University research first to examine role of mental toughness during pandemic

BEING trained how to be ‘mentally tough’ has the potential to protect against and even reduce overall levels of stress, anxiety and depression suggests new research led by a psychologist at the University of Huddersfield.

Dr Dara Mojtahedi from the University’s Department of Psychology has recently published an article entitled, ‘The Relationship Between Mental Toughness, Job Loss, and Mental Health Issues During the COVID-19 Pandemic’ in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.

The research, which is the first to examine the role of mental toughness during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been conducted by a team of researchers from across three institutions and has discovered a link between mental toughness and resilience which could inform future strategies for protecting public mental health during current and future pandemics.

“Many people think we are saying toughen up, don’t be as soft, but that isn’t at all what we are saying. It’s a way of thinking, it’s a way of interpreting stressful situations and adapting to them. It’s about how we take a stressful event, how we construct it in our minds and how we deal with it.”

Dr Dara Mojtahedi

The findings of the research reveal that the severity of depression, anxiety and stress observed within the research samples, was much higher than initially anticipated highlighting the psychological impact of the current climate.  However, the results also suggest that mental toughness can supress some of these negative effects emphasising the potential of mental toughness-based interventions as a means for boosting an individual’s resilience to the adverse mental health effects of the pandemic.

What is mental toughness?

Dr Mojtahedi said the term mental toughness can be misleading and is often misinterpreted.

“Many people think we are saying toughen up, don’t be as soft, but that isn’t at all what we are saying,” he said.

“It’s a way of thinking, it’s a way of interpreting stressful situations and adapting to them,” explained Dr Mojtahedi who added, “it’s about how we take a stressful event, how we construct it in our minds and how we deal with it.”

The four 'C's

He described how mental toughness can be measured in four key constructs, the four ‘C’s, a term that has been developed by a former University of Huddersfield academic, Professor Peter Clough. 

The first construct is ‘Confidence’, how confident someone can be not only in their interpersonal skills but when faced with difficulties. The second is ‘Commitment’, how committed someone can remain if succeeding and flourishing than when faced with stress. Third is someone’s ability to see stressful events as a ‘Challenge’. 

The final construct is ‘Control’, which Dr Mojtahedi explained was the most important one for their study.  This is the level of control somebody believes that they have over the outcomes of their life and over their emotions. 

Moving forward

“The world’s understanding of the mental impact of the pandemic is still at a relatively early stage and further longitudinal research is required to better understand the psychological consequences of COVID-19,” added Dr Mojtahedi. 

“A practical step forward from the current research would be to determine whether mental toughness can be improved through short-term interventions and whether such an approach could help improve the emotional resilience of individuals during a pandemic,” he added.

• Dr Mojtahedi recently published an article on The Conversation on mental toughness which you can view here