Forbearance Coping, Community Resilience, Family Resilience and Mental Health During the Post-Pandemic in China: A Moderated Mediation Model

Objective: This study is the first to adopt a cultural and contextual coping model to examine the impact of forbearance coping on compliance and psychological health and unravel the psychosocial mediator and moderator among community-dwelling residents in the post-pandemic era in China.

Methods: A multistage cluster convenience sampling strategy was conducted to recruit 402 community-dwelling residents of ten cities in Guangdong province who completed an online survey measuring forbearance coping, anti-pandemic compliance behaviours, family resilience, community resilience and psychological distress. 

Results: The study results showed an unexpected negative influence of forbearance coping on psychological distress. Nevertheless, forbearance coping facilitated personal compliance with coronavirus disease-2019 mitigation measures and improved psychological health. More importantly, meaning-making of adversity within families partially mediated the negative effect of forbearance on mental health only when respondents perceived higher levels of community resilience. 

Conclusion: This study is the first to apply the cultural and contextual model of coping to Chinese individuals during a significant public health crisis. It expands the model by uncovering mechanisms like behavioural compliance and family meaning-making, and high-lights the moderating role of community resilience. The findings emphasize the importance of building resilient communities and sup-porting mental health, providing evidence for future policy interventions and pandemic/disaster prevention measures in China.