Uncovering the associations between health, socioeconomic and psychological resilience on subjective well-being during COVID-19 pandemic: A three-wave survey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government used various response measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic. However, these response measures have increased the population's poverty and vulnerability levels. This study aimed to assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on households...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences and Humanities Open |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125002530 |
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| Summary: | The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government used various response measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic. However, these response measures have increased the population's poverty and vulnerability levels. This study aimed to assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on households' subjective well-being and the impact of resilience strategies on their well-being. This study applied the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and the family resilience model to examine the relationships between health, socioeconomic status, psychological resilience and subjective well-being (SWB) during the COVID-19 pandemic in DRC. Data were collected three times from 474 households between August 2020 and February 2021. The resilience scale was formed by three dimensions of eight items on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). SWB was interpreted from two perspectives: positive and negative affects with three items each and measured on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (very little) to 5 (very strongly). The life satisfaction scale consisted of 3 items on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 7 (very satisfied). Descriptive statistics and Structural Equation Model were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that 18 % of the participants were over 50 years old, whereas 82 % were under 50 years old. About 51 % of respondents were men, 71 % were married, and 67 % had attended school. We found that resilience strategies adopted by families improved their SWB. Specifically, the health (84 %), socioeconomic (97 %), and psychological (97 %) dimensions of resilience had a positive impact (68 %) on the SWB of households in South-Kivu. This study suggests that, in addition to the adaptive resilience strategies developed by families, there is a need for proactive and early warning measures for unforeseen pandemics that could lead to health crises. Furthermore, public and private interventions should be implemented to support vulnerable populations during current and future outbreaks of infectious diseases and other adverse events. |
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| ISSN: | 2590-2911 |