Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Sense of Gains and Losses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Study

This study was primarily designed to investigate the perception of changes in selected areas of life experienced by adults of various nationalities in connection to the long-lasting COVID-19 pandemic. The second objective was to identify the factors increasing the risk of perception of negative changes in life during the pandemic. The tools applied in the study include a self-report questionnaire designed to measure sociodemographic data and health status of the subjects, COVID-19 Sense of Life Changes Questionnaire, as well as the Impact of Event Scale: Revised. The study involved over 600 adult subjects. With increased intensity of intrusions, the likelihood of negative perception of the changes emerging as a result of the pandemic was reduced by approximately 7%, whereas a higher intensity of hyperarousal increased that risk. Individuals reporting a sense of negative changes presented a greater degree of hyperarousal compared to those reporting positive changes. In the group of subjects perceiving the changes in a positive way, increasing the intensity of intrusion and/or hyperarousal corresponded to a growing conviction about a negative nature of life changes concerning the relationship with their partner and affecting their work as well as regarding a positive meaning of the changes in relations with their parents and in daily life. Generally, there was a prevailing sense of negative changes; however, there was also a group of subjects that perceived these as positive. Intrusions and hyperarousal in certain individuals may play a role in motivating them to take action in protecting against effects of the pandemic and, in others, may lead to frustration and anxiety.