature of these results, the current study highlights risk factors for psychological distress in light of the corona pandemic. Attention should be given to sociodemographic variables that were identified as related to psychological distress, as well as to the important role of loneliness, when screening and treating people during this crisis. More research is needed in order to fully understand the scope and correlates of psychological difficulties during these challenging times.