Corrigendum: Illness perceptions of COVID-19 in Europe: predictors, impacts and temporal evolution.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.640955.].

The impact of government actions and risk perception on the promotion of self-protective behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: We aim to understand the factors that drive citizens of different countries to adhere to recommended self-protective behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Survey data was obtained through the COVID-19 Impact project. We selected countries that presented a sufficiently complete time series and a statistically relevant sample for running the analysis: Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. To identify country-specific differences in self-protective behaviors, we used previous evidence and change-point detection analysis to establish variations across participating countries whose effect was then assessed by means of interrupted series analysis. RESULTS: A high level of compliance with health and governmental authorities' recommendations were generally observed in all included countries. The level of stress decreased near the period when countries such as Cyprus, Greece or the United Kingdom relaxed their prevention behavior recommendations. However, this relaxation of behaviors did not occur in countries such as Germany, Ireland, or the United States. As observed in the change-point detection analysis, when the daily number of recorded COVID-19 cases decreased, people relaxed their protective behaviors (Cyprus, Greece, Ireland), although the opposite trend was observed in Switzerland. DISCUSSION: COVID-19 self-protective behaviors were heterogeneous across countries examined. Our findings show that there is probably no single winning strategy for exiting future health crises, as similar interventions, aimed to promote self-protective behaviors, may be received differently depending on the specific population groups and on the particular geographical context in which they are implemented.

Illness Perceptions of COVID-19 in Europe: Predictors, Impacts and Temporal Evolution.

Objective: Illness perceptions (IP) are important predictors of emotional and behavioral responses in many diseases. The current study aims to investigate the COVID-19-related IP throughout Europe. The specific goals are to understand the temporal development, identify predictors (within demographics and contact with COVID-19) and examine the impacts of IP on perceived stress and preventive behaviors. Methods: This was a time-series-cross-section study of 7,032 participants from 16 European countries using multilevel modeling from April to June 2020. IP were measured with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire. Temporal patterns were observed considering the date of participation and the date recoded to account the epidemiological evolution of each country. The outcomes considered were perceived stress and COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Results: There were significant trends, over time, for several IP, suggesting a small decrease in negativity in the perception of COVID-19 in the community. Age, gender, and education level related to some, but not all, IP. Considering the self-regulation model, perceptions consistently predicted general stress and were less consistently related to preventive behaviors. Country showed no effect in the predictive model, suggesting that national differences may have little relevance for IP, in this context. Conclusion: The present study provides a comprehensive picture of COVID-19 IP in Europe in an early stage of the pandemic. The results shed light on the process of IP formation with implications for health-related outcomes and their evolution.

To Help or Not to Help? Prosocial Behavior, Its Association With Well-Being, and Predictors of Prosocial Behavior During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic fundamentally disrupted humans' social life and behavior. Public health measures may have inadvertently impacted how people care for each other. This study investigated prosocial behavior, its association well-being, and predictors of prosocial behavior during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and sought to understand whether region-specific differences exist. Participants (N = 9,496) from eight regions clustering multiple countries around the world responded to a cross-sectional online-survey investigating the psychological consequences of the first upsurge of lockdowns in spring 2020. Prosocial behavior was reported to occur frequently. Multiple regression analyses showed that prosocial behavior was associated with better well-being consistently across regions. With regard to predictors of prosocial behavior, high levels of perceived social support were most strongly associated with prosocial behavior, followed by high levels of perceived stress, positive affect and psychological flexibility. Sociodemographic and psychosocial predictors of prosocial behavior were similar across regions.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered vast governmental lockdowns. The impact of these lockdowns on mental health is inadequately understood. On the one hand such drastic changes in daily routines could be detrimental to mental health. On the other hand, it might not be experienced negatively, especially because the entire population was affected. METHODS: The aim of this study was to determine mental health outcomes during pandemic induced lockdowns and to examine known predictors of mental health outcomes. We therefore surveyed n = 9,565 people from 78 countries and 18 languages. Outcomes assessed were stress, depression, affect, and wellbeing. Predictors included country, sociodemographic factors, lockdown characteristics, social factors, and psychological factors. RESULTS: Results indicated that on average about 10% of the sample was languishing from low levels of mental health and about 50% had only moderate mental health. Importantly, three consistent predictors of mental health emerged: social support, education level, and psychologically flexible (vs. rigid) responding. Poorer outcomes were most strongly predicted by a worsening of finances and not having access to basic supplies. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that on whole, respondents were moderately mentally healthy at the time of a population-wide lockdown. The highest level of mental health difficulties were found in approximately 10% of the population. Findings suggest that public health initiatives should target people without social support and those whose finances worsen as a result of the lockdown. Interventions that promote psychological flexibility may mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

Brief ACT Protocol in at-risk adolescents with conduct disorder and impulsivity

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The aim of this preliminary research is to explore the effect of a brief protocol based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) applied to five adolescents (15-17 years old) with conduct disorder and impulsivity, who had received treatment for the last few years without positive results. Problematic behaviors were aggressive, impulsive, and oppositional reactions at school, home, and neighborhood (e.g., drugs or alcohol consumption, legal violations, oppositionist and defiant reactions, etc.). A brief ACT protocol was designed to functionally suit the presence of impulsivity and the absence of self-control repertory of these adolescents as well as the resistance to psychological treatment. The brief protocol was focused on four aspects: (a) to set a context between the therapist and the adolescents to promote the sense of personal responsibility, (b) to confront the adolescents with the effect of their behavior regulation (pros and cons) and the experience of creative hopelessness, (c) to clarify personally important valued directions, and (d) to promote defusion skills so that the adolescents could take charge of their private experiences and choose actions according to their values. Four 90-min, individual sessions were implemented over two weeks. Participants and teachers’ reports obtained before, during, and after the treatment implementation showed a high positive change. In addition, 1-year follow-up information showed an important change in a wide range of areas such as family, social relationships, school achievement, and occupational status. These results suggest that brief ACT protocols can have a great impact on at-risk population. Limitations were discussed (AU)

Brief Acceptance-based Protocols Applied to the Work with Adolescents

This article describes three brief acceptance-based protocols that were implemented with adolescents presenting psychological barriers to cope with different issues. The first was a values-acceptance protocol applied to adolescents to promote safe sex behaviours. The second protocol was applied to young chess promises to improve their chess performance. The third protocol was applied to children showing impulsive and antisocial behaviors. In all cases, the outcomes were satisfactory. Besides the clinical significance, the implementation of all three protocols served to further refine the acceptance-based clinical methods used in the work with our clients, and to better explore the verbal processes underlying the efficacy of such methods (AU)

El presente trabajo describe tres protocolos breves basados en la aceptación que fueron aplicados a adolescentes que presentaban barreras psicológicas para afrontar situaciones diferentes en su vida diaria: el primero se aplicó a adolescentes para promover hábitos de conducta sexual protegida; el segundo, a jóvenes promesas del ajedrez, para mejorar su rendimiento; el tercero a adolescentes con conducta antisocial e impulsiva. En los tres casos, los resultados de la aplicación de los protocolos fueron satisfactorios. Más allá de la significación clínica, estos protocolos sirvieron para mejorar los métodos clínicos utilizados con nuestros clientes, y para ahondar más en el estudio de los procesos verbales a la base de la eficacia de dichos métodos (AU)

Coping with pain in the motivational context of values: comparison between an acceptance-based and a cognitive control--based protocol.

This study compares the effect of an acceptance-based protocol (ACT) and a cognitive control-based (CONT) protocol on three measures of pain coping: tolerance, self-report, and believability. Specific methodological controls were employed to further isolate the role of the value of participating in a pain task, compared to previous investigations on the alteration of the function of aversive stimulation. Twenty participants were randomly assigned to one of the conditions (ACT vs. CONT), and a pre-post design was used. In the ACT condition, the protocol established a relation of coordination between the pain-related thoughts and the actions in the valued direction. In the CONT condition, the protocol established a relation of opposition between the same aspects. Results show an increase in pain tolerance and a reduction of self-reported pain at posttest for both conditions. However, ACT participants showed significantly lower believability of pain than did CONT participants. Conceptual and clinical implications are discussed.

The role of values with personal examples in altering the functions of pain: comparison between acceptance-based and cognitive-control-based protocols.

The purpose of the present study was twofold. First, to compare the effect of establishing a motivational context of values on pain tolerance, believability, and reported pain, with three experimental conditions: pain acceptance (ACT condition), pain control (CONT condition), or no values (untrained condition). Second, the study aimed to isolate the impact of adding the corresponding coping strategies to both the ACT and the CONT conditions. Thirty adults were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions. The participants went through the pain task in two occasions (Test I and Test II). In Test I, the effects of the ACT-values protocol (which established pain as part of valued action), the CONT-values protocol (which established high pain as opposed to valued action), and the no-values protocol, were compared. In Test II, the effect of adding the corresponding coping strategy to each condition (defusion for ACT vs. suppression for CONT) was examined. Test I showed a clear superiority of the ACT-values protocol in increasing tolerance and lowering pain believability. In Test II, the superiority of the ACT protocol was replicated, while the CONT protocol proved useful to reduce reported pain, in accordance with previous studies.

Terapia de Aceptación y Compromiso (ACT) y la importancia de los valores personales en el contexto de la terapia psicológica / ACT and the importance of personal values in the context of psychological therapy

El presente artículo expone la relevancia que tienen los valores personales como componente necesario del tratamiento psicológico y las ventajas que se derivan del abordaje de los valores de forma explícita a lo largo del proceso terapéutico. Se muestra la importancia de analizar los valores del cliente implicados en la práctica de la Psicología Clínica y se describe el lugar que dan a los valores las terapias más relevantes. Se discute además del rol de los valores del cliente, el papel de los valores del terapeuta y la necesidad de que éste aprenda a discriminar cuándo sus propios valores funcionan como barreras en el proceso clínico. En este contexto, se expone la Terapia de Aceptación y Compromiso (ACT) como terapia centrada explícitamente en los valores personales del cliente

ACT and the Importance of Personal Values in the Context of Psychological Therapy. The aims of the article are to show the importance of personal values in the context of psychological treatment. The advantages of an explicit approach to values during the therapeutic process are examined. We analyse the values involved in Clinical Psychology, and how different clinical perspectives address them. Besides the importance of client’svalues, the role of the therapist’s values as an incentive for effective clinical work or as a barrier in the therapeutic change is analysed. All these points are considered in the context of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), as a therapy explicitly centred in client’s personal values