Predicting Acute Stress with Life Satisfaction and Psychological Resilience Scales during COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece

Background theories in positive psychology and mental health support that ‘Psychological Resilience’ (PR) and ‘Satisfaction with Life’ (SwL) are protective factors of psychological distress. On the other hand, ‘Acute Stress Disorder’ (ASD) is a condition related to the adaptation of sympathetic adaptation after a stressful stimulus in a period of less than a month. Regarding the stressful evident of COVID-19, little evidence is provided on the question of whether PR and SwL can predict ASD. To investigate, the present study received answers to three self-reported scales regarding ASD (Acute-Stress Disorder Scales [ASDS]; M= 38.67, SD= 15.51), PR (Nicholson-McBride Resilience Questionnaire [NMRQ]; M= 41.83, SD= 7.63) and SwL (Satisfaction-with-Life Scale [SWLS]; M= 23.3, SD= 6.31) from a sample of 1,158 Greeks from the general population during the spread of COVID-19 in the country. The results show that ASD is significantly negatively correlated to both PR [r= -.420, p< .001] and SwL [r= -.311, p< .001], while the predictive model (NMRQ and SWLS) predicted significantly ASDS [F(2, 1157) = 1155.06, p< .001, Adjusted R2 = .21]. The results of the study are overall confirmatory to previous studies although relevant literature may be limit as emphasis has been put on PTSD. Future studies may test the same research question in non-COVID conditions to the Greek or other populations. Keywords: Acute Stress Disorder; Psychological Resilience; Satisfaction with Life; COVID-19; Greece