Data repository

How did couples in Belgium cope during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic? In this study, grounded in relationship science, we investigated in a descriptive manner several factors that could affect how couples perceived individual and relational wellbeing during this time. Specifically, we examined the associations between gender, sexual orientation, parental status, and relationship duration on participants’ self-reported individual and relational well-being after the first lockdown (more generally and more specific in response to COVID-19). Additionally, we investigated if relational well-being predicted perceived change in individual well-being from pre- to post-COVID-19 regulations. To test these hypotheses, self-report data was collected during the Summer of 2020 in both the Dutch and French speaking part of Belgium. Data from 679 participants suggested that individual and relational well-being only differed based on parental status (and not by gender nor sexual orientation). Importantly, parents reported lower relational well-being than participants without children, while participants without children reported higher perceived increases in depression. People that had been in a relationship for longer also reported lower relational well-being, but this relationship was explained by other confounding factors. Relational well-being buffered increases in individual distress that people perceived to have occurred pre-COVID-19 regulations to after COVID-19 regulations went into effect. These findings might inform practice and policy for individuals in a romantic relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is increasing evidence that blue spaces, particularly coastal environments, are beneficial for well-being. During the first-wave lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, access to the coast was restricted due to restraint in circulation. Making use of this unique opportunity, this study investigated whether access and visits to the coast were positively associated with well-being by using a quasi-experimental design. The emotions of awe and nostalgia were studied as potential mediators between coastal visits and well-being. A total of 687 Flemish adults took part in an online survey that was launched end of April until beginning of June 2020. After controlling for covariates, results showed that access to the coast, but not visit frequency, was positively associated with well-being. More specifically, coastal residents reported less boredom and worry, and more happiness than inland residents. Awe and nostalgia were not associated with coastal visits, but awe was negatively correlated with boredom. The study suggests a potential buffer effect of residential proximity to the coast against negative psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting the notion that the coast has a positive impact on well-being.

There is increasing evidence that blue spaces, particularly coastal environments, are beneficial for well-being. During the first-wave lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, access to the coast was restricted due to restraint in circulation. Making use of this unique opportunity, this study investigated whether access and visits to the coast were positively associated with well-being by using a quasi-experimental design. The emotions of awe and nostalgia were studied as potential mediators between coastal visits and well-being. A total of 687 Flemish adults took part in an online survey that was launched end of April until beginning of June 2020. After controlling for covariates, results showed that access to the coast, but not visit frequency, was positively associated with well-being. More specifically, coastal residents reported less boredom and worry, and more happiness than inland residents. Awe and nostalgia were not associated with coastal visits, but awe was negatively correlated with boredom. The study suggests a potential buffer effect of residential proximity to the coast against negative psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting the notion that the coast has a positive impact on well-being.

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This exploratory study assesses parents' perception of the emotional and behavioral impact of quarantine following Covid-19 on their child aged between 4 and 13 years old. The total sample includes the assessment of 749 children, aged between 4 and 13 (353 girls, 396 boys) with 524 parents interviewed. The emotional and behavioral changes observed in their child during quarantine, family coexistence, as well as the frequency of social contact before and during quarantine were investigated. Most parents report a change in their child's emotional and behavioral state. The main results show that the child's nervousness due to Covid-19, family coexistence during quarantine which represents the difficulty of living together, and social contacts before and during quarantine seem to explain the different emotional and behavioral changes observed in children during quarantine.

In response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, societies face the formidable challenge of developing sustainable forms of sociability‐cumsocial‐distancing – enduring social life while containing the virus and preventing new outbreaks. Accordant public policies often balance between retributive (punishment‐based) and assistance (solidarity‐based) measures to foster responsible behaviour. Yet, the uncontrolled spreading of the disease has divided public opinion about which measures are best suited, and it has made salient group disparities in behaviour, potentially straining intergroup relations, elevating heated emotions, and undercutting coordinated international responses. In a 2 × 2 between‐subjects experiment, British citizens (N = 377) read about national in‐group or outgroup members (categorical differentiation), who were either conforming to or deviating from the corona regulations (normative differentiation). Participants then reported moral emotions towards the target national group and indicated support for public policies. In general, support for assistance policies outweighed support for retributive measures. Second, however, norm deviation was associated with less positive and more negative moral emotions, the latter category further relating to more punitiveness and less assistance support. Finally, respondents who read about norm‐violating outgroup members especially reported support for retributive measures, indicating that people might use norm deviation to justify outgroup derogation. We discuss implications for policymakers and formulate future research avenues.

Across the world, measures were taken to contain the spreading of the Covid-19 virus. Many of these measures caused a sudden rupture in people’s daily routines, thereby eliciting considerable uncertainty and potentially also hampering the satisfaction of individuals’ psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Drawing upon Maslow’s Hierarchical Need Theory and Self-Determination Theory, this study examined the unique roles of felt uncertainty and the psychological needs, as well as their dynamic interplay, in the prediction of mental health. A large and heterogeneous sample of adults (N = 5118; Mage = 43.45 years) was collected during the first ten days of the lockdown period in [details removed for peer review]. A subsample (N = 835, Mage = 41.39) participated during a second wave one week later. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that felt uncertainty, need satisfaction and need frustration all independently predicted individuals’ well-being (life satisfaction, sleep quality) and ill-being (depressive symptoms, anxiety), with little systematic evidence for interactions between the predictors. The pattern of findings obtained concurrently largely held in the longitudinal analyses. Finally, results showed that associations between felt insecurity and lower well-being were partially mediated by psychological needs. Overall, the findings suggest that satisfaction of the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness is not just a ‘luxury good’. Satisfaction of these needs is important also in times of uncertainty, while need frustration represents a risk factor for maladjustment during these times.

To limit the spreading of the SARS-CoV-2-virus, governments worldwide have introduced much-needed, yet often intrusive, measures that require considerable effort from their citizens. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, the present research sought to examine in a very large and heterogeneous sample of Belgian citizens the cross-sectional (N = 45975, Mage = 50.42; Study 1), week-to-week (N = 981, Mage = 41.32; Study 2), and long-term (N = 5643, Mage = 53.09; Study 3) associations between individuals’ various motives to follow government guidelines and their self-reported adherence and defiance to these measures. Controlling for covid-specific worry and perceived risk for infection, identified motivation related positively to citizens’ concurrent adherence (Study 1), their increased week-to-week adherence during the lockdown (Study 2), and their persistent adherence during an exit phase (Study 3). An opposite pattern of findings emerged with defiance as an outcome. In contrast, although the unique contribution of external motivation was less strong, it related to poorer adherence and greater defiance, both concurrently (Study 1) and longitudinally (Study 3). The findings indicate that citizens’ voluntary motivation is a robust predictor of adherence, suggesting that policy makers do well to adopt a motivating style that ongoingly fosters internalized motivation.

Early 2020, the world was shocked by the COVID-19 pandemic. To stop the spread of the virus and alleviate pressure on healthcare systems, governments took measures such as the complete lockdown of cities and states. However, the side effects of these measures are not yet well understood. In this study we examine the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on employee wellbeing and specifically address the time course of these effects. We contribute to the literature by demonstrating that the COVID-19 lockdown was experienced as a stressor by the participants in our study, while demonstrating the rate of change and duration of these effects on employee wellbeing. Moreover, we test the causal order of the dimensions underlying burnout, thus contributing by showing how burnout develops over time. We tested our hypotheses in a sample of 120 employees, who’s work experiences we measured weekly over 35 weeks. We analyzed these data using Hierarchical Bayesian Continuous Time Dynamic Modeling (Driver & Voelkle, 2018a). Our results show that the lockdown has both positive and negative effects on employees’ wellbeing, yet the negative effects of the COVID-19 lockdown increase over the measured time period. Moreover, our results reveal complex feedback loops between the burnout dimensions, with emotional exhaustion driving increases in cynicism and decreases in professional efficacy, while cynicism simultaneously acted as an inhibitor by increasing professional efficacy.

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a global crisis and authorities have encouraged the population to promote preventive health behaviors to slow the spread of the virus. While the literature on psychological factors influencing health behaviors during the COVID-19 is flourishing, there is a lack of cross-national research focusing on multiple health behaviors. The present study overcomes this limitation and affords a validation of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a conceptual framework for explaining the adoption of handwashing and limitation of social contacts, two health behaviors that highly differ in their nature. Specifically, we compare TPB model on these two protective behaviors among people living in Belgium (N = 3744) and France (N = 1060) during the COVID-19 sanitary crisis. Data were collected from March 18 until April 19, 2020, which corresponds to the spring lockdown and the first peak of the pandemic in these countries. Results indicated that more positive attitudes, greater social pressure, increased perceived control and higher intentions were related to higher adherence to handwashing and limitation of social contacts, for both Belgian and French residents. Ultimately, we argued that the TPB model is a more universal rather than culture-specific process in explaining health behaviors, when comparing handwashing and limitation of social contacts among individuals living in different national contexts.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected people across the world, with older adults being particularly at risk for the negative (side) effects associated with this crisis. Relying on a cross-fertilization between Erikson’s personality theory and Self-Determination Theory, this study aimed to examine possible sources of resilience (i.e., ego integrity and need satisfaction) and vulnerability (i.e., despair and need frustration) in older adults’ (mal)adjustment, thereby additionally considering the role of multiple risk and protective factors (e.g., gender and marital status). During the second month of the lockdown period in Belgium, 693 older adults (Mage = 70.06, SD = 4.48, range: 65 – 89 years, 62.1% female) filled out online questionnaires concerning the study variables, while also completing assessments of several important sociodemographic factors. Structural equation modeling showed that both ego integrity and despair related to indicators of well-being and ill-being through experienced need satisfaction and need frustration. Additionally, we found several factors to protect (e.g., higher perceived income) or diminish (e.g., being widowed) older adults’ well-being during these challenging times, with little evidence for a moderating role of these factors in associations between the psychological variables. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.