Objectives: The Conservation of Resources (COR) theory suggests that stress results from threatened or actual loss of resources following significant life events. This study used COR theory as the framework to explore the reflection of loss of resources during the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological distress and resilience, in an adult Jewish Israeli population.Methods: We examined the association between background variables, stress, loneliness, concern, COVID-19-related post traumatic symptoms (PTS), resilience factors and COR via an online survey among 2,000 adults during April 2020.Results: Positive relationships were identified between resource loss and PTS (r = 0.66, p < 0.01), and between resource gain and resilience (r = 0.30, p < 0.01). Psychological variables were significantly associated with PTS and explained 62.7% of the variance, F (20, 1,413) = 118.58, p < 0.001.Conclusion: Loss of resources, stress, loneliness and concern were found to be risk factors for distress and PTS, whereas resilience factors played a protective role. We thus recommend using the COR theory to explore COVID-19 effects elsewhere.

Attachment theory emphasizes the relationship between attachment bonds and mental health. This longitudinal study integrates socio-psychological approaches regarding variations in attachment orientations during long-lasting crises. An online questionnaire was distributed to 2305 adults (April 2020—November 2021), with 1022 respondents, to examine distress and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anxious attachment orientation increased longitudinally and was found to be a risk factor for coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, while avoidant attachment orientation decreased over the third measurement. Psychological variables were significantly associated with traumatic symptoms and explained 30.4% of the variance in traumatic symptoms and 18.8% of the variance in personal resilience. Our research provides insights regarding the different patterns of insecure attachment orientations over time when secure attachment orientation and resilience serve as protective factors during a long-lasting crisis. Cultivating secure attachment, resilience, and hope as protective factors may help leaders and therapists develop psycho-educational interventions to support mental health.

This study was designed to explore whether attachment orientations were related to distress and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample included 2000 Israeli Jewish adults who answered an online survey during the first phase of the pandemic. The questions referred to background variables, attachment orientations, distress, and resilience. Responses were analyzed using correlation and regression analyses. A significant positive relationship was found between distress and attachment anxiety, and a significant negative relationship was found between resilience and attachment insecurities (avoidance and anxiety). Women suffered higher distress, as did people with lower income, poor health, secular religious affiliation, a lack of a sense of spacious accommodation, and a dependent family member. The findings indicate that attachment insecurities are associated with the severity of mental health symptoms during the peak period of the COVID-19 pandemic. We recommend strengthening attachment security as a protective factor for psychological distress in therapeutic and educational settings.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the critical need to understand how societies adapt, endure, and recover from prolonged disruptions. This chapter addresses a central question for future pandemic preparedness: Which psychological resources determine whether populations emerge resilient or traumatized during global health emergencies? Drawing on Hobfoll’s Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, empirical evidence from a large-scale Israeli study (April 2020), and additional theoretical perspectives, we demonstrate that resource loss—particularly the depletion of hope—was the strongest predictor of COVID-19-related traumatic symptoms. Women, low-income groups, secular individuals, and caregivers exhibited heightened vulnerability, while religious affiliation and strong social networks functioned as protective resources supporting resilience. Based on these insights, we propose a novel framework—COR-MORE (Conservation of Resources – Model of Resilience and Ecosystemic Integration). This multisystemic model reconceptualizes resilience as the coordinated management of resources across personal, familial, community, and environmental domains. The findings highlight that psychological preparedness is as essential as medical readiness, requiring the safeguarding of material, psychological, and social resources. Strengthening human–environmental interconnections can foster psychological immunity and promote more equitable resilience in the face of future global health crises.