Perceived COVID-19 Threat, Personality Vulnerability, and Recovery Difficulty as Predictors of Adjustment Disorder Symptoms During Lockdown in Pakistan

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 lockdown period involved prolonged uncertainty, limited social interaction, disrupted routines, and health-related threat. Adjustment disorder provides an appropriate stressor-specific framework for understanding such lockdown-related psychological difficulties.

Objective: This study examined perceived COVID-19 threat, personality vulnerability, and recovery difficulty as predictors of adjustment disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used with 171 adults from Pakistan who completed a lockdown-period survey. Participants completed measures of perceived COVID-19 threat, recovery difficulty, Big Five personality traits, and adjustment disorder symptoms. Adjustment disorder symptom severity was assessed through preoccupation, failure to adapt, and functional impairment. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple regression were conducted.

Results: Overall, 34 participants (19.9%) met criteria for adjustment disorder. Perceived COVID-19 threat and recovery difficulty were positively associated with preoccupation, failure to adapt, functional impairment, and total adjustment disorder symptoms. In the final hierarchical regression model, recovery difficulty emerged as the strongest predictor of adjustment disorder symptom severity, followed by negative emotionality and perceived COVID-19 threat. Open-mindedness was associated with lower symptom severity. The final model explained 39.7% of the variance in adjustment disorder symptoms.

Conclusion: Adjustment disorder symptoms during lockdown were associated with both pandemic-specific threat appraisal and individual differences in emotional vulnerability, flexibility, and recovery. Recovery difficulty was the strongest predictor, suggesting that difficulty bouncing back from lockdown-related stress may be central to understanding adjustment disorder symptoms during prolonged public health crises.