Abstract
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed people’s lives. Social distancing means avoiding close contact with others during a contagious disease outbreak to minimize exposure. Such constraints may also contribute to the worsening of certain mental health disorders. The present study aimed to evaluate the extent to which personality features and social anxiety may contribute to greater difficulties in coping with social distancing practices. A total of 1120 individuals were assessed using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) and personality mini-markers to assess personality traits. Logistic regression analysis revealed that neuroticism, social anxiety, and the number of additional hours one spends at home represent significant predictors of greater difficulty. Thus, results showed that social anxiety disorder had specific presentations during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords:
Social adaptation; Social anxiety; Psychological adaptation; Pandemic Personality