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Adapting to Crisis: A Binational Study on the Impact of Flexibility on Latent Profiles of Coping with COVID-19

Introduction. The high level of uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the general population’s well-being and ability to cope with daily challenges. Studies indicate that flexibility, defined as the ability to employ and adapt a variety of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral strategies in accordance with changing contextual demands, may significantly contribute to coping with long-term stressors such as COVID-19. Objectives. We aimed to investigate which facets of flexibility predict different latent coping profiles in Israel and Germany. Methods. 2330 Israelis and 743 Germans completed online questionnaires measuring cognitive, emotional and trauma-related regulatory flexibility, and cognitive, emotional, and behavioral coping with COVID-19. Results. Analyses revealed three distinct coping profiles in each country (high, medium and low). These profiles differed in both anxiety and depression symptoms with the low coping group experiencing clinically relevant symptoms both in Israel and in Germany. Additionally, cognitive flexibility and trauma-related regulatory flexibility, but not emotion regulatory flexibility, emerged as significant predictors of coping in both countries. Conclusions. Training cognitive and trauma-related regulatory flexibility may help individuals to better cope with psychosocial stressors such as COVID-19. Such trainings could be selectively administered to less flexible subpopulations, as well as adapted to the specific population characteristics.