Stress impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on happiness indicators in young and middle-aged Russians

Happiness research is topical in all times since happiness influences individual human lives by determining the search for its purpose and by setting value-oriented vectors for the movement of society as a whole. Research into happiness becomes especially important in truly difficult critical situations when the transformation of people’s meaning-and-value foundations is taking place. The COVID-19 pandemic is likely has become an unprecedented event that interfered in the life of every person with its effects being particularly noticeable in the young and middle-aged population. The article examines the specificity of the COVID-19 stress impact on an indicator of happiness in young and middle-aged adults. The empirical base of the study involved 420 respondents, 205 men and 215 women. The first age group (18-24 years old) consisted of 201 persons and the second (25-35 years old) of 219 persons. The COVID-19 Stress Scale (S. Taylor, C.A. Landry, M.M. Paluszek, T.A. Fergus, D. McKay & G.J. Asmundson) was used to define the stress effect of the COVID-19 and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (М. Argyle, M. Martin, J. Crossland) was exploited to evaluate indicators of happiness. The results showed that the COVID-19 pandemic affected the respondents’ state of happiness in both groups and that the COVID-9 stress was more intense for middle-aged people than for young adults. The obtained results may be useful for crisis psychologists and other professionals who help people cope with crisis experiences and recover from crises, and to specialists involved in developing programs to maintain and restore mental and physical health of people.