Change Of Mental Health During Major Public Health Emergencies

The COVID-19 pandemic is a major public health emergency exerting a severe impact on people’s lives worldwide.The occurrence of major health crises is often accompanied by the psychological crisis of the general public.According to existing research,the prevalence of psychological symptoms such as depression and anxiety was relatively high amid this particular period.Besides,people’s mental health was found to fluctuate as the epidemic progresses.Since the negative effect of this crisis may continue for a long time,continuous attention to people’s psychological states may help to understand the trajectory of people’s mental health under major public emergencies.In addition,existing studies on people’s mental health are based mainly on negative indicators of mental health,such as psychopathology,and pay more attention to the risk factors which are negatively linked to individuals’ mental health.Therefore,based on the dual-factor model of mental health and the perspective of positive psychology,the current study investigated whether positive psychological capital,an individuals’ positive mental state,can increase individuals’ subjective wellbeing and reduce individuals’ ill-being by improving their basic psychological needs.In Study 1,a cross-sectional study was conducted online.A total of 849 Chinese completed questionnaires measuring positive psychological capital,basic need satisfaction,and mental health.Results showed that people still had relatively high levels of ill-being,while relatively high levels of well-being in the meantime.Female gender,younger age,and lower socioeconomic status were related to a lower level of mental health.Besides,positive psychological capital was found to positively related to well-being while negatively related to ill-being.The relationship between positive psychological capital and mental health was mediated by basic need satisfaction.In study 2,an experience sampling study was conducted online.118 Chinese participants completed daily diary reports each day for two weeks about their state positive psychological capital,basic need satisfaction,and mental health states.Results showed that individuals’ daily well-being has not significantly changed while daily illbeing significantly decreased over time.Both trait and state positive psychological capital were significantly related to a higher level of well-being while a lower level of ill-being.The multilevel path modeling showed that at the daily level(within-person association),a higher level of state positive psychological capital predicted greater basic need satisfaction.Further,basic need satisfaction mediated the relationship between state positive psychological capital and well-being and the relationship between state positive psychological capital and ill-being.In study 3,we originally chose 381 participants from study 1 to participate in the three-wave longitudinal study at an interval of about three months.A total of 254 participants completed all the three times measure.Results showed that ill-being at T2 and T3 were both significantly lower than T1,while there was no significant main effect of time on well-being.The cross-lagged panel model suggested that positive psychological capital positively predicted well-being over time,but did not significantly predict ill-being over time.Besides,positive psychological capital did not predict basic need satisfaction over time,while basic need satisfaction significantly predicted positive psychological capital and ill-being over time.This study has explored the current state and trajectory of individuals’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic based on various study designs.Results revealed that public mental health gradually recovered over time,and that positive psychological capital and basic need satisfaction can promote individuals’ mental health.These results can help to build the public psychological service system to cope the future emergencies.