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 overview

We 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.

Final Report

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Australian state and federal governments enacted boarder closures, social distancing measures, and lockdowns. By the end of October 2020, the 112-day lockdown in the Australian state of Victoria was the longest continuous lockdown period internationally. Previous studies have examined how the COVID-19 pandemic and government restrictions have affected Australians’ mental health and well-being; however, less is known about the relationship between psychological variables and well-being.

Given that COVID-19 is still a concern, and in preparation for future crises, these findings should be considered in the context of recovery and boosting the resilience of all Australians.

From this research, we found that interpersonal trust was a consistently protective factor, associated with less depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness and greater resilience.

We also recently published an open access journal called “Australians’ Well-Being and Resilience During COVID-19: The Role of Trust, Misinformation, Intolerance of Uncertainty, and Locus of Control” which is based on our project findings.

You can find a copy of this journal article here: