Investigating the susceptibility to change of coping and resiliency during COVID‐19

On 11 March 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID‐19) a global pandemic. As a result, most of public life, including cultural, sporting, religious and political events, came to a standstill. The current study investigates potential changes in individual’s coping and resiliency during this phase of the pandemic. The present study investigated potential changes in individuals’ coping and resilience during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Participants (N = 68), aged between 18 and 34 years old, completed an online survey including the Brief‐COPE (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced) and the SPF‐24 (Scale of Protective Factors) at two distinct time points: May 2019 (T(0)) and May 2020 (T(1)). To investigate changes between T(0) and T(1), one‐way within‐subjects analysis of variances (ANOVAs)’s were conducted. For 11 of 14 the subscales for the Brief‐COPE, no significant within‐subject sum scores changes were revealed. However, for three subscales, that is, Active Coping (p = 0.005), Venting (p = 0.024) and Acceptance (p = 0.028), significant sum scores changes were revealed. For all four subscales for the SPF‐24, no significant within‐subjects sum score changes were revealed. For the Brief‐COPE, the susceptibility to change for only three of the 14 coping strategies to be significantly influenced by COVID‐19, reveals a strong trait‐like character of one’s coping strategies. For the SPF‐24, all four protective factors were not susceptible to significant changes due to individuals’ experiences of COVID‐19.