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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Positive Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1440001

Fear of COVID-19, Posttraumatic Growth and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms: The Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Needs

Provisionally accepted
Rafael Gargurevich Rafael Gargurevich *Valeria Campodónico Valeria Campodónico Lennia Matos Lennia Matos
  • Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru

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

    Although COVID 19 brought many negative psychological consequences, many people also experienced psychological growth. The present study investigated why this happened and hypothesized that Self-determination Theory's (SDT) basic psychological needs (BPNs) may play a role in this explanation. Based on SDT, this cross-sectional study hypothesized that both, the satisfaction and frustration of BPNs, mediated the associations between fear of COVID-19 and post-traumatic growth (PTG), and post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. A sample of 391 Peruvian adults (70.6% women; Mage = 35.04, age range between 18-84) responded several valid and reliable questionnaires: Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV.19S); Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS); Impact Event Scale-Revised (IES-R); Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). Results showed that need satisfaction mediated the negative association between fear of COVID-19 and PTG, and need frustration mediated the positive association between fear of COVID-19 and PTG. Also, a direct effect was found from fear of COVID-19 towards PTS symptoms. Results showed the importance of considering SDT's BPNs in explaining PTG and PTS after experiencing fear of COVID-19.

    Keywords: Fear of COVID-19, Basic psychological needs, posttraumatic growth, Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, Peruvian community sample

    Received: 28 May 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Gargurevich, Campodónico and Matos. 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: Rafael Gargurevich, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru

    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.