Pathways to Well-Being During COVID-19 in US, Iran, and China

Project Title:

Pathways to Well-Being Across Adulthood and in Three Culturally-Diverse Countries Impacted by a Pandemic Disease: Life During COVID-19

Summary:

This project was conducted during the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 in Spring 2020. We surveyed participants from three countries (China, Iran, US) that were heavily impacted by coronavirus due to high numbers of reported COVID-19 cases and societal/cultural differences. We also investigated age differences in the US by comparing younger adults (18-35 years old) and older adults (55+ years old) due to the differential impact of COVID-19 on different age groups. Lastly, we utilized machine learning technology to analyze the qualitative narratives of US participants to further investigate specifically how adults have been impacted and coped with life during COVID-19. Currently, we are analyzing data results collected from April-May 2020.

The ramifications of COVID-19 have undoubtedly directly disrupted people’s well-being and development and indirectly through their immediate/extended environments. Given a person’s individual factors (such as age, gender, and health/health behaviors), as well as their contexts (microsystems, state, country, culture), people will nonetheless respond differently to COVID-19-related lifestyle changes. We therefore take a developmental and cross-cultural psychological research perspective to examine and understand the pathways to resilience and well-being in the face of mass collective trauma.

In a series of quantitative and qualitative studies, we aimed to investigate the individual-level and context-dependent factors that effectively lead to improved resiliency and overall better functioning and well-being during a traumatic event such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research Team:

Saida Heshmati, Olivia Ellis, Jeffrey Ramdass, Jaymes Paolo Rombaoa, Qiuhua (Jenny) Tang

Contact for further information:

saida.heshmati@cgu.edu