Social and behavioural responses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

In this paper we report results from an online study conducted in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (May 2020). The study examined a range of social and behavioural responses by youth from different ethnic backgrounds and across 63 cities (N = 569). More specifically, the study focused on investigating the relationship between threat perceptions, public health behaviours, stress and social cohesion. As expected, results indicate that higher perceptions of threat were related to higher compliance to safety and health measures despite extremely extremely low levels of political trust. Surprisingly, participants reported relatively low levels of stress despite high social isolation and physical restrictions. These results could partially be explained by an increased level of family interactions. Furthermore, participants reported relatively high levels of social cohesion and common-ingroup identification in a usually segregated and conflict-ridden context.

Connection between the COVID-19 pandemic, war trauma reminders, perceived stress, loneliness, and PTSD in Bosnia and Herzegovina

“…Hence, since memory of traumatic events has been suggested to be at the core of PTSD symptomatology (Kevers et al, 2016), citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina who experienced the 1992-1995 war may be acutely reminded of their trauma due to exposure to stress-provoking news in the media and events in their surroundings all of which can cause higher stress levels. Regarding the psychological impact of COVID-19 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, previous studies in Bosnian samples have shown that although citizens' stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic were low-to-moderate, overthinking, change in sleep patterns, and nervousness were frequently reported (Jankovic & Cehajic-Clancy, 2020); and almost one third of the population had depressive symptoms (Šljivo et al, 2020). Moreover, in studies with multicountry samples including community samples from Bosnia and Herzegovina, it has been shown that the pandemic was associated with deterioration of quality of life (Repišti et al, 2020) and worsening of pre-existing psychiatric conditions (Gobbi et al, 2020).…”