The Impact of Social Support for Patients with COVID-19 in Post-Traumatic Growth: A Mediating Analysis Study

Jun Liang,1– 4,* Xiaoyi Jiao,2,* Peng Xiang,1,5 Lei Dong,6 Yunfan He,7,8 Yue Hu,9 Zijiao Zhang,10 Weicong Chen,11 Jianbo Lei12,13 1Department of AI and IT, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 2Center for Health Policy Studies, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 3National Key Laboratory of Transvascular Implantable Devices, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 4School of Public Health, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 5Intelligent Medical Research Center, Zhejiang University Institute of Computer Innovation Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 7School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 8National Institute of Intelligent Evaluation and Governance, Fudan University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 9School of Nursing, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 10School of Public Health, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 11Information Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, People’s Republic of China; 12Clinical Research Center, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 13Center for Medical Informatics, Institute of Advanced Clinical Medicine, Peking University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jianbo Lei, Center for Medical Informatics, Institute of Advanced Clinical Medicine, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 10 8280-5901, Fax +86 10 8280-5900, Email [email protected]: Although it is known that social support can promote post-traumatic growth (PTG) of trauma survivors, the specific mechanism is still unclear in the case of government policy intervention and large-scale population infection with COVID-19.Methods: Through snowballing sampling from January 7 to February 13, 2023, we collected data from 1381 patients tested positive for COVID-19, excluding asymptomatic or undiagnosed cases. Participants completed effective scales measuring social support, PTG, and proactive coping behaviors. Multiple linear regression and mediation analysis were used to process the data.Results: Social support significantly predicted PTG (β=0.26, p< 0.001), with proactive coping mediating 44.7% of this effect. About 32.66% of COVID-19 patients reported a medium-to-high level of PTG.Conclusion: This study uniquely captures the PTG dynamics during China’s sudden policy transition, demonstrating the positive role of social support in PTG and emphasizing that proactive response is a key intervention goal for public health crises.Keywords: social support, proactive coping behavior, post-traumatic growth, mediating effect, COVID-19 pandemic