Is It Possible to Be Happy during the COVID-19 Lockdown? A Longitudinal Study of the Role of Emotional Regulation Strategies and Pleasant Activities in Happiness Gutiérrez Cobo, María José Megías Robles, Alberto Gómez Leal, Raquel Cabello González, Rosario Fernández Berrocal, Pablo Cognitive reappraisal Expressive suppression Pleasant activities Happiness COVID-19 This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry OF Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, grant number "PSI2017-84170-R", the Junta de Andalucia, grant number "UMA18-FEDERJA137" to A.M.-R. and grant number "UMA18-FEDERJA-114" to P.F.-B. and R.C. and by the Spanish Ministry of Education, grant number "FPU15/05179" to R.G.-L. (FPU). This study aimed to longitudinally analyze the role played by two emotional regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), through the mediating effect of engagement in pleasant activities during lockdown, in changes in affective and cognitive happiness in comparison with pre-pandemic levels. Eighty-eight participants from a community sample were evaluated at two timepoints. At timepoint 1 (before the COVID-19 pandemic), participants were evaluated on emotional regulation and cognitive and affective happiness. At timepoint 2 (during the COVID-19 lockdown), participants were evaluated on cognitive and affective happiness and the frequency with which they engaged in pleasant activities. We found an optimal fit of the proposed model in which cognitive reappraisal was significantly related to engagement in more pleasant activities during the lockdown. In turn, these pleasant activities were related to more affective happiness during the lockdown (compared with pre-pandemic levels), and this affective happiness was associated with greater cognitive happiness. In conclusion, cognitive reappraisal was a protective factor for affective and cognitive happiness through the mediating role of engagement in pleasant activities during lockdown. Limitations and future lines of investigation are discussed. 2021-05-25T07:08:14Z 2021-05-25T07:08:14Z 2021-03-19 journal article Gutiérrez-Cobo, M.J.; Megías-Robles, A.; Gómez-Leal, R.; Cabello, R.; Fernández-Berrocal, P. Is It Possible to Be Happy during the COVID-19 Lockdown? A Longitudinal Study of the Role of Emotional Regulation Strategies and Pleasant Activities in Happiness. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 3211. [https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063211] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/68690 10.3390/ijerph18063211 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ open access Atribución 3.0 España MDPI