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The COVID-19 pandemic has created a variety of stressors, some of which have been linked to intense stress reactions, such as posttraumatic stress (PTS)-like symptoms. However, we have limited knowledge on cumulative effects of pandemic-related stressors on PTS or on variables that may mitigate the effects of these stressors. We aimed to address some of these knowledge gaps by testing three models to examine the interrelationships among pandemic-related stressors, perceived social support, coping flexibility, and pandemic-related PTS. The sample of this cross-sectional correlational study is comprised of 2291 adults from the United States who completed an online survey between 22 May 2020 and 15 July 2020. Results indicated that greater exposure to secondary stressors, but not COVID-19-related stressors, was associated with increased PTS. After controlling for COVID-19-related and secondary stressors, social support had negative direct and indirect (via coping flexibility) effects on PTS. In addition, social support mediated the effects of COVID-19-related and secondary stressors on PTS. Our findings highlight the complexity of the role of social support in relation to pandemic-related stressors and PTS, and suggest that early interventions that target social support and coping flexibility may help reduce pandemic-related PTS., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The purpose of the present study was to propose and test two models to understand the relationship between perceived vulnerability to COVID-19 (PVC) and COVID-19-related traumatic stress (TS), as well as the variables that may mediate and moderate this relationship among individuals who have not yet been infected with COVID-19. Using an online survey, data were collected between late March and early April 2020. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk and included 747 adults living in the United States. Supporting our hypotheses, results indicated that both COVID-19-related worries and social isolation were significant mediators of the relationship between PVC and TS (Model 1). In addition, the results of a moderated mediation analysis indicated that the indirect effect of PVC on TS through COVID-19-related worries was stronger for participants who reported greater social isolation (Model 2). Although future research is needed, these findings suggest that both social isolation and disease-related worries may be important variables that can be targeted in interventions to reduce pandemic-related TS., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

More than half of the students entering college report a history of potentially traumatic events; however, little is known about the relationship of trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology to college students' mental health and access to social support or whether these relationships may show variations as a function of race and gender. The purpose of this study was to explore whether the relationships between PTSD symptoms and both depression and social support were moderated by gender and race. Data were collected from 631 African American (AA) and 299 European American (EA) freshmen students attending 2 universities in the Southeast. The majority of the students (74.3% of the AA and 68.2% of the EA sample) reported lifetime exposure to at least 1 traumatic event. PTSD symptomatology was significantly and positively associated with depression symptoms for all groups (i.e., AA and EA males and females); however, the relationship between these 2 variables was strongest for EA men. Similarly, the relationship between PTSD symptoms on the avoidance cluster and social support was stronger for EA males than other groups; avoidance symptoms did not significantly predict social support for AA men., ((c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).)

The purpose of this study was to adapt the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) developed by Steger, Frazier, Oishi, and Kaler (2006) into Turkish and examine the measurement and structural invariance of this scale across Turkish (N = 815) and U.S. (N = 207) samples. Our findings indicated that the hypothesized 2-factor model of the MLQ fit the data well for both Turkish and U.S. samples. Results also provided support for the full metric invariance, partial scalar invariance, and partial invariance of residual variances of the MLQ across the 2 samples (i.e., Turkish and U.S.). Supporting the structural invariance, we found that factor variances and covariances were equivalent across the 2 groups. Internal consistency reliability analyses revealed a Cronbach's alpha value of .88 for the MLQ Presence scale and .90 for the Search scale. Our findings also provided preliminary support for the convergent validity of the Turkish version of the MLQ (MLQ-TR). Contrary to findings in other collectivist cultures, the relationship between Search and Presence was negative in Turkish culture. These results support the psychometric properties of the MLQ-TR and its partial equivalence to the original U.S. version.