Italy was quickly hit hard by the coronavirus. ‘Lockdown’ has significantly impacted the psychological health, personal wellbeing and quality of life of the people. The study aims to explore the relationship between positive and negative affect, as well as positive (spiritual well-being and flourishing) and negative outcomes (psychological distress caused by a traumatic life event in terms of perception of PTSD symptoms) on Italian adults during the lockdown period. Data was collected between April and May 2020. The participants were 281 Italian adults aged between 18 and 73 years. The survey was composed of the following measures: Flourishing Scale, Jarel Spiritual Well-Being scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Impact of Event Scale—Revised, Fear of COVID-19. The mediational analysis shows that fear of COVID-19 fully mediates the relationship between negative affect and spiritual well-being and flourishing; fear of COVID-19 partially mediates the relationship between negative affect and PTSD symptoms; the positive affect shows only direct effects on positive outcomes. Therefore, fear of COVID-19 does not play any mediation role. Implications for psychological interventions and future research will be discussed.

The COVID-19 pandemic was marked by restrictions on interpersonal contact, both at work and in the personal sphere, and significantly impacted the psychological health and subjective well-being of the global population. Among the risk factors, COVID-19 exhaustion negatively influenced well-being. Among the protective factors, adopting a future-time perspective correlates with positive well-being indicators in the literature. Our study aimed to assess whether 'psychological long COVID-19' may exist 2 years after the pandemic's onset. Participants were 649 young Italians aged 18–35 years. Structural equation modelling analyses revealed that, in 2023, COVID-19 exhaustion still influences the intention to maintain social distancing and life satisfaction. Furthermore, a positive future orientation negatively predicted COVID-19 exhaustion, suggesting that the former may be a protective factor for the pandemic’s negative biopsychosocial effects. The findings underscore the role of promoting personal resources from positive psychology in enhancing protective factors in adverse situations and improving psychosocial well-being.