Predictors of Mental Well-being During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Study description: The present study seeks to investigate factors associated with well-being in the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic, three months following the introduction of the strict social distancing interventions in Norway. Hypotheses and research questions: Research Question 1: What is the level of mental well-being following three months of strict mitigation strategies (i.e., physical distancing) in the general adult population during the COVID-19 pandemic? The mean level of mental well-being will be benchmarked against the mean level of mental well-being in similar pre-pandemic samples. Hypothesis 1: Physical activity, being employed, positive metacognitions, negative metacognitions, and unhelpful coping strategies at T1 will significantly predict well-being (T2). Being employed and increased reports of physical activity at T2 will predict higher levels of mental well-being at the measurement period (T2) and serve as protective factors. Increased positive metacognitions, negative metacognitions and unhelpful coping strategies measured with CAS-1 at T2 will predict lower levels of well-being (T2). Additionally, we will examine whether the obtained predictive relationships hold when depressive symptoms (PHQ-9) and anxiety symptoms (GAD-7) at T2 will be controlled for. Exploratory: Do the predictors physical activity, positive metacognitions, negative metacognitions, unhelpful coping strategies, all at baseline (T1), predict mental well-being at T2, beyond and above these same aforementioned predictors at T2 and age, gender, and education? In all predictive analyses, age, gender, and education will be controlled for. Exploratory: We will exploratory investigate the differences in levels of mental well-being across different demographic subgroups in the sample.