Emotional Distress, Pandemic COVID-19 Perceptions and Reactions in Samples of Swedish and Greek Population

Abstract: The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has influenced in an unprecedented way society and human health on a global scale. Government policies and recommendations from health authorities across the world have been implemented in the effort to limit the spread of the disease. The aim of this study is to examine the relation of public perceptions on COVID19 with the adoption of behavioural actions focusing on the role of emotion and also to explore whether temporal perspectives regarding the coronavirus pandemic interact with emotional distress. Two sample from Greece (n = 85) and Sweden (n = 85) participated in a web survey. An online questionnaire was used to gather responses during a period of two weeks. Results indicated that the perception of emotion was related positively to infection management behaviour in Swedish and Greeks participants, while trust in authorities was found to be significant different in the two samples. When reflecting on the pandemic situation from a temporal point of view, both samples populations tend to focus more on their ideal future and less in the concrete impact of the pandemic situation.