Chong, Y. Y.Chien, W. T.Cheng, H. Y.Lamnisos, DemetrisLubenko, JelenaPresti, GiovambattistaSquatrito, ValeriaConstantinou, MariosNicolaou, ChristianaMontesinos Marín, FranciscoEt al.2021-04-212021-04-212021Chong, Y. Y., Chien, W. T., Lamnisos, D., Lubenko, J., Presti, G., Squatrito, V., & Montesinos Marín, F. (2021). Patterns of Psychological Responses Among the Public During The Early Phase Of COVID-19: A Cross-Regional Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(8), 4143. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph180841431661-78271660-4601http://hdl.handle.net/11268/9973This study aimed to compare the mediation of psychological flexibility, prosociality and coping in the impacts of illness perceptions toward COVID-19 on mental health among seven regions. Convenience sampled online survey was conducted between April and June 2020 from 9130 citizens in 21 countries. Illness perceptions toward COVID-19, psychological flexibility, prosociality, coping and mental health, socio-demographics, lockdown-related variables and COVID-19 status were assessed. Results showed that psychological flexibility was the only significant mediator in the relationship between illness perceptions toward COVID-19 and mental health across all regions (all ps = 0.001–0.021). Seeking social support was the significant mediator across subgroups (all ps range = <0.001–0.005) except from the Hong Kong sample (p = 0.06) and the North and South American sample (p = 0.53). No mediation was found for problem-solving (except from the Northern European sample, p = 0.009). Prosociality was the significant mediator in the Hong Kong sample (p =0.016) and the Eastern European sample (p = 0.008). These findings indicate that fostering psychological flexibility may help to mitigate the adverse mental impacts of COVID-19 across regions. Roles of seeking social support, problem-solving and prosociality vary across regions.engAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Coronavirusjournal article10.3390/ijerph18084143open accessEpidemiaEfectos psicológicosSalud mental