Relationship between Corona virus anxiety and health anxiety: Mediating role of emotion regulation difficulty

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.A. Student of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of educational science and psychology. Ferdowsi university of Mashhad. Mashhad. Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of educational science and psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

3 M. A. Student of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Educational Science and Psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

4 B. A. Student of Psychology, Faculty of educational science and psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

5 Ph. D student of counseling, Faculty of educational science and psychology, Ferdowsi university of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: the purpose of this study was to determine the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulty in the relationship between Coronavirus anxiety and health anxiety.
Materials and Methods: the research method of this study was descriptive-correlation type and path analysis. The statistical population of this study included Iranian adults, from which 598 people were selected by available sampling method. Data were collected using the Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI-18), Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS) and the Gratz and Roemer Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and path analysis using SPSS and AMOS software.
Results: The results showed well goodness of fit to the proposed model. In this model, coronavirus anxiety had a direct and significant effect on the emotion regulation difficulty, Coronavirus anxiety and emotion regulation difficulty had a direct and significant effect on health anxiety; and emotion regulation difficulty also mediated significantly between coronavirus anxiety and health anxiety.
Conclusion: Coronavirus anxiety and emotion regulation difficulty have a direct and significant effect on health anxiety and also emotion regulation difficulty has a mediating role between coronavirus anxiety and health anxiety.

Keywords

References

منابع
1. Bogoch II, Watts A, Thomas-Bachli A, Huber C, Kraemer MU, Khan K. Pneumonia of unknown aetiology in Wuhan, China: potential for international spread via commercial air travel. Journal of travel medicine. 2020;27(2):taaa008.
2. Lu H, Stratton CW, Tang YW. Outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, China: The mystery and the miracle. Journal of medical virology. 2020;92(4):401-2.
3. Chen N, Zhou M, Dong X, Qu J, Gong F, Han Y, et al. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. The Lancet. 2020;395(10223):507-13.
4. Ramos C. Covid-19: la nueva enfermedad causada por un coronavirus. salud pública de méxico. 2020;62(2, Mar-Abr):225-7.
5. Sohrabi C, Alsafi Z, O’Neill N, Khan M, Kerwan A, Al-Jabir A, et al. World Health Organization declares global emergency: A review of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). International Journal of Surgery. 2020.
6. Yousefi B, Valizadeh S, Ghaffari H, Vahedi A, Karbalaei M, Eslami M. A global treatments for coronaviruses including COVID‐19. Journal of Cellular Physiology. 2020.
7. Taylor S. The psychology of pandemics: Preparing for the next global outbreak of infectious disease: Cambridge Scholars Publishing; 2019.
8. Cheng SK, Wong C, Tsang J, Wong K. Psychological distress and negative appraisals in survivors of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Psychological Medicine. 2004;34(7):1187.
9. Jalloh MF, Li W, Bunnell RE, Ethier KA, O’Leary A, Hageman KM, et al. Impact of Ebola experiences and risk perceptions on mental health in Sierra Leone, July 2015. BMJ global health. 2018;3(2):e000471.
10. Lau JT, Griffiths S, Choi KC, Tsui HY. Avoidance behaviors and negative psychological responses in the general population in the initial stage of the H1N1 pandemic in Hong Kong. BMC Infectious Diseases. 2010;10(1):139.
11. Goulia P, Mantas C, Dimitroula D, Mantis D, Hyphantis T. General hospital staff worries, perceived sufficiency of information and associated psychological distress during the A/H1N1 influenza pandemic. BMC infectious diseases. 2010;10(1):322.
12. Cao W, Fang Z, Hou G, Han M, Xu X, Dong J, et al. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry research. 2020:112934.
13. Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, Tan Y, Xu L, Ho CS, et al. Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2020;17(5):1729.
14. Gaygısız Ü, Gaygısız E, Özkan T, Lajunen T. Individual differences in behavioral reactions to H1N1 during a later stage of the epidemic. Journal of infection and public health. 2012;5(1):9-21.
15. Qiu J, Shen B, Zhao M, Wang Z, Xie B, Xu Y. A nationwide survey of psychological distress among Chinese people in the COVID-19 epidemic: implications and policy recommendations. General psychiatry. 2020;33(2).
16. Asmundson GJ, Taylor S. How health anxiety influences responses to viral outbreaks like COVID-19: What all decision-makers, health authorities, and health care professionals need to know. Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 2020;71:102211.
17. Jungmann SM, Witthöft M. Health anxiety, cyberchondria, and coping in the current COVID-19 pandemic: Which factors are related to coronavirus anxiety? Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 2020:102239.
18. Bailer J, Kerstner T, Witthöft M, Diener C, Mier D, Rist F. Health anxiety and hypochondriasis in the light of DSM-5. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping. 2016;29(2):219-39.
19. Witthöft M, Hiller W. Psychological approaches to origins and treatments of somatoform disorders. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. 2010;6:257-83.
20. Asmundson GJ, Abramowitz JS, Richter AA, Whedon M. Health anxiety: current perspectives and future directions. Current psychiatry reports. 2010;12(4):306-12.
21. Blakey SM, Abramowitz JS. Psychological predictors of health anxiety in response to the Zika virus. Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings. 2017;24(3-4):270-8.
22. Bults M, Beaujean DJ, de Zwart O, Kok G, van Empelen P, van Steenbergen JE, et al. Perceived risk, anxiety, and behavioural responses of the general public during the early phase of the Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in the Netherlands: results of three consecutive online surveys. BMC public health. 2011;11(1):2.
23. ALIPOUR A, Ghadami A, ALIPOUR Z, ABDOLLAHZADEH H. Preliminary validation of the Corona disease anxiety scale (CDAS) in the Iranian sample. 2020. [Persian]
24. Rajkumar RP. COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature. Asian journal of psychiatry. 2020:102066.
25. Main A, Zhou Q, Ma Y, Luecken LJ, Liu X. Relations of SARS-related stressors and coping to Chinese college students' psychological adjustment during the 2003 Beijing SARS epidemic. Journal of counseling psychology. 2011;58(3):410.
26. Roy D, Tripathy S, Kar SK, Sharma N, Verma SK, Kaushal V. Study of knowledge, attitude, anxiety & perceived mental healthcare need in Indian population during COVID-19 pandemic. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 2020:102083.
27. Brown RJ, Skelly N, Chew‐Graham CA. Online health research and health anxiety: A systematic review and conceptual integration. Clinical psychology: Science and practice. 2020;27(2):e12299.
28. McElroy E, Kearney M, Touhey J, Evans J, Cooke Y, Shevlin M. The CSS-12: Development and validation of a short-form version of the cyberchondria severity scale. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. 2019;22(5):330-5.
29. Wheaton MG, Abramowitz JS, Berman NC, Fabricant LE, Olatunji BO. Psychological predictors of anxiety in response to the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 2012;36(3):210-8.
30. Wu P, Fang Y, Guan Z, Fan B, Kong J, Yao Z, et al. The psychological impact of the SARS epidemic on hospital employees in China: exposure, risk perception, and altruistic acceptance of risk. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 2009;54(5):302-11.
31. Yip PS, Cheung Y, Chau PH, Law Y. The impact of epidemic outbreak: the case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and suicide among older adults in Hong Kong. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention. 2010;31(2):86.
32. Gao J, Zheng P, Jia Y, Chen H, Mao Y, Chen S, et al. Mental health problems and social media exposure during COVID-19 outbreak. Plos one. 2020;15(4):e0231924.
33. Zhang Y, Ma ZF. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and quality of life among local residents in Liaoning Province, China: A cross-sectional study. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2020;17(7):2381.
34. Bardeen JR, Fergus TA. An examination of the incremental contribution of emotion regulation difficulties to health anxiety beyond specific emotion regulation strategies. Journal of anxiety disorders. 2014;28(4):394-401.
35. Görgen SM, Hiller W, Witthöft M. Health anxiety, cognitive coping, and emotion regulation: A latent variable approach. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 2014;21(2):364-74.
36. Gratz KL, Roemer L. Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of psychopathology and behavioral assessment. 2004;26(1):41-54.
37. Ochsner KN, Gross JJ. The neural architecture of emotion regulation. Handbook of emotion regulation. 2007;1(1):87-109.
38. Tull MT, Barrett HM, McMillan ES, Roemer L. A preliminary investigation of the relationship between emotion regulation difficulties and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Behavior Therapy. 2007;38(3):303-13.
39. Fergus TA, Valentiner DP. Disease phobia and disease conviction are separate dimensions underlying hypochondriasis. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry. 2010;41(4):438-44.
40. Domaradzka E, Fajkowska M. Cognitive emotion regulation strategies in anxiety and depression understood as types of personality. Frontiers in psychology. 2018;9:856.
41. Cai H, Tu B, Ma J, Chen L, Fu L, Jiang Y, et al. Psychological Impact and Coping Strategies of Frontline Medical Staff in Hunan Between January and March 2020 During the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hubei, China. Medical science monitor: international medical journal of experimental and clinical research. 2020;26:e924171-1.
42. Goñi-Balentziaga O, Garmendia L, Labaka A, Lebeña A, Beitia G, Gómez-Lázaro E, et al. Behavioral coping strategies predict tumor development and behavioral impairment after chronic social stress in mice. Physiology & behavior. 2020;214:112747.
43. Salkovskis PM, Warwick H. Meaning, misinterpretations, and medicine: A cognitive-behavioral approach to understanding health anxiety and hypochondriasis. 2001.
44. NARGESI F, IZADI F, KARIMINEJAD K, REZAII SA. The investigation of the reliability and validity of Persian version of Health anxiety questionnaire in students of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences. 2017. [Persian]
45. Bond FW, Hayes SC, Baer RA, Carpenter KM, Guenole N, Orcutt HK, et al. Preliminary psychometric properties of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–II: A revised measure of psychological inflexibility and experiential avoidance. Behavior therapy. 2011;42(4):676-88.
46. Besharat M, Bazzazian S. Psychometric properties of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in a sample of Iranian population. Journal of Shahid Beheshti School of Nursing & Midwifery. 2014;24(84):61-70. [Persian]
47. Abramowitz JS, Braddock A. Psychological treatment of health anxiety and hypochondriasis: A biopsychosocial approach: Hogrefe publishing; 2008.
48. Dryman MT, Heimberg RG. Emotion regulation in social anxiety and depression: A systematic review of expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal. Clinical Psychology Review. 2018;65:17-42.
49. Liu DY, Thompson RJ. Selection and implementation of emotion regulation strategies in major depressive disorder: An integrative review. Clinical psychology review. 2017;57:183-94.

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 30 November 2020
  • Revise Date: 03 January 2021
  • Accept Date: 03 February 2021

Share

How to cite

Statistics