COVID-19 Lockdown as an Atypical Stressful Situation and Ways of Coping with It

Abstract

Little is known as to what extent the pandemic lockdown has changed the perceived level of stress and stress-coping strategies. In response to this gap we present the results of quantitative and qualitative studies on stress levels and coping with stress conducted among Polish adults during the COVID-19 lockdown. The first study indicates that the lockdown has changed stress appraisal moderately, and it has also affected stress-coping strategies in various areas. The second study reveals miscellaneous reasons for stress appraisal (health, economic, political, social, freedom restriction, and religious). Participants perceived pandemic and lockdown as a moderate stressor, more as a challenge than a threat. Moreover the avoidant style recognized as the most adaptive reaction on stress in our study, confirms that people have a natural ability to adapt to unpredictable and unexpected situations like COVID-19 lockdown.