Holas Paweł, Juszczyk Aleksandra, Wardęszkiewicz Jan, Ciarrochi Joseph, Hayes Steven C
Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, 00-183 Warsaw, Poland.
Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane 4014, Australia.
Healthcare (Basel). 2025 Apr 18;13(8):934. doi: 10.3390/healthcare13080934.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted mental health worldwide. This study investigated the relationship between perceived COVID-19 threat and adjustment disorder (AjD) severity, examining self-compassion (SC) and experiential avoidance (EA) as potential moderators. Additionally, cluster analysis-a statistical method for grouping individuals based on similar psychological characteristics-was employed to identify distinct profiles of SC and EA and their associations with AjD, depression, and anxiety symptoms. A sample of 308 participants meeting AjD criteria completed measures assessing AjD severity (ADNM-20), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), SC, EA, and perceived threat of COVID-19. Moderation analyses were performed using the PROCESS macro. Cluster analysis identified profiles based on SC and EA scores, with clusters compared on AjD, PHQ, and GAD symptom severity. SC and EA moderated the relationship between perceived COVID-19 threat and AjD severity. Interestingly, individuals with high EA and low SC exhibited no significant association between perceived threat and AjD symptoms. Cluster analysis revealed four distinct profiles: (1) high SC and low EA, (2) average SC and EA, (3) low SC and low EA, and (4) low SC and high EA. Participants in the high SC/low EA cluster reported significantly lower levels of AjD, depression, and anxiety symptoms compared to those in the low SC/high EA cluster, who exhibited the highest symptom severity across all measures. Our findings suggest that individuals who relied on experiential avoidance and lacked self-compassion experienced less emotional distress related to pandemic-related worries, potentially shielding themselves from acute AjD symptoms. However, this strategy was associated with greater emotional distress, as those with high AE and SC exhibited more symptoms of AjD, depression, and anxiety. In contrast, individuals with low AE and high SC demonstrated significantly better psychological well-being.
新冠疫情对全球心理健康产生了重大影响。本研究调查了感知到的新冠威胁与适应障碍（AjD）严重程度之间的关系，将自我同情（SC）和经验性回避（EA）作为潜在调节因素进行检验。此外，采用聚类分析（一种基于相似心理特征对个体进行分组的统计方法）来识别SC和EA的不同特征及其与AjD、抑郁和焦虑症状的关联。308名符合AjD标准的参与者完成了评估AjD严重程度（ADNM - 20）、抑郁（PHQ - 9）、焦虑（GAD - 7）、SC、EA以及感知到的新冠威胁的测量。使用PROCESS宏进行调节分析。聚类分析根据SC和EA得分确定特征，比较各聚类在AjD、PHQ和GAD症状严重程度方面的差异。SC和EA调节了感知到的新冠威胁与AjD严重程度之间的关系。有趣的是，高EA和低SC的个体在感知到的威胁与AjD症状之间没有显著关联。聚类分析揭示了四种不同的特征：（1）高SC和低EA，（2）中等SC和EA，（3）低SC和低EA，以及（4）低SC和高EA。与低SC/高EA聚类中的参与者相比，高SC/低EA聚类中的参与者报告的AjD、抑郁和焦虑症状水平显著更低，而低SC/高EA聚类中的参与者在所有测量中症状严重程度最高。我们的研究结果表明，依赖经验性回避且缺乏自我同情的个体在与疫情相关担忧方面经历的情绪困扰较少，这可能使他们免受急性AjD症状的影响。然而，这种策略与更大程度的情绪困扰相关，因为高AE和SC的个体表现出更多的AjD、抑郁和焦虑症状。相比之下，低AE和高SC的个体心理健康状况明显更好。
