Psychological resources against the traumatic experience of COVID-19

Psychological resources, such as defense mechanism and mindfulness practice, can mediate the individual reaction to traumatic experiences as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. A novel self-reported measure based on the DMRS (DMRS-SR-30), has been developed with the aim of assessing potential adaptive defensive strategies against the traumatic experience of COVID-19. Preliminary validation of the DMRS-SR-30 showed good internal consistency in both overall defensive functioning and subscales. Combining adaptive defense mechanisms and mindfulness practice could prevent psychological distress due to the effect of COVID-19 losses and quarantining.