Coping and Anxiety During Lockdown in Spain: The Role of Perceived Impact and Information Sources

In the context of COVID-19 lockdowns, extant research suggests that secondary coping (a strategy aimed at adjusting oneself self to the stressor) is more robustly associated with better mental health than primary coping (a strategy aimed at adjusting the stressor to oneself). We investigated whether these findings are generalizable to Spain-one of the most severely affected countries at that time. We also tested whether the link between secondary coping and mental health (as measured by anxiety) can be accounted for by how individuals perceive the COVID-19 impact (ie, perceived life changes and personal global impact) and how frequently they use traditional and social media to check COVID-19-related information.

A diverse community sample (N = 408), collected during the first lockdown in Spain (early April 2020), completed a multi-measure online survey including the targeted variables.

Secondary coping outperformed primary coping in predicting reduced anxiety during the lockdown in Spain. Moreover, lower perceived life changes from COVID-19 and reduced personal global impact from COVID-19 both mediated the negative secondary coping-anxiety relationship. No indirect effects emerged for either conventional or social media exposure.

These results (a) strengthen the cross-cultural validity of the link between secondary coping and anxiety and (b) advance our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying this association.