Personality, Affective Experience and the Psychological Impact of Covid-19 Outbreak in India

The COVID-19 wave is severely affecting mental health worldwide, although the individual responses may vary. This study investigates psychological distress symptoms during the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak and analyzes personality and affective experience as potential predictors. It is an exploratory survey and a total of 302 individuals participated in it. We collected and evaluated psychological distress, personality, and affect using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS-21), The International Personality Item Pool (Mini IPIP), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) respectively through online means. Spearman’s Rho correlation, Regression analysis and Moderation analysis using Hayes PROCESS was conducted. Results showed that 51.94% of the individuals reported no likelihood of depressive symptoms, whereas 30.38% displayed mild to moderate levels and 17.66% reported severe to extremely severe likelihood. 49.11% of the individuals did not report anxiety symptoms, 30% showed mild to moderate levels, and 20.84% of the participants displayed severe to extremely severe levels. 67.84% of the individuals did not report stress symptoms, whereas 22.25% showed mild to moderate levels, and 9.89% of the participants displayed severe to extremely severe stress symptom levels. Neuroticism and negative affect were risk factors while extraversion and conscientiousness were protective factors. Higher levels of extraversion, conscientiousness, and lower levels of Neuroticism are related to less negative affect and no significant moderation was seen among Neuroticism, negative affect and psychological distress. Specific personality traits and affective experience predict the extent of mental health burden.