ORIGINAL PAPER
Optimists’ and pessimists’ self-reported mental and global health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway
| 1 | Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway |
| 2 | Department of Cancer, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway |
| 3 | Department of Acute Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway |
| 4 | Faculty of Health Studies, VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway |
| 5 | Department of Health and Nursing Science, Faculty of Social and Health Sciences, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Elverum, Norway |
| 6 | Faculty of Health Studies, VID Specialized University, Sandnes, Norway |
| 7 | Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway |
| 8 | Department of Research, Sunnaas Rehabilitation Hospital HF, Nesodden, Norway |
| 9 | Norwegian Center for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, Oslo, Norway |
| 10 | Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway |
| 11 | Department of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway |
Submission date: 2020-07-24
Final revision date: 2020-10-17
Acceptance date: 2020-11-14
Online publication date: 2021-01-05
Publication date: 2021-01-05
Health Psychology Report 2021;9(2):160–168
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic represents a global health crisis. How well people cope with this situation depends on many factors, including one’s personality, such as dispositional optimism. The aim of the study was to investi-gate: 1) optimists’ and pessimists’ concerns during lockdown, and mental and global health; 2) whether pessi-mists without known risk factors more often than optimists report being at risk for COVID-19.
Participants and procedure:
A snowball sampling strategy was used; 4,527 people, 18 years or older, participated in a survey on a variety of mental health conditions and COVID-19 worries. In addition, they completed the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R). Optimism was defined by LOT-R f ≥ 17.
Results:
Fewer optimists than pessimists reported that they were worried about COVID-19, respectively 51.2% vs. 66.8%, p < .001. Among those reporting none of the known somatic risk factors, more pessimists than optimists (14.3% vs. 9.1%, p < .001) considered themselves at risk of a fatal outcome from COVID-19. Significantly fewer optimists reported that they had anxiety (5.1%), depression (3.4%), suicidal ideation (0.7%) and insomnia (19.3%) during the COVID-19 outbreak than pessimists (24.7% anxiety, 18.4% depression, 5.4% suicidal idea-tion, 39.8% insomnia, all p < .001). Optimists reported better global health than pessimists (87.2 vs. 84.6, p < .001).
Conclusions:
Optimists were generally less worried about the COVID-19 pandemic than pessimists and reported better men-tal and global health during lockdown. Pessimists more often than optimists reported being at risk for COVID-19 without reporting known risk factors.
The COVID-19 pandemic represents a global health crisis. How well people cope with this situation depends on many factors, including one’s personality, such as dispositional optimism. The aim of the study was to investi-gate: 1) optimists’ and pessimists’ concerns during lockdown, and mental and global health; 2) whether pessi-mists without known risk factors more often than optimists report being at risk for COVID-19.
Participants and procedure:
A snowball sampling strategy was used; 4,527 people, 18 years or older, participated in a survey on a variety of mental health conditions and COVID-19 worries. In addition, they completed the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R). Optimism was defined by LOT-R f ≥ 17.
Results:
Fewer optimists than pessimists reported that they were worried about COVID-19, respectively 51.2% vs. 66.8%, p < .001. Among those reporting none of the known somatic risk factors, more pessimists than optimists (14.3% vs. 9.1%, p < .001) considered themselves at risk of a fatal outcome from COVID-19. Significantly fewer optimists reported that they had anxiety (5.1%), depression (3.4%), suicidal ideation (0.7%) and insomnia (19.3%) during the COVID-19 outbreak than pessimists (24.7% anxiety, 18.4% depression, 5.4% suicidal idea-tion, 39.8% insomnia, all p < .001). Optimists reported better global health than pessimists (87.2 vs. 84.6, p < .001).
Conclusions:
Optimists were generally less worried about the COVID-19 pandemic than pessimists and reported better men-tal and global health during lockdown. Pessimists more often than optimists reported being at risk for COVID-19 without reporting known risk factors.
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