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. 2021 Sep;60(3):1002-1015.
doi: 10.1111/famp.12618. Epub 2020 Nov 21.

Stress-Buffering Role of Social Support during COVID-19

Erica Szkody  1 , Melanie Stearns  1 , Lydia Stanhope  1 , Cliff McKinney  1
Affiliations

Stress-Buffering Role of Social Support during COVID-19

Erica Szkody et al. Fam Process. 2021 Sep.

Abstract
in English, Spanish, Chinese

In order to reduce the high infection rate of COVID-19, individuals began to engage in self-isolation amid a time of uncertainty and worry. Given that social support can be protective against the negative effects of distress on mental and physical health, the lack of support may negatively impact individuals during their self-isolation. Thus, the current study examined the role of self-isolation on feelings of stress, the perception and reception of social support, and mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 405 college students were asked to report on the amount of self-isolation in which they were engaging, worry about COVID-19, psychological health, and received and perceived social support. Results indicated that when the length of time in self-isolation was taken into account, perceived social support buffered the connection between worry about COVID-19 and psychological health. These results indicate that social support, worry about COVID-19, and self-isolation may influence individuals' psychological health during times of stress.

Con el fin de disminuir el alto índice de contagio de la COVID-19, las personas comenzaron a autoaislarse en medio de un momento de incertidumbre y preocupación. Teniendo en cuenta que el apoyo social puede ser protector contra los efectos negativos del distrés en la salud mental y física, la falta de apoyo puede afectar negativamente a las personas durante su autoaislamiento. Por lo tanto, el presente estudio analizó el papel que desempeña el autoaislamiento en los sentimientos de estrés, la percepción y la recepción de apoyo social y los problemas de salud mental durante la pandemia de la COVID-19. Se solicitó a una muestra de 405 estudiantes universitarios que informen sobre la cantidad de autoaislamiento que estaban haciendo, las preocupaciones acerca de la COVID-19, la salud psicológica y el apoyo social recibido y percibido. Los resultados indicaron que cuando se tuvo en cuenta el periodo de tiempo en autoaislamiento, el apoyo social percibido amortiguó la conexión entre la preocupación acerca de la COVID-19 y la salud psicológica. Estos resultados indican que el apoyo social, la preocupación acerca de la COVID-19 y el autoaislamiento pueden influir en la salud psicológica de las personas durante momentos de estrés.

为了降低COVID-19的高感染率，在不确定的情况下以及充满忧虑的时期，个体开始实行自我隔离。鉴于社会支持可以保护人们免受低落情绪对身心健康的负面影响，缺乏支持可能对个体在自我隔离期间产生负面影响。因此，本研究考察了在COVID-19大流行期间，自我隔离对压力感、社会支持的感知和接受以及心理健康问题等方面产生的作用。受试样本包括405名大学生，他们被要求报告他们的自我孤立程度、对COVID-19的担忧程度、心理健康程度、获得的社会支持和感知���的社会支持程度。这些结果表明，在考虑自我隔离时间长度的情况下，社会支持感缓冲了对COVID-19的忧虑与心理健康这两者之间的联系。本文研究结果表示社会支持、对COVID-19的忧虑和自我隔离都可能会影响个体在压力时期的心理健康。.

Keywords: Apoyo social; COVID-19; Isolation; Social Support; Stress-Buffering; Worry; aislamiento; amortiguador del estrés; preocupación; 孤立; 焦虑; 社会支持; 紧张缓冲.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Days in isolation × worry about COVID‐19 × perceived social support interaction.
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