The worldwide pandemic exacerbated the new role of the media.If previously the discussion was on whether new or traditional media had primacy in popularity and exposure, nowadays the question is whether communicating health issues through social and traditional media leads to understanding their content better and to more trust in both types of media.

We set the following objectives for this study:(1) to examine trust in the traditional and new media among university students,(2) according to the level of media trust to compose a psychological portrait,establish the most prevalent coping strategies,and emotional reactions to the pandemic.

213 university students (55.9% women,Mage=19 years) were tested from December 2020-March 2021.We examined the attitude towards information on coronavirus presented in the media and to investigate the level of severity of neurotic states,the level of psychological stress,and basic coping strategies used by respondents.

showed that although students generally prefer to use Internet news, trust in traditional media increased during the pandemic. We examined a general psychological portrait of young people derived from trust in the media. In the group of students who trust media information, we found indifference (39% of respondents) and helplessness (24.4%). In the group convinced that the media are hiding the actual state of affairs, anger prevailed (32.4%). The third group, confident that the media exaggerate everything, experienced indifference and anger (38.5% and 32.7%, respectively).

We may conclude that desire to learn more accurate and unbiased information firsthand indicates students’ attitude towards traditional media as more reliable sources of information.

No significant relationships.

The highly infectious novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and soon became a global pandemic. COVID-19 is escalating medical staff psychological stress and creating an increasingly heavy professional burden. Fear of transmitting the virus to family, community perception of frontline workers as potential disease carriers, extreme workloads and moral dilemmas add additional stressors. In Novi Sad Clinical Centre of Vojvodina (CCV) for the past 2 years there has been a continuous struggle against the COVID-19 crisis. Both senior specialist doctors and newly hired young doctors, some without work experience, were hired immediately after completing their studies.

To investigate the mental health of clinical first-line medical staff in COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a cross-sectional study involving CCV staff who worked in the first line of patient treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were given a self-administered questionnaire which included information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics and the validated Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21) and the Impact of Events Scale–Revised (IES-R) instrument. A total of 190 medical workers were involved.

Sixty-two (32,6%) participants screened positive for anxiety, 38 (20%) for depression, 68 (35,8%) for stress, and 22 (11,5%) for clinical concern of PTSD. The most endangered are young nurses and doctors with less than 6 months of previous work experience.

In conclusion, our results suggest frontline medical staff involved in treatment of COVID-19 patients should be closely monitored as a high-risk group for depression and anxiety, and given proper training before deployment.

No significant relationships.

Perceived vulnerability to disease/PVD may influence psychological reactions to COVID-19 pandemic.

To analyse the role of PVD in psychological distress/PD during the COVID-19 pandemic, testing whether it is mediated by perceived risk of COVID-19, fear of COVID-19 and repetitive negative thinking/RNT.

Participants (N=413 adults; 69.2% women) were recruited from September until December 2020, via social networks. They completed the following self-report validated questionnaires: Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire/PVDQ; Perceived Risk of COVID-19 Scale, Fear of COVID-19 Scale; Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. As women had significantly higher levels of PVD, COVID-19 perceived risk and fear, RNT, and psychological distress/PD, gender was controlled in mediation analysis (using PROCESS macro for SPSS; Hayes 2018).

All the variables significantly (p<.01), moderately (r>.20) and positively correlated. The serial mediation model 6 with the three sequential mediators resulted in significant total effect (c=.326, se=.0791, p<.001, CI:.1702-.4814), non-significant direct effect (c’=.111, se=.065, p=.087, CI:-.0162 to .2380), significant total indirect effect (.2149, se=.065, CI:.1079-.3278); most indirect effects were significant, including the indirect 7 (.0144, se=.0077, CI=.0017-.0320), that goes through all mediators (PVD->COVID19 perceived risk->COVID19 fear->RNT->PD), meaning full mediation.

The effect of PVD on psychological distress operates by increasing the perception of risk and the fear of COVID-19, which intensify related worries and ruminations in times of pandemic. People with high perceived threat, aversion and discomfort in situations associated with increased risk of infection should be helped to decrease dysfunctional cognitive contents and processes in times of pandemic.

No significant relationships.

The Covid-19 pandemic has a profound impact on all domains of day to day life, forcing individuals to make substancial change in the way of living. Such change is known to cause an important psychological distress, and in some persons evidencing silent disorders among apparently functional individuals. Good coping mechanisms and resilience can be the key to overpass this difficult period.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the coping mechanisms and resilience that Romanian psychiatric trainees used during Covid19 pandemic.

We developed an online questionnaire. We included questions about different socio-demographical variables and about coping mechanisms (using COPE scale), resilience (using Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale) and quality of life (using QoL Scale).

The preliminary data show that staying busy, seeking social support and having a positive minset are emotion-focused coping strategies present in individuals who overpass easier this period.

The Covid-19 pandemic is creating significant distress and impairment in functioning, but individuals who have good psychological mechanisms and who are more adaptable are less vulnerable during Covid-19 pandemic. Future research should build upon these findings to better understand coping mechanisms during crises and also social policies should be developed to acknowledge the variable needs in adults.