Look to the future to get through lockdowns, experts say

In the first study of its kind, researchers from the University of Surrey investigated the effectiveness of three psychological interventions and how they each affect wellbeing during lockdowns.

Personal characteristics such as emotion regulation (the ability to respond to and manage an emotional experience) and attachment orientations (how a person views their relationships to others) were also examined. It is believed that such traits may be an indicator of how an individual responds to lockdowns.

Investigating which intervention was the most effective, researchers worked with 216 participants who were each assigned to one of four groups, each one practicing either nostalgia, gratitude or best possible self, plus a control group.