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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychopathology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1427469

Transdiagnostic Mechanisms of Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Associations of Childhood Trauma, Maladaptive Personality Traits, Emotion Regulation, Mentalizing, and Pandemic-Related Distress

Provisionally accepted
Julia Holl Julia Holl 1,2*Anna Berning Anna Berning 2Laura Kling Laura Kling 2Svenja Taubner Svenja Taubner 2Anna Katharina Georg Anna Katharina Georg 2Jana Volkert Jana Volkert 3
  • 1 Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Psychological Institute, University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany, Heidelberg, Germany
  • 2 Institute for Psychosocial Prevention, Centre for Psychosocial Medicine, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany, Heidelberg, Germany
  • 3 Chair of Translational Psychotherapy Research, Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Ulm, Ulm, Germany, Ulm, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased psychological distress. Transdiagnostic factors, including childhood trauma, maladaptive personality traits (MPTs), mentalizing, and emotion dysregulation are considered relevant to the development and maintenance of mental health problems. These factors probably play a significant role in individuals’ reactions to pandemic-related distress (PR distress). The aim of this study is to examine the associations with these transdiagnostic factors in relation to PR distress and psychopathological symptoms. Using a cross-sectional study design, we investigated a convenience sample of 6,451 adults (mean age=44.1; SD=11.8; 69.1% female, 30.3% male, 0.01% diverse) recruited via social media platforms in German-speaking countries (August 2020 – February 2021) by utilizing self-report instruments (PID5BF+, MentS, DERS-SF, PHQ-9, GAD-7, a composite PR distress score). Structural equation modeling was performed for data analysis. The results revealed significant associations between different types of childhood trauma and MPTs (-.14 < β < .48) as well as a parallel mediation of the relationship between MPTs and psychopathological symptoms via mentalizing (βanxiety=-.03; βdepression=.01) and emotion dysregulation (βanxiety=.24; βdepression=.23). Mentalizing and emotion dysregulation seem to play a significant role in relation between childhood trauma and MPTs and psychopathological symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, transdiagnostic factors may be a valuable target for the development of interventions aiming to reduce psychological distress related to a pandemic or other crises events. Specific prevention and intervention methods that target emotion dysregulation and mentalizing could help vulnerable individuals, particularly those with childhood trauma and MPTs, to protect against or alleviate the detrimental effects of PR distress on their mental health.

    Keywords: Corona virus, child maltreatment, Emotion dysregulation, mentalization, Depression, Anxiety, structural equation modeling Transdiagnostic Mechanisms of Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

    Received: 03 May 2024; Accepted: 10 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Holl, Berning, Kling, Taubner, Georg and Volkert. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Julia Holl, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Psychological Institute, University Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany, Heidelberg, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.