Illness Perception, Social Isolation, Psychological Distress, and Posttraumatic Growth in the Aftermath of COVID-19

The present study was aimed to investigate the relationship of social isolation and illness perception with posttraumatic growth and psychological distress among coronavirus affected individuals along with the moderating role of social support. Cross-sectional research design was employed for the present study. The sample consisted of 300 individuals affected by COVID-19 and later recovered. For data collection, the major areas of Chakwal were selected. Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10; Kessler, 2002) Illness Perception Scale (Moss-Morris, 2002), Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (Cohen & Hoberman, 1983), Social Connectedness Scale-Revised (Lee & Robbins, 1995), and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996) were used to measure the study variables. The findings of the present study indicated that social isolation has a significant positive correlation with posttraumatic growth; however, it has nonsignificant correlation with psychological distress. Moreover, illness perception has a significant positive correlation with psychological distress whereas a nonsignificant correlation with posttraumatic growth. Similarly, illness perception positively predicted psychological distress while negatively predicted posttraumatic growth. Where social isolation positively predicted posttraumatic growth, social support did not significantly moderate between the study variables. The finding of the study shed light on the positive aspect of COVID-19 as observing social isolation during the disease positively predicts posttraumatic growth among the patients.