Background
How people perceive disease, and its risks helps not only to make sense of it but also to face it, influencing behaviors such as risk management and precautionary measures, compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), as well as its impact on quality-of-life perceptions. Most studies show that illness perception is related to high levels of “unrealistic optimism”, which is linked to a perception of a lower risk of becoming infected, leading to lower adherence to NPI. However, critical situations affect self-regulation and optimism since crises are related to uncontrollable scenarios.
Aims
The present study, performed in 10 countries, aimed to assess the general perception of Covid-19, the perception of risk, and the level of optimism in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with no vaccines. We expected a possible shift in optimism role from an unrealistic lower-risk perception, to a functional one.
Method
A total of 7,254 participants (48.1% women, mean age = 40 years, SD = 14.8), responded to the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, Life Orientation Test, and Absolute and Comparative Risk Perceptions. The psychometric stability of the records was established through Bayesian Structural Equation Modelling, while one-way ANOVA was used to test differences between countries. Finally, multiple regression analysis was performed to estimate the relative importance of optimism/pessimism and demographic variables.
Results
The findings indicated that, indeed, people with high levels of optimism perceived COVID-19 as a great threat, especially in terms of negative consequences, concern, and consistency. There was also a significant gender difference, with women experiencing greater emotional impact of COVID, and men reporting greater capacity to overcome this adversity.
Conclusion
Thus, facing crisis situations, our findings showed a role shift from unrealistic to functional optimism, playing a positive role in the treatment, personal control, and coherence, three dimensions of illness perceptions that represent the peoples´ beliefs about their capacity to understand and manage the illness.