Vertical and horizontal trust in relation to post-pandemic resilience: threat and coping appraisal-based pathways across health-crisis contexts and over time

Objective:  This study examines how vertical (institutional) and horizontal (in-group social) trust relate to post-pandemic resilience through threat appraisals (perceived severity and loss-based negative emotions) and coping appraisal (self-efficacy), and whether these associations remain stable across health-crisis contexts and over time. Methods and measures:  Structural equation modelling was conducted using three Hong Kong datasets: the post-pandemic cross-sectional COVID-19 (N = 1,913) and the respiratory infectious disease sample (N = 1,498), and a two-wave COVID-19 panel spanning the intra- to post-pandemic period (N = 694). Results:  Across the two cross-sectional datasets, vertical trust was positively associated with resilience through self-efficacy, whereas horizontal trust was positively associated with resilience through self-efficacy but negatively associated through threat appraisals. Equality-constraint tests across two datasets further showed that horizontal trust had stronger associations with resilience and both appraisals than vertical trust, and that its direct and coping appraisals to resilience were more stable across health-crisis contexts. Longitudinally, only intra-pandemic horizontal trust remained positively associated with post-pandemic resilience through coping appraisal, whereas vertical trust showed a limited long-term association. Conclusion:  The effect of horizontal trust on resilience appears more robust across contexts and time, particularly through self-efficacy, whereas vertical trust appears more contemporaneous and less durable. © 2026 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.