International Psychology and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has had dramatic consequences on the physical, social, cultural, economic, and mental health of our species worldwide. It also has affected the global environment. The suffering endured by the overwhelming majority of humans was a reminder that life is precious, tenuous, and unpredictable. While individuals with economic, racial, national, and social privilege were less vulnerable to the negative effects of the pandemic, even these individuals faced immense challenges. Conversely, individuals historically marginalized and oppressed by their society experienced (and are continuing to experience) a tidal wave of inequities, disparities, discrimination, and loss in a multitude of ways.

One lesson that emerged from the pandemic was that the internet was not the only mechanism that contributed to “the world” becoming smaller. The COVID-19 virus poignantly, and often painfully, and other times happily, illustrated the permeability of our national borders. It also clearly highlighted our interdependence as humans regardless of our circumstances, background, and citizenship. Benefits versus costs of this.

Psychological associations worldwide along with many other professional organizations proactively and aggressively responded to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Division 52 (International Psychology) of the American Psychological Association was one of these organizations. In March of 2020, the Division formed the COVID-19 Pandemic Taskforce. The co-leaders of this taskforce were Lawrence H. Gerstein and Falu Rami. The mission of this taskforce was to identify and compile resources and knowledge regarding the psychological impact of COVID-19 and potential future pandemics including ways to cope and mitigate the psychological consequences. Four subgroups were established to implement the mission of this taskforce: (a) Service Delivery: Now and Future, (b) Legal Issues and Advocacy, (c) Training and Education, and (d) Research. Content compiled by these subgroups was disseminated and posted on Division 52’s website (www.div52.net).

The Special Section on COVID-19 published in the April 2022 (Volume 11, Issue 2) and current Special Issue (July 2022, Volume 11, Issue 3) of the International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation (IPP) also resulted, in part, from the work of the taskforce. The Special Section and Special Issue feature invited articles based on the work conducted by the Division 52 COVID-19 Taskforce as well as other invited and submitted articles evolving from projects performed by psychologists and professionals in other diverse fields (e.g., counseling, special education, educational policy and leadership, public health, medicine) located around the world. Moreover, the Special Section and Issue are grounded in an international psychology framework. That is, a framework that, in part, aims to understand and gain knowledge of psychological phenomena and its expressions in multiple contexts. Overall, the mission of international psychology, according to Stevens and Zeinoun (2013), is to address global issues impacting the world through interdisciplinary and collaborative communication, research, practice, policies, and service and to perform this work in a horizontal and inclusive fashion implementing contextually valid and informed strategies. One assumption of international psychology is that global issues cross national boundaries and require a comprehension of macroprocesses such as sociopolitical, economic, and technological dynamics and the use of macrointerventions (Stevens, 2007).‬‬‬‬‬

All articles in the Special Section and Issue were independently evaluated and reviewed by experts. Furthermore, the authors of these articles extensively incorporate a discussion of how the content can contribute to the pursuit of the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). The April 2022 Special Section of IPP (Volume 11, Issue 2) features six articles. The first article authored by Rami et al. (2022) discusses the global effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare disparities, specifically its effect on marginalized communities. It also stresses the ethical responsibilities of international psychologists to effectively address and reduce these disparities. The next article written by Hatzichristou et al. (2022) focuses on the challenges resulting from COVID-19 to the well-being and psychological resilience of school communities, particularly vulnerable groups. A multilevel approach strategy to support schools during the pandemic is articulated.

Steve Melluish, Poormina Bhola, Marybexy Calcerrada Gutierrez, Ken Critchfield, and Kelly Atwood co-authored the third article (Melluish et al., 2022). These authors examine the healthcare systems of four countries to assess if there are global commonalities and national differences in the psychological impact and the responses of clinical psychology to COVID-19. They also describe new strategies that clinical psychologists in these countries use to provide greater equal access to mental health services and promote individuals’ well-being. The fourth article in this Special Section was written by Velez et al. (2022). These authors highlight the challenges experienced by youth and emerging adults, particularly in the United States and Ireland, in response to COVID-19 given the developmental processes encountered by these groups. The article outlines three theoretical frameworks – Synthetic, Augmentative, Generative, and Experiential Model; the Meanings, Observations, Viewpoints, and Experiences Framework; and the Developmental Peacebuilding Model – that can be utilized to explain the dynamism of development and meaning-making in changing contexts.

John L. Romano, Jacob Israelashvili, Martin Swanbrow Becker, and Moshe Israelashvili co-authored the fifth article (Romano et al., 2022). They discuss the results of a large-scale study of individuals in 60 countries adherence to recommended prevention behaviors in response to COVID-19 and the link between these behaviors, demographic characteristics, and personal health beliefs and well-being. They also offer some implications concerning the importance of prevention science to promote positive behavior change to support the UN SDG of promoting health and well-being. In the final article appearing in the April Special Section of IPP, Tateo et al. (2022) argue that psychology has considered phenomena with a global impact such as epidemics, pandemics, and famines on the periphery of its theoretical work including COVID-19. While they acknowledge the challenges of psychology addressing these global phenomena, they claim psychologists can learn from how individuals worldwide cope with the heightened level of panic of fear in response to COVID-19 through establishing and dismantling borders in their mind and society. For instance, they discuss how people respond to feeling (un)safe and how this influences the behavior of individuals and the collective.

This special issue, July 2022 (Volume 11, Issue 3) of IPP features nine articles. In the first article, Hedwig J. A. van Bakel and colleagues report on a study that investigated whether the prevalence of parental burnout in 26 countries increased during COVID-19 compared to a few years prior to the pandemic (van Bakel et al., 2022). The results revealed that, in fact, in most countries, parental burnout did rise during the pandemic. These findings varied as a function of actions taken by governments, individual and family factors, cultural norms, and if a country could be considered indulgent or not.

Based on a sample of East and Southeast Asian American high school students, in the second article, Ermis-Demirtas et al. (2022) investigated the relationship between mental health outcomes and online and in-person COVID-19–associated discrimination. The results indicated that students with experiences of online and offline discrimination reported greater levels of symptoms of depression and anxiety beyond the traumatic events and other discrimination they had faced in their lives.

In the third article, Flores and Rubin (2022) argue that psychology can play an important role in helping individuals comprehend their attitudes and shape their behaviors in response to COVID-19 and also support the effort to rebuild a more equitable society. Overall, the article highlights the contributions of psychological science during the pandemic and envisions how the discipline can promote human rights and the UN's SDGs.

Sagar S. Lad, Saajan Bhakta, and Veena Hira present a systematic review in the next article of the existing literature on the psychological impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the South Asian community in India (Lad et al., 2022). Themes that emerged from this review suggested that individuals in this community experienced fear, stress, and anxiety. Moreover, the importance of comprehending various challenges linked to mental healthcare, attitudes, and awareness were noted.

Amanda M. Mitchell, Hayley D. Seely, and Patrick Pӧsse wrote the fifth article (Mitchell et al., 2022). These individuals studied patterns in how a large group of individuals experienced economic, social, and health concerns in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and how these concerns impacted mental health outcomes. Findings revealed the identification of six groups of respondents: high overall concern, health concerns without healthcare, health and economic concerns, economic concerns, health concerns with healthcare, and low overall concern. Membership in one of these groups was related to mental health status, with persons in four groups reporting symptoms of anxiety above a clinical cutoff score.

In the sixth article, Parks et al. (2022) discuss a conference that was designed to bridge education, mental health, and environmental initiatives to help individuals thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with offering sustainable adaptation and mitigation models for communities and the broader worldwide population. The conference was planned and implemented by activists, academics, performers, influencers, and innovators in various fields of mental health and the environment. This conference also led to the creation and expansion of an educational platform that currently features hybrid online and on-location offerings on topics addressed during the meeting.

Krystal M. Perkins, Tuğçe Kurtiş, and Luis Velazquez co-authored the next article (Perkins et al., 2022). They discuss research performed on progress toward fulfillment of the UN SDGs in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. In specific, it examined this progress based on the perspective of professionals involved in sustainability movements and education in diverse settings in the Global South. Three key themes were identified: the role of poverty in sustainability efforts and challenges in the Global South, shortcomings of Global North–based ideas and strategies of development, and the importance of local knowledge derived from perspectives ground in the Global South.

In the next article, Sims et al. (2022) report on a study that investigated the qualitative impact on Asian American young adults from immigrant households of discrimination experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of themes emerged from the data including the lived experience of xenophobia, hostility, racism, and discrimination pre– and post–COVID-19 and the physical and mental health effects of discrimination-related anxiety, stress, and hypervigilance. Recommendations for interventions, programs, and policies to assist Asian Americans and to provide community support and resources are presented as well.

In the final article that appears in this Special Issue of the July 2022 issue of IPP, Khoury et al. (2022) discuss the bereavement process of several cultures and religions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic including the use of emotion-focused coping, maintaining a connection to the deceased, disengagement and reframing death and loss, and problem-focused coping. They also offer examples of how the pandemic has changed mourning rituals and has contributed to a prolonged grief disorder. The need for psychological assessments, grief counseling, and mental health support to effectively respond to families of individuals who have died from COVID-19 are discussed as well.

Together, the articles in the Special Section and Special Issue offer a glimpse into how psychologists and a diverse group of other professionals have conceptualized and responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in different countries around the world. The diversity of the populations and contexts addressed by the authors, and at the same time, the commonality of the human suffering resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic clearly illustrates the interdependence of the residents of our planet and the scope and complexity of understanding and treating the extensive consequences of a pandemic. Certainly, the authors of the articles in the Special Section and Issue introduced some unique insights and innovative strategies to help psychologists and other professionals, particularly persons interested in and committed to interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and cross-national (Gerstein et al., 2009) endeavors, to potentially function more effectively when conceptualizing, researching, and responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The authors of these articles also offered content that can possibly enhance the knowledge and skills of these individuals to take action, if necessary, to address the emergence and evolution of future pandemics.

The Special Section and Special Issue would not have been possible without the unwavering support and encouragement of many individuals including the past IPP Editor, Stuart C. Carr, the current IPP Editor, Ines Meyer, the members of the Division 52 Taskforce and Board of Directors, and the staff of Hogrefe Publishing. Additionally, we are highly appreciative of the valuable insights and recommendations about the articles shared by the IPP Editorial Board and numerous Ad Hoc Reviewers from around the globe. Finally, we are extremely grateful to the authors of the articles published in the Special Section and Issue, as well as the authors of articles not accepted for the Special Section and Issue. Our knowledge and skills as international psychologists were enhanced by your work. Further, our appreciation for the complexity of the impact of COVID-19 worldwide and how to respond in culturally responsive, competent, and respectful ways was enriched.

We welcome your reactions to the articles that have appeared in the Special Section and Issue. We also look forward to learning from the scholarship that will certainly emerge in IPP and other publications in the years to come. Hopefully, with the knowledge and skills we continue to acquire from such publications and other professional opportunities (e.g., classes, workshops, conferences), we will be more prepared to prevent and address the atrocities that can manifest during every stage of a pandemic.