Moderation effects of loneliness between fatalism and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put more than just our physical health at risk. Due to containment measures, people have become increasingly isolated and have drastically reduced their daily social interactions. Many studies have already shown the negative effects of these measures, including fatalism. However, research linking fatalism during COVID-19 to well-being indicators is still limited. The goal of this study is to examine the relationship between COVID-19-related fatalism and well-being indicators, as well as the role of loneliness in moderating this relationship. Data was collected from 1,036 adults in Peru through an online survey that included the Quality-of-Life Index, the Fatalism Facing COVID-19 Scale, the Loneliness Scale, and the Mood Assessment Scale. Three models were tested using linear regression and ordinary least squares with bias-corrected bootstrapping. The results indicate that fatalism has a negative impact on quality of life and a positive effect on negative affect, and loneliness moderates both relationships, supporting the conclusion that fatalism exacerbates the effect of well-being indicators and negative affect.

The Costs of the COVID-19 on Subjective Well-Being: An Analysis of the Outbreak in Spain

The COVID-19 outbreak entailed radical shifts to individuals’ daily habits that challenged their subjective well-being (SWB). Knowledge about the impact of COVID-19 on SWB is paramount for developing public policies to tackle mental health during health emergency periods. Decreases in life satisfaction are likely not only due to exposure to daily negative emotions but also due to hopelessness, fear, and avoidance of social interactions. We examined in a sample of 541 Spanish adults (1) reactions to the COVID-19 outbreak and (2) the mediating role of these reactions in the associations of hope and social phobia with life satisfaction through different levels of positive and negative affect. A moderated mediation analysis showed that the conditional indirect effect of hope and social anxiety on life satisfaction through information depended on the participants’ having high positive affect and low negative affect. Affect seems to be a mechanism that modulates the influence of individuals’ perception about COVID-19 on their life satisfaction. Those with high positive affect might see the “general picture” and search for adequate information as they avoid focusing on the problem and on specific information that precludes preventive behaviors. Having a positive affect might help individuals to adopt information-processing strategies during the COVID-19 outbreak that will improve their life satisfaction.