**5. Conclusions**

In conclusion, as proposed by Cole et al. (1994) [37], the present findings align with their assumption that psychopathology is related to an imbalance of emotional experiences (positive and negative) within an individual. The prevalence and persistence of predominantly negative feelings, without the presence of positive emotions to balance the emotional baseline, can induce a greater risk of psychopathology when facing future stressful events. The imbalanced evaluation of the environment therefore increases the perception of risk and the negative evaluations of the strength of the individual. Our results also highlight that under the stress of the pandemic, the changing emotional factors are positive, which seems to indicate that individual balancing can be achieved through positive affect, while negative emotions appear to be less flexible.

This aspect can lead to future insights confirming the incidence of the role that negative experiences during the early stages of life, as well as dysfunctional emotional regulation models learned from childhood, can impact an individual's mental health [38].

Our findings suggest that psychological interventions focused on the prevention of the imbalance of negative emotional systems can aid others in coping with negative feelings and therefore, in regulating and reinforcing resilience to stress [39].

The PES model suggests that the human adaptive capacity is able to cope with significant criticalities imposed by the environment and that flexible emotional systems are able help individuals adapt. It is recommended that all this be taken into consideration when developing the promotion of health in response to collective trauma through the reinforcement of flexible emotional regulation and the restoration of emotional balance. Our results also suggest that greater flexibility in re-establishing a good balance should be oriented towards the development of positive emotions and that the support for emotional regulation strategies should be aimed at the reappraisal of the situation.

**Author Contributions:** R.M. contributed to all the phases of the study from conception and design of the study, results interpretation and writing manuscript. A.R. performed the statistical analysis, contributed to results interpretation, and in writing the manuscript. C.D.M. contributed to conception, organized the database and writing manuscript. E.P. contributed to writing and editing of the manuscript. M.D.T. in results interpretation and supervision of the work. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Ethics Committee of Department of Clinical, Dynamic and Health Study Psychology, University of Rome, Sapienza (protocol code 0000323 and 16/04/2020).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** Data available on request due to restrictions privacy.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
