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Debate: Facing uncertainty with(out) a sense of control – cultural influence on adolescents’ response to the COVID‐19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Zhu Nan,
O Jiaqing,
Lu Hui Jing,
Chang Lei
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
child and adolescent mental health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1475-3588
pISSN - 1475-357X
DOI - 10.1111/camh.12408
Subject(s) - pandemic , sense of control , covid-19 , individualism , collectivism , control (management) , psychology , social psychology , sense of community , developmental psychology , political science , medicine , disease , economics , infectious disease (medical specialty) , management , pathology , law
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has brought about healthcare, economic, and psychological crises around the world. The psychological impact on adolescents is likely going to be uneven across different societies, as cultures vary in terms of their dominant learning style that may influence how people cope with uncertainty and perceive their sense of control. We postulate that for adolescents in individualistic cultures where individual learning prevails, their sense of control might be undermined by societal disease‐control regulations that restrict personal freedoms, while adolescents’ sense of control might increase via participating in societal preventive efforts in collectivistic cultures where social learning is more prevalent. Individual differences regarding one’s sense of control would, in turn, have implications for adolescents’ short‐term adjustments to COVID‐19‐related challenges and their future development.