What can we learn from gritty persons? Coping strategies adopted during COVID-19 lockdown

Social isolation and the loss of control associated with the COVID-19 lockdown led to elevated levels of perceived stress in many countries. The present study examines the effectiveness of 13 different coping strategies (SVF-78) and the personality trait grit (Grit-S) on perceptions of stress (PSS-10) in 438 participants (362 women, M-age = 33.45 years, SD = 12.48) from the second to third week of lockdown. A structural equation model showed that coping strategies acted as a complete mediator of the relationship between grit and perceived stress, indicating that grit does not directly affect perceived stress but that people with higher levels of grit choose more effective coping strategies and that results in lower perceived stress. Overall, active emotion-focused strategies such as minimization and positive self-instruction were associated with lower levels of helplessness and a higher self-efficacy to cope with stress. Taking into account the different ways participants adopted coping strategies and relied upon grit, non-hierarchical clustering identified four specific profiles: gritty persons, easy-goers, avoiders, and people feeling powerless. The implications for each group are discussed.