ArticlePloS one2021
The role of social connection on the experience of COVID-19 related post-traumatic growth and stress.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed.
- Latent profile analysis of the symptoms for posttraumatic stress disorder and psychological resilience in Chinese adolescents experiencing post Covid-19: a quantetative study.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Development and validation of the BASE-66 inventory for comprehensive academic stress measurement.PloS one · 2026Article
- Posttraumatic Growth in a Predominantly Hispanic Cohort with a History of COVID-19 Infection.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
- Centrality of the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent post-traumatic growth in nurses: Exploring the moderating role of social connectedness.Work (Reading, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Exploring disease perception and experiences of postoperative patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection: a qualitative study.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Article
- Article
- Comparative study of stigma and discrimination among vaccinated and non-vaccinated COVID-19 survivors in Bangladesh.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Development of a multicomponent survey of experiences of tragedy-based and fear-based trauma in COVID-19 healthcare professionals.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Factors associated with prolonged COVID-related PTSD-like symptoms among adults diagnosed with mild COVID-19 in Poland.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Fear of COVID-19, traumatic growth, and traumatic stress symptoms: the mediating role of basic psychological needs.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Correlates of mental health of people living with HIV co-infected with SARS-CoV-2: findings from the COVIDHIV study in France.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Using lifestyle interventions and the gut microbiota to improve PTSD symptoms.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Review
- One-year predictors of PTSD symptoms, anxiety, and depression in SARS-CoV-2 survivors: psychological flexibility and major life events as main predictive factors.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- The moderating effect of perceived hope in the relationship between anxiety and posttraumatic growth during the Russian-Ukrainian war.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Meaning-making while staying connected matters in psychological adaptation during pandemic: a longitudinal moderated mediation study.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Factors Associated with Post-Traumatic Growth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Resilience, Coping, and the Covid-19 Pandemic Across the Globe - an Update: What Have we Learned?Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2023Review
- "What does not kill you… mutates and tries again." A study on personality determinants of post-traumatic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2023Article
- Predictors of Post-Traumatic Growth in a Sample of United Kingdom Mental and Community Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- A network analysis of positive developmental assets of Hong Kong school-age children during the Covid-19 pandemic.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
44 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundHistorically social connection has been an important way through which humans have coped with large-scale threatening events. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns have deprived people of major sources of social support and coping, with others representing threats. Hence, a major stressor during the pandemic has been a sense of social disconnection and loneliness. This study explores how people's experience of compassion and feeling socially safe and connected, in contrast to feeling socially disconnected, lonely and fearful of compassion, effects the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic stress.
methodsAdult participants from the general population (N = 4057) across 21 countries worldwide, completed self-report measures of social connection (compassion for self, from others, for others; social safeness), social disconnection (fears of compassion for self, from others, for others; loneliness), perceived threat of COVID-19, post-traumatic growth and traumatic stress.
resultsPerceived threat of COVID-19 predicted increased post-traumatic growth and traumatic stress. Social connection (compassion and social safeness) predicted higher post-traumatic growth and traumatic stress, whereas social disconnection (fears of compassion and loneliness) predicted increased traumatic symptoms only. Social connection heightened the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on post-traumatic growth, while social disconnection weakened this impact. Social disconnection magnified the impact of the perceived threat of COVID-19 on traumatic stress. These effects were consistent across all countries.
conclusionsSocial connection is key to how people adapt and cope with the worldwide COVID-19 crisis and may facilitate post-traumatic growth in the context of the threat experienced during the pandemic. In contrast, social disconnection increases vulnerability to develop post-traumatic stress in this threatening context. Public health and Government organizations could implement interventions to foster compassion and feelings of social safeness and reduce experiences of social disconnection, thus promoting growth, resilience and mental wellbeing during and following the pandemic.
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