Affective States, Coping and Mutual Understanding in Russian Families During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic...

The purpose of the empirical study (April-May 2020) was to determine the type and level of affect, specifics of coping styles during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown, as well as mutual understanding between parents and children. We hypothesized that the combination of positive and negative affect magnitude is a factor in well-being and mutual understanding with children, as well as the coping style during the lockdown. The study involved 705 respondents aged 16-77, including 435 parents living with children under 16. Personal traits, positive and negative affect, coping styles, and well-being were studied by Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI)-RU, Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS)-RU, Brief COPE, Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), respectively. Mutual understanding was studied using a self-report questionnaire. Cluster analysis (k-means method) was used to divide the sample into clusters in accordance with the combination of positive and negative affect. According to the data obtained, parents from the "positive-affective" cluster have much better mutual understanding with both younger and older children than participants from other clusters.