Enhancing resilience and social belonging during the COVID-19 pandemic

The overarching aim of this project is to examine how Australians are affected by, and how they are responding to, the extended self-isolation and social distancing recommendations put forth by the Prime Minister during this unprecedented time. We are particularly interested in the factors that promote and hinder psychological resilience and social belonging in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic e.g., information seeking via media (including social media), pro-social behaviour.

Resilience as a dynamic process

In this project, we conceptualise psychological resilience as not a stable trait, but a dynamic process; that can be conceptualized as mental health in relation to stressor load, and a dynamic process of adaptation that can potentially be trained.

Project progress

We have surveyed over 1000 Australians focusing on measures of resilience, trust, uncertainty, mental health and wellbeing, information-seeking behaviours, and attitudes and effects that relate to COVID-19.