Post-traumatic Growth Dimensions Differently Mediate the Relationship Between National Identity and Interpersonal Trust Among Young Adults: A Study on COVID-19 Crisis in Italy

Abstract

BackgroundIn Italy, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a collective trauma. Post-traumatic growth (PTG) has been defined as the subjective experience of positive psychological changes as a result of a traumatic event. PTG can involve changes in five psychological main dimensions: relating to others, new possibilities, personal strength, spiritual change, and appreciation of life. In the context of national emergencies, those PTG dimensions encompassing changes at the social level (e.g., relating to others) can play a role in coping strategies that involve a renewed sense of self and one’s social identities, including national identities, and in turn, foster a stronger sense of trust and connection to others.AimTo investigate how each of the five PTG dimensions mediates the association between the salience of national identity and interpersonal trust in a sample of Italian young adults. Trust in national and European institutions were expected to positively predict the strength of the Italian national identity which in turn was expected to be positively associated with interpersonal trust, and the PTG relating to others dimension to mediate this association.MethodThis study involves the secondary analysis of data from a representative sample of 2,000 Italian young adults (age range 18–34 years). Participants completed a web survey during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis in Italy with measures of trust in EU and national institutions, national identity, interpersonal trust, and the PTG Inventory. Structural equation modeling procedures were employed for key hypotheses tests.ResultsTrust in national institutions positively predicted national identity, which in turn was positively associated with interpersonal trust. Evidence of a full mediation effect of the PTG relating to others dimension on the association between national identity and interpersonal trust was found.DiscussionFindings contribute to clarify the psychological responses to collective traumas. In the context of Italy’s COVID-19 crisis, trust in national institutions reinforced Italian national identity, which was in turn associated with greater interpersonal trust, but only when psychological responses to the trauma involved changes in how individuals perceived and related to others, and not merely a focus on the self. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

How Communication Technology Fosters Individual and Social Wellbeing During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Preliminary Support For a Digital Interaction Model

“…Previous studies have reported positive associations between openness to experience, emotional expression, and posttraumatic growth (e.g., Jaarsma et al, 2006 ). It is possible that e-motions lead to posttraumatic growth by fostering positive core beliefs (e.g., openness to the future and identification with humanity; Vasquez et al, 2021 ; Ellena et al, 2020 ) and emotional strengths (e.g. bravery, humor and social intelligence, Casali et al, 2021 ).…”

“…In exceptional circumstances, such as natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes and earthquakes), traumas are experienced by entire communities bringing out collective traumatic dynamics (Lowe et al, 2013 ; Manove et al, 2019 ; Wlodarczyk et al, 2016 ). Taking into account the health and social impact of COVID-19 among the Italian population, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presents characteristics of collective trauma experiences that have stimulated national identity and interpersonal trust (Ellena et al, 2020 ). Collective traumas have been found to elicit intense sharing of emotions (offline and online) among members of concerned communities (Rimé et al, 2020 ).…”

Did we learn something positive out of the COVID-19 pandemic? Post-traumatic growth and mental health in the general population

“…Contrary to what we expected, we did not find a significant effect of the weeks of lockdown on the levels of post-traumatic growth, except for the dimension of “searching new possibilities.” This finding is particularly striking if we consider that the levels of stress and of psychiatric symptoms tended to increase over time [ 54 ]; it may be that PTG is not related to the duration of the traumatic event, but it is related to the nature of the trauma and to the personality traits and characteristics of the individual [ 108 ]. Of course, this interpretation deserves more studies.…”

“…Second, the cross-sectional design of the survey prevents us to delineate any causal relationship between the selected variables. Finally, several variables, such as social cohesion, national identity and interpersonal trust, personality traits and cognitive styles should have had an impact on the levels of post-traumatic growth [ 108 , 110 ].…”

Mental Health Symptomatology and Posttraumatic Growth among Those with Multimorbidity in COVID Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Findings from the STRONG Study in Greece

“…However, this study had a different methodology and considered PTG as a dichotomous concept, with the score of 57 as indicative of the presence of growth. Ellena et al (2020) similarly reported higher levels of growth in all dimensions in young adults from Italy [37]. Specifically, their sample reported moderate growth levels in all dimensions except spiritual change.…”