Authors :
Era Pozhegu; Dr. Maria Tziraki
Volume/Issue :
Volume 10 - 2025, Issue 1 - January
Google Scholar :
https://tinyurl.com/3ku3kwt9
Scribd :
https://tinyurl.com/6zjm74wm
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14744573
Abstract :
The current outbreak of Coronavirus Disease, otherwise known as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus
2 (SARS-CoV-2), was contained globally by widespread quarantine measures. The outbreak of this disease was so
unexpected that some people did not expect a pandemic to spread rapidly. Also, being in the quarantine may cause a slew of
psychological and emotional issues. Other research has not yet recommended what measures must take to deal with global
crises of this nature. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the mediating role of autism traits in the relationship
between stress and coping with a health crisis. In this survey, took part, 93 participants. There were 27 males, 63 females,
and three others. The participants completed three standardized questionnaires, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10; Cohen
et al., 1983), the brief version of the COPE Inventory (COPE, Carver, 1997), and the Autism Quotient (AQ, Baron-Cohen,
et al., 2001). The results indicate a significant correlation between autism traits and stress (r= .633, p>5). And from 28 cope
items, 16 items correlated at least .3 with at least one other component. Also, the results confirm that scoring lower on coping
strategies are more likely to express intention to stress. This research emphasized the importance of further investigation
into this thematic. The study's implications and limitations also were highlighted.
Keywords :
Stress, Autism Traits, Coping Strategies, Global Health, Covid-19.
References :
- Amos, G. A., Byrne, G., Chouinard, P. A., & Godber, T. (2019). Autism traits, sensory over- responsivity, anxiety, and stress: a test of explanatory models. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 49(1), 98-112.
- Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Hill, J., Raste, Y., & Plumb, I. (2001). The “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” Test revised version: a study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 42(2), 241-251.
- Baumstarck, K., Alessandrini, M., Hamidou, Z., Auquier, P., Leroy, T., & Boyer, L. (2017). Assessment of coping: a new french four-factor structure of the brief COPE inventory. Health and quality of life outcomes, 15(1), 1-9.
- Bonanno, G. A., Westphal, M., & Mancini, A. D. (2011). Resilience to loss and potential trauma. Annual review of clinical psychology, 7, 511-535.
- Booth, T., Murray, A. L., McKenzie, K., Kuenssberg, R., O’Donnell, M., & Burnett, H. (2013). Brief report: An evaluation of the AQ-10 as a brief screening instrument for ASD in adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(12), 2997-3000.
- Britt, T. W., Crane, M., Hodson, S. E., & Adler, A. B. (2016). Effective and ineffective coping strategies in a low-autonomy work environment. Journal of occupational health psychology, 21(2), 154.
- Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of personality and social psychology, 84(4), 822.
- Brown, M., Whiting, J., Kahumoku‐Fessler, E., Witting, A. B., & Jensen, J. (2020). A dyadic model of stress, coping, and marital satisfaction among parents of children with autism. Family Relations, 69(1), 138-150.
- Brown, S. P., Westbrook, R. A., & Challagalla, G. (2005). Good cope, bad cope: adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies following a critical negative work event. Journal of applied psychology, 90(4), 792.
- Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1988). A control-process perspective on anxiety. Anxiety Research, 1(1), 17-22.
- Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2000). Autonomy and self-regulation. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 284-291.
- Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F., & Weintraub, J. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: a theoretically based approach. Journal of personality and social psychology, 56(2), 267.
- Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of health and social behavior, 385-396.
- Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1994). Perceived stress scale. Measuring stress: A guide for health and social scientists, 10(2), 1-2.
- Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J. K., Saltzman, H., Thomsen, A. H., & Wadsworth, M. E. (2001).
- Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence: problems, progress, and potential in theory and research. Psychological bulletin, 127(1), 87.
- Compas, B. E., Malcarne, V. L., & Fondacaro, K. M. (1988). Coping with stressful events in older children and young adolescents. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 56(3), 405.
- Constantino, J. N., & Todd, R. D. (2003). Autistic traits in the general population: a twin study. Archives of general psychiatry, 60(5), 524-530.
- Cramer, P. (2000). Defense mechanisms in psychology today: Further processes for adaptation. American Psychologist, 55(6), 637.
- Crasovan, D. I., & Sava, F. A. (2013). Translation, adaptation, and validation on Romanian population of COPE questionnaire for coping mechanisms analysis. Cognition, Brain, Behavior, 17(1), 61.
- De Vibe, M., Bjørndal, A., Tipton, E., Hammerstrøm, K., & Kowalski, K. (2012). Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) for improving health, quality of life, and social functioning in adults. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 8(1), 1-127.
- Dinou, M., Moraitou, D., Papantoniou, G., Kalogiannidou, A., & Papantoniou, A. (2013). Psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced-COPE Inventory. Scientific Annals-School of Psychology AUTh, 10, 163-192.
- Dong, L., & Bouey, J. (2020). Public mental health crisis during COVID-19 pandemic, China. Emerging infectious diseases, 26(7), 1616.
- Elklit, A. (1996). Coping styles questionnaire: A contribution to the validation of a scale for measuring coping strategies. Personality and Individual differences, 21(5), 809-812.
- Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1988). Coping as a mediator of emotion. Journal of personality and social psychology, 54(3), 466.
- Folkman, S., & Moskowitz, J. T. (2004). Coping: Pitfalls and promise. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 55, 745- 774.
- Frydenberg, E., & Lewis, R. (2000). Teaching Coping to adolescents: when and to whom? American Educational Research Journal, 37(3), 727-745.
- Harari, Y. N. (2020). The world after coronavirus. Financial Times, 20(03), 2020.
- Hoekstra, R. A., Bartels, M., Verweij, C. J., & Boomsma, D. I. (2007). Heritability of autistic traits in the general population. Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 161(4), 372-377.
- Hoge, E. A., Bui, E., Palitz, S. A., Schwarz, N. R., Owens, M. E., Johnston, J. M., ... & Simon, N. M. (2018). The effect of mindfulness meditation training on biological acute stress responses in generalized anxiety disorder. Psychiatry research, 262, 328-332.
- Hurley, R. S., Losh, M., Parlier, M., Reznick, J. S., & Piven, J. (2007). The broad autism phenotype questionnaire. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 37(9), 1679-1690.
- Kapsou, M., Panayiotou, G., Kokkinos, C. M., & Demetriou, A. G. (2010). Dimensionality of coping: An empirical contribution to the construct validation of the Brief-COPE with a Greek-speaking sample. Journal of health psychology, 15(2), 215-229.
- Keng, S. L., Smoski, M. J., & Robins, C. J. (2011). Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: A review of empirical studies. Clinical psychology review, 31(6), 1041-1056.
- Krug, D. A., Arick, J., & Almond, P. (1980). Behavior checklist for identifying severely handicapped individuals with high levels of autistic behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and
- Psychiatry, 21(3), 221-229.
- Kumar, A., & Somani, A. (2020). Dealing with Corona virus anxiety and OCD. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51, 102053.
- Lazarus, R. S. (1966). Psychological stress and the coping process.
- Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Cognition and motivation in emotion. American psychologist, 46(4), 352. Lazarus, R. S. (1998). The stress and coping paradigm. Fifty years of the research and theory of RS
- Lazarus: An analysis of historical and perennial Issues, 182-220.
- Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer publishing company.
- Lee, E. H. (2012). Review of the psychometric evidence of the perceived stress scale. Asian nursing research, 6(4), 121-127.
- Miller, S. M., Brody, D. S., & Summerton, J. (1988). Styles of coping with threat: implications for health. Journal of personality and social psychology, 54(1), 142.
- Myles, B. S., Simpson, R. L., & Bock, S. J. (2001). Asperger syndrome diagnostic scale. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
- Park, C. L., Russell, B. S., Fendrich, M., Finkelstein-Fox, L., Hutchison, M., & Becker, J. (2020).
- Americans’ COVID-19 stress, coping, and adherence to CDC guidelines. Journal of general internal medicine, 35(8), 2296-2303.
- Pisula, E., Danielewicz, D., Kawa, R., & Pisula, W. (2015). Autism spectrum quotient, coping with stress and quality of life in a non-clinical sample–an exploratory report. Health and quality of life outcomes, 13(1), 1-9.
- Roberti, J. W., Harrington, L. N., & Storch, E. A. (2006). Further psychometric support for the 10‐item version of the perceived stress scale. Journal of College Counseling, 9(2), 135-147.
- Robinson, E. B., Munir, K., Munafò, M. R., Hughes, M., McCormick, M. C., & Koenen, K. C. (2011).
- Stability of autistic traits in the general population: further evidence for a continuum of impairment. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 50(4), 376-384.
- Rosbrook, A., & Whittingham, K. (2010). Autistic traits in the general population: What mediates the link with depressive and anxious symptomatology? Research in Autism Spectrum
- Disorders, 4(3), 415-424.
- Rubin, G. J., & Wessely, S. (2020). The psychological effects of quarantining a city. Bmj, 368.
- Ruzich, E., Allison, C., Smith, P., Watson, P., Auyeung, B., Ring, H., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2015). Measuring autistic traits in the general population: a systematic review of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) in a nonclinical population sample of 6,900 typical adult males and females. Molecular autism, 6(1), 1-12.
- Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1988). A model of behavioral self-regulation: Translating intention into action. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 21, pp. 303-346). Academic Press.
- Schwarzer, R., & Schwarzer, C. (1996). A critical survey of coping instruments. Handbook of coping: Theory, research, applications, 107-132.
- Seiffge-Krenke, I. (2004). Adaptive and maladaptive coping styles: Does intervention change anything? European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1(4), 367-382. Selye, H. (1950). Stress. Montreal: Acta, 1955. Selye, H. (1957). Stress. Ed. Scientifiche Einaudi.
- Shigemura, J., Ursano, R. J., Morganstein, J. C., Kurosawa, M., & Benedek, D. M. (2020). Public responses to the novel 2019 coronavirus (2019‐nCoV) in Japan: Mental health consequences and target populations. Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 74(4), 281
- Singhal, T. (2020). A review of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). The indian journal of pediatrics, 87(4), 281-286.
- Sizoo, B. B., Horwitz, E. H., Teunisse, J. P., Kan, C. C., Vissers, C. T. W., Forceville, E. J. M., ... & Geurts, H. M. (2015). Predictive validity of self-report questionnaires in the assessment of autism spectrum disorders in adults. Autism, 19(7), 842-849.
- Skinner, E. A., Edge, K., Altman, J., & Sherwood, H. (2003). Searching for the structure of coping: a review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. Psychological bulletin, 129(2), 216
- Speaks, A. (2011). What is autism. Retrieved on November, 17, 2011.
- Ulrich-Lai, Y. M., & Herman, J. P. (2009). Neural regulation of endocrine and autonomic stress responses. Nature reviews neuroscience, 10(6), 397-409.
- Van Liew, C., Santoro, M. S., Edwards, L., Kang, J., & Cronan, T. A. (2016). Assessing the structure of the ways of coping questionnaire in fibromyalgia patients using common factor analytic approaches. Pain research and management, 2016.
- Whitehouse, A. J., Hickey, M., & Ronald, A. (2011). Are autistic traits in the general population stable across development? PLoS One, 6(8), e23029.
- Zhao, X., Zhao, B., Li, W., Cai, Y., Shi, W., & Li, C. (2021). Autistic traits and gender modulate emotion changes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Current Psychology, 1-11.
The current outbreak of Coronavirus Disease, otherwise known as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus
2 (SARS-CoV-2), was contained globally by widespread quarantine measures. The outbreak of this disease was so
unexpected that some people did not expect a pandemic to spread rapidly. Also, being in the quarantine may cause a slew of
psychological and emotional issues. Other research has not yet recommended what measures must take to deal with global
crises of this nature. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the mediating role of autism traits in the relationship
between stress and coping with a health crisis. In this survey, took part, 93 participants. There were 27 males, 63 females,
and three others. The participants completed three standardized questionnaires, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10; Cohen
et al., 1983), the brief version of the COPE Inventory (COPE, Carver, 1997), and the Autism Quotient (AQ, Baron-Cohen,
et al., 2001). The results indicate a significant correlation between autism traits and stress (r= .633, p>5). And from 28 cope
items, 16 items correlated at least .3 with at least one other component. Also, the results confirm that scoring lower on coping
strategies are more likely to express intention to stress. This research emphasized the importance of further investigation
into this thematic. The study's implications and limitations also were highlighted.
Keywords :
Stress, Autism Traits, Coping Strategies, Global Health, Covid-19.