Time Perspective predicts levels of Anxiety and Depression during the COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-cultural study

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak and governmental measures to keep the population safe had a great impact on many aspects of society, including well-being. Using data from N=1281 participants from six countries (Argentina, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, and Turkey), we first explored differences in anxiety, depression (measured with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HADS) and time perspectives (Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory; ZTPI), between these countries during the first weeks of the pandemic. We observed that Turkish participants reported the highest levels of anxiety, and Japanese and Greek the lowest. For depression symptoms, the Japanese scored highest and Italians lowest. Next, for each country, we investigated how well the relatively time-stable personality traits of time perspectives, chronotype (reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire; rMEQ), and Big Five personality traits (short Big Five Inventory; BFI) predicted the levels of anxiety and depression (HADS). The regression analyses showed that negative attitudes towards the past predicted the levels of both anxiety and depression in most of the countries we analyzed. Additionally, in many countries, a Past Positive orientation negatively predicted depression whereas the Present Fatalistic subscale predicted anxiety and depression. The chronotype did not contribute additionally to the models. The Big Five traits (and particularly neuroticism) showed substantial incremental explanatory power for anxiety in some countries but did not consistently predict anxiety levels. For depression, the additional variance accounted for by including the BFI as predictors was rather small. Importantly, the ZTPI subscales were retained as significant predictors in the model still when the BFI and rMEQ were considered as potential predictors. Our results yield evidence that the ZTPI time perspectives are valuable predictors for anxiety and depression levels during the first period of the pandemic.

The Blursday database as a resource to study subjective temporalities during COVID-19

“…The Blursday database is amenable to cross-replication studies and feeds ongoing analyses testing specific working hypotheses. For instance, a cross-cultural analysis revealed differences in anxiety and depression that can be partially attributed to differences in individuals and cultural time perspectives 17 . The motor timing tasks, designed to assess whether endogenous rhythms, sensorimotor productions and synchronizations were affected during isolation, can be enriched with the personality traits collected on the same individuals as well as their demographics (age and gender).…”

Experiencing a slow passage of time was an indicator of social and temporal disorientation during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…These include disturbances in memory capacity (e.g. remembering intentions 17 ), switches in temporal perspectives 8,18 , and difficulty in locating oneself temporally (knowing the present day of the week 7 ). Overall, disturbances in time judgements are correlated with compliance with health mandates 19,20 , as well as with overall mental health 21 , in particular with regards to anxiety 17 , boredom 16,22 , and the feeling of isolation [2][3][4]9 .…”

Development and validation of a quantitative instrument for measuring temporal and social disorientation in the Covid-19 crisis

“…[34]). During Covid-19, temporal perspectives have been found to be associated with different levels of compliance with restrictions [35], as well as good predictors of anxiety and depression [36], so that disorientation with respect to various temporal perspectives might actually be an important epidemiological variable worth monitoring [37]. Future orientation has also been found to be related to mental health during Covid-19, with young people being most in need of interventions designed “to restore a safe, more certain future” [38].…”