Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
8-2021
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world.
Keywords
Emotions, reappraisal, interventions, COVID-19, pandemics
Discipline
Cognition and Perception | Health Psychology | Public Health
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Nature Human Behaviour
Volume
5
Issue
8
First Page
1089
Last Page
1110
ISSN
2397-3374
Identifier
10.1038/s41562-021-01173-x
Publisher
Nature Research
Citation
WANG, Ka, GOLDENBERG, Amit, DORISON, Charles, et al., , MOHAMED MAJEED, Nadyanna, & HARTANTO, Andree.(2021). A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(8), 1089-1110.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3447
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01173-x