Providing Support During the COVID-19 Pandemic for Surveys to Track Mindsets and Their Impact in the Crisis, United States, 2020 (ICPSR 39315)
Version Date: Oct 7, 2025 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Alia Crum, Stanford University;
Sean Zion, Stanford University;
Kengthsagn Louis, Boston College;
Kris Evans, Stanford University;
Lauren Heathcote, King's College, London;
Kari Leibowitz, Stanford University;
Rina Horii, University of Minnesota
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39315.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
The aim of this study was to capture the longitudinal/cultural patterning and causal effects of four core mindsets that were expected to shape social, psychological, and physiological outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic: a) mindsets about the capability of the body to fight off or recover from COVID-19 (Is my body capable or incapable of handling a disease like COVID-19?); b) mindsets about the social impact of individual health (How do my actions influence the health of others? Will improvements/declines in my personal health affect my family, my neighborhood, my country, the world?); c) mindsets about the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic (Is the pandemic a catastrophe, manageable, or an opportunity?); and d) mindsets about the nature of stress (Is stress enhancing or debilitating?). The research team aimed to explore these topics by (a) conducting a series of surveys to track mindsets and their causes and consequences for health as they change over time, (b) designing and disseminating interventions to shape more adaptive mindsets; and (c) collecting physiological measures of stress and immune functioning, a key mechanism linking mindsets with physical, mental, and social health.
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This release is a document-only release and files are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped for release. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of four core mindsets in altering affect (worry/ stress, positive, negative), behavior (information seeking, social distancing, immune boosting, consumer purchases, etc.), cognition (expectations, perceptions, goals, attributions) and health (mental and physical) during the context of the COVID-19 outbreak while also broadly exploring the demographic and longitudinal patterning of such effects.
Study Design View help for Study Design
The research team collected a baseline sample during the first 10 days of the pandemic (starting the day the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic: Wednesday March 11, 2020) and then tracked the sample longitudinally until March 28, 2022.
Sample View help for Sample
A detailed description of the sampling methods can be found in this publication:
Zion, S. R., Louis, K., Horii, R., Leibowitz, K., Heathcote, L. C., & Crum, A. J. (2022). Making sense of a pandemic: Mindsets influence emotions, behaviors, health, and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 301,114889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114889
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Universe View help for Universe
American adults living through the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
Illness Mindset Inventory (Zion et al., 2020 in prep) - Adapted for communicable disease
Body Mindset Inventory (Zion et al., 2020 in prep) - Adapted for communicable disease
PROMIS Global Health & Wellbeing (Cella et al., 2010) (4 items)
Bodily Threat Inventory (BTI) (Heathcote et al., 2020 in prep) (4 items)
Social extension of Health Mindset (Louis et al., 2020 in prep) (3 items)
Feelings Thermometer (Lavrakas, 2008) - adapted (2 items)
Behavioral Health Stigma Measure (Tocmik, Hadzikadic, Tcheremissine, 2018)-adapted (1 item)
PANAS - shortened (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) (8 items)
Stress Mindset Measure (Crum, Salovey, & Achor, 2013) (2 items)
Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) (Gosling, Rentfrow, & Swann, 2003) - shortened (5 items)
Life Orientation Test - Revised (LOT-R) - Optimism (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) (2 items)
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This study is maintained and distributed by the Health and Medical Care Archive (HMCA). HMCA is the official data archive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.