The Mediating Effect of Meaning Making on HEXACO Personality Factors and Internalizing Symptoms During COVID-19: A Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increases in mental health difficulties, particularly for young adults. The literature remains unclear regarding whether differential coping strategies, as well as personality traits, influenced mental health outcomes over time. Thus, a cross-lagged panel analysis was used to examine the longitudinal effect of HEXACO traits and meaning making on internalizing symptoms across three time points during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicated strong autoregressive stability for both internalizing symptoms and meaning making across time. Cross-lagged analyses revealed that higher levels of internalizing symptoms at age 23 predicted lower levels of eXtraversion at age 24, while greater meaning making at age 23 predicted higher subsequent eXtraversion. There was no evidence that meaning making mediated the relationship between personality traits and internalizing symptoms over time. These findings suggest that meaning making may be more closely related to mental health outcomes within time points rather than functioning as a long-term mediating mechanism between personality traits and psychological distress. Moreover, elevated internalizing symptoms may constrain the expression of personality traits, while engaging in meaning-making processes may support the maintenance or expression of extraverted behavior over time. Clinical implications and directions for future research are suggested. Examining personality and meaning-focused coping within the context of a global crisis provides valuable insight into which individuals may be most vulnerable to psychological distress and which coping processes may promote adaptation in the face of acute and ongoing stressors.