Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Oct 19, 2021; 11(10): 864-875
Published online Oct 19, 2021. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v11.i10.864
What factors explain anger and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic? The case of Israeli society
Orna Braun-Lewensohn, Sarah Abu-Kaf, Tehila Kalagy
Orna Braun-Lewensohn, Sarah Abu-Kaf, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, Conflict Management & Resolution Program, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel, Israel
Tehila Kalagy, Department of Public Policy and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel, Israel
Author contributions: Braun-Lewensohn O wrote the manuscript, ran, and analyzed the data; Abu-Kaf S and Kalagy T contributed to writing and analyzing the data; all authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.
Supported by the BGU COVID-19 CORONA CHALLENGE.
Institutional review board statement: The study is ethically approved, No. 2020-08.
Informed consent statement: Signed informed consent statement was obtained from the participants.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Orna Braun-Lewensohn, PhD, Full Professor, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, Conflict Management & Resolution Program, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel, Israel. ornabl@bgu.ac.il
Received: April 25, 2021
Peer-review started: April 25, 2021
First decision: July 14, 2021
Revised: July 20, 2021
Accepted: September 8, 2021
Article in press: September 8, 2021
Published online: October 19, 2021
Processing time: 172 Days and 20.8 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

We aimed to examine community resilience, hope, and trust in leaders as potential contributors with lower levels of anger and emotional distress during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Research motivation

To understand in what ways personal and communal factors as well as trust in leaders affect psychological distress of citizens during health pandemic.

Research objectives

(1) To assess sociodemographic factors and resiliency factors as explanatory factors of psychological distress and anger, with stronger resiliency associated with lower levels of distress and anger; (2) To examine gender differences on trust in national leadership and psychological problems; (3) To examine differences between individuals from socioeconomic status on resiliency, trust in national leadership, and distress; and (4) To explore the mediating role of hope in the relationships between resiliency factors and anger and distress.

Research methods

Data were gathered from 636 Israeli adults. The participants filled out self-reported questionnaires. t-tests and hierarchical multiple regression analysis were used to examine the various research questions.

Research results

Differences between women and men were revealed on anger and mental-health problems, but not in terms of coping resources. Individuals of lower socioeconomic status reported more mental-health problems, more anger, and greater trust in the state’s leaders; whereas those of higher socioeconomic status reported greater hope. The sociodemographic factors of gender, age, and socioeconomic status, as well as community resilience, trust in the state’s leaders, and hope explained mental health with a total of 19% of the variance and anger with a total of 33% of the variance.

Research conclusions

Personal and communal factors affect psychological distress. Personal resilience is an important factor that should be strengthened throughout life. Trust in leadership is important for citizens’ mental health.

Research perspectives

Trust in the country’s leaders is important for its citizens, not only for their obedience to published guidelines, but also for their mental health and, therefore, leaders around the world should act to facilitate and strengthen such trust. These findings could also be beneficial and useful for counselors and other mental-health professionals.