ORIGINAL PAPER
Coping styles and health locus of control across European and Asian samples during a global health crisis
1
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
2
Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
3
Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
4
Atma Jaya Catholic University, Jakarta, Indonesia
5
Yale University, New Haven, United States
Submission date: 2026-05-06
Final revision date: 2026-07-24
Acceptance date: 2026-08-04
Online publication date: 2026-10-01
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background:
Global health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic place individuals under significant psychological strain, highlighting the importance of effective coping styles. The present study aimed to examine factors related to individuals’ health behav-iors in the context of a global health crisis by examining the association between coping styles and health locus of control, as well as the variation in this relationship across cultural contexts.
Participants and procedure:
The sample included 2,617 participants from European (n = 1,205) and Asian (n = 1,412) countries. Participants completed measures of health locus of control and coping styles during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analyses, analyses of variance, correlation analyses, and hierarchical regression analyses.
Results:
The findings reveal that health locus of control beliefs are meaningfully related to coping responses, and that the patterns of these associations vary across the European and Asian samples. The powerful health locus of control dimension showed a substantially stronger positive association with problem-focused coping among Asian participants than among European participants. Differences between the two samples were also found in the relationship between chance-oriented locus of control and coping styles.
Conclusions:
The study reveals that the dimensions of health locus of control are significantly associated with coping styles, and that the patterns of these associations differ across cultural contexts. The findings may contribute to more effective health behavior management in the context of global health crises.
Global health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic place individuals under significant psychological strain, highlighting the importance of effective coping styles. The present study aimed to examine factors related to individuals’ health behav-iors in the context of a global health crisis by examining the association between coping styles and health locus of control, as well as the variation in this relationship across cultural contexts.
Participants and procedure:
The sample included 2,617 participants from European (n = 1,205) and Asian (n = 1,412) countries. Participants completed measures of health locus of control and coping styles during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analyses, analyses of variance, correlation analyses, and hierarchical regression analyses.
Results:
The findings reveal that health locus of control beliefs are meaningfully related to coping responses, and that the patterns of these associations vary across the European and Asian samples. The powerful health locus of control dimension showed a substantially stronger positive association with problem-focused coping among Asian participants than among European participants. Differences between the two samples were also found in the relationship between chance-oriented locus of control and coping styles.
Conclusions:
The study reveals that the dimensions of health locus of control are significantly associated with coping styles, and that the patterns of these associations differ across cultural contexts. The findings may contribute to more effective health behavior management in the context of global health crises.
REFERENCES (39)
1.
Ajzen, I. (2002). Perceived behavioral control, self-efficacy, locus of control, and the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 665–683. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559....
2.
American Psychological Association (2017). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/ethics/cod....
3.
April, K., Dharani, B., & Peters, K. (2012). Impact of locus of control expectancy on level of well-being. Review of European Studies, 4, 124–136. https://doi.org/10.5539/res.v4....
4.
Arraras, J. I., Wright, S. J., Jusue, G., Tejedor, M., & Calvo, J. I. (2002). Coping style, locus of control, psychological distress and pain-related behaviours in cancer and other diseases. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 7, 181–187. https://doi.org/10.1080/135485....
5.
Autenrieth, L. K., Asselmann, E., Melzig, C. A., & Benke, C. (2024). Fear of COVID-19 predicts increases in anxiety, depressive symptoms, health anxiety, psychosocial distress, and loneliness: Findings from a prospective two-year follow-up study. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 177, 162–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsy....
6.
Bolger, N. (1990). Coping as a personality process: a prospective study. Journal of Personality and Social Psycholo-gy, 59, 525–537. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3....
7.
Camarines, T. M., Christopher, J., & Camarines, M. (2022). Religious coping and the use of religious apps during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Public Health, 44, 318–319. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed....
8.
Carver, C. S. (1997). You want to measure coping but your protocol’ too long: Consider the brief cope. Interna-tional Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4, 92–100. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327....
9.
Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F., & Weintraub, J. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: a theoretically based ap-proach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 267–283. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3....
10.
Carver C. S., & Connor-Smith, J. (2010). Personality and coping. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 679–704. https://doi.org/10.1146/annure....
11.
Chen, Y., Liu, Y., Zhang, Y., Li, Z., & Zhou, T. (2021). The effect of fear of COVID-19 on depression among Chi-nese outbound students studying online in China amid the COVID-19 pandemic period: The role of resilience and social support. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 750011. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.....
12.
Cheng, C., Cheung, S. F., Chio, J. H. M., & Chan, M. P. S. (2013). Cultural meaning of perceived control: a meta-analysis of locus of control and psychological symptoms across 18 cultural regions. Psychological Bulletin, 139, 152–188. https://doi.org/10.1037/a00285....
13.
Cheng, C., Cheung, M. W. L., & Lo, B. C. Y. (2016). Relationship of health locus of control with specific health behaviours and global health appraisal: a meta-analysis and effects of moderators. Health Psychology Review, 10, 460–477. https://doi.org/10.1080/174371....
14.
Chun, C., Moos, R. H., & Cronkite, R. C. (2006). Culture: a fundamental context for the stress and coping para-digm. In P. T. P. Wong & L. C. J. Wong (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural perspectives on stress and coping (pp. 29–53). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-....
15.
European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (2025). Meta-code of ethics. Retrieved from https://.
17.
Fatima, I., Yaqoob, S., Jamil, F., & Butt, A. (2021). Relationship between loci of control and health-promoting be-haviors in Pakistani women with polycystic ovary syndrome: Coping strategies as mediators. BMC Women’s Health, 21, 356. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905....
18.
Ferwana, I., & Varshney, L. R. (2024). The impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on mental health patient populations in the United States. Scientific Reports, 14, 5689. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598....
19.
Frydenberg, E. (2014). Coping research: Historical background, links with emotion, and new research directions on adaptive processes. Australian Journal of Psychology, 66, 82–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.1....
20.
Gabarron, E., Oyeyemi, S. O., & Wynn, R. (2021). COVID-19-related misinformation on social media: a systematic review. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 99, 455–463A. https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.20....
21.
Gao, C., Li, F., Ding, W., Zhang, Y., Zhang, J., & Li, X. (2025). Mediating role of health locus of control in support-ive care needs and health promoting behaviours among patients with tuberculosis in China: a cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 15, e092267. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjope....
22.
Groth, N., Schnyder, N., Kaess, M., Markovic, A., Rietschel, L., Moser, S., Michel, C., Schultze-Lutter, F., & Schmidt, S. J. (2019). Coping as a mediator between locus of control, competence beliefs, and mental health: a systematic review and structural equation modelling meta-analysis. Behavior Research and Therapy, 121, 103442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat....
23.
Gruszczyńska, M., Bąk-Sosnowska, M., Daniel-Sielańczyk, A., Wyszomirska, J., & Modrzejewska, A. (2022). The style of coping with stress, the health-related locus of control, and the level of mindfulness of patients with chronic somatic diseases in comparison to healthy people. Healthcare, 10, 1752. https://doi.org/10.3390/health....
24.
Henslee, A. M., Coffey, S. F., Schumacher, J. A., Tracy, M. H., Norris, F., & Galea, S. (2015). Religious coping and psychological and behavioral adjustment after hurricane Katrina. The Journal of Psychology, 149, 630–642. https://doi.org/10.1080/002239....
25.
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture and organizations. International Studies of Management & Organization, 10, 15–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/002088....
26.
Hofstede, G. (2006). What did GLOBE really measure? Researchers’ minds versus respondents’ minds. Journal of International Business Studies, 37, 882–896. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgra....
27.
Ji, L. J., Yap, S., Khei, Z. A. M., Wang, X., Chang, B., Shang, S. X., & Cai, H. (2022). Meaning in stressful experiences and coping across cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 53, 1015–1032. https://doi.org/10.1177/002202....
28.
Kuo, B. C. H. (2011). Culture’s consequences on coping: Theories, evidences, and dimensionalities. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42, 1084–1100. https://doi.org/10.1177/002202....
30.
Matsumoto, D., Weissman, M., Preston, K., Brown, B., & Kupperbusch, C. (1997). Context-specific measurement of individualism-collectivism on the individual level: The IC Interpersonal Assessment Inventory (ICIAI). Jour-nal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 28, 743–767. https://doi.org/10.1177/002202....
31.
Moos, R. H., & Holahan, C. J. (2003). Dispositional and contextual perspectives on coping: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 59, 1387–1403. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.1....
32.
Roddenberry, A., & Renk, K. (2010). Locus of control and self-efficacy: Potential mediators of stress, illness, and utilization of health services in college students. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 41, 353–370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578....
33.
Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/h00929....
34.
Slovic, P. (1987). Perception of risk. Science, 236, 280–285. https://doi.org/10.1126/scienc....
35.
Triandis, H. C., Bontempo, R., Villareal, M. J., Asai, M., & Lucca, N. (1988). Individualism and collectivism: Cross-cultural perspectives on self-in-group relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 323–338. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3....
36.
Wallston, K. A., Strudler Wallston B., & DeVellis, R. (1978). Development of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Scales. Health Education Monographs, 6, 160–170. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019....
37.
WHO (2022). Mental health and COVID-19: Early evidence of the pandemic’s impact: Scientific brief, March 2, 2022. Retrieved from https:/www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/WHO-2019-nCoV-Sci_Brief-Mental_health-2022.1.
38.
Yao, R., & Wu, W. (2022). Mental disorders associated with COVID-19-related unemployment. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 17, 949–970. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482....
39.
Zika, S., & Chamberlain, K. (1992). On the relation between meaning in life and psychological well-being. British Journal of Psychology, 83, 133–145. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044....
Copyright: © Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk This is an Open Access journal, all articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
| eISSN: | 2353-5571 |
| ISSN: | 2353-4184 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
