Psychological Functioning During the COVID-19 Lockdown: The Role of Exposure to Continuous Traumatic Stress in Conflict-Ridden Regions

The present study investigates the role of two risk factors (exposure to continuous traumatic stress and unemployment) and two psychological stress-related factors (resilience and coping) on individuals’ emotional state during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. The data were collected using online questionnaire from 778 individuals in April 2020 during Israel’s first lockdown. Israeli citizens who had been exposed for many years to recurrent missile attacks (n = 379) reported higher rates of anxiety and stress following the COVID-19 lockdown and lower rates of resilience, compared with those residing in regions not exposed to missile attacks. During the lockdown, unemployed participants (n = 416), in comparison with working respondents, reported more depression and stress, lower resilience, and greater use of behavioral and mental disengagement coping strategies. The results showed that resilience (β = −.38, p <.001) is associated with lower depression, anxiety, and stress, whereas the more frequent use of disengagement coping (β =.31, p <.001) is associated with higher depression, anxiety, and stress. Furthermore, resilience was shown to moderate the association between disengagement coping and emotional state.