Coping with COVID-19: the efficacy of disengagement for coping with the chronic stress of a pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic was a novel chronic stressor that necessitated figuring out how to cope with it. We hypothesized that disengagement coping - coping with a stressor by disengaging from it - would be effective because the pandemic featured heightened uncertainty and enduring intensity. Design: We assessed the disengagement strategies of distraction - taking a break from a stressor- and avoidance - avoiding thoughts and feelings associated with a stressor - and emotional well-being outcomes (positive/ negative emotions, stress) in three waves one week apart (305 participants completed all three waves). Results: Distraction was one of the most frequently endorsed coping strategies. The results of multi-level models and cross-lagged panel models showed that participants who used distraction habitually experienced better emotional well-being overall and that using distraction led to better emotional well-being that week, but did not predict increases in well-being from one week to the next. Those who used avoidance also experienced better emotional well-being that week, but habitual use of avoidance was associated with worse emotional well-being overall. Conclusions: These findings suggest that in the midst of chronic stressors like this pandemic, the disengagement coping strategy of distraction is popular and effective for temporarily improving people's well-being.