COVID-19 related fears, distress tolerance and tendency to worry in relation to subjective well-being: serial mediation model
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The aim of this study was to explore the relations of fear of COVID-19 and fear of pandemic consequences, to subjective well-being (SWB), represented by positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA) and life satisfaction (LS). We assumed that both fears are related to SWB in a direct way, and indirectly: fears as a distressing experience activate distress intolerance, which further activates tendency to worry as a cognitive avoidance response, leading to lower SWB. An online survey was conducted among the Serbian general population during the first wave of the pandemic (N=1409; 78.1% female, M=38.82, SD=9.24). Measures used were Fear of COVID-19 Scale (α=.83), Distress Tolerance Scale (α=.91), Penn State Worry Questionnaire (α =.92), 1 - item life satisfaction measure, Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (α=.92 for PA, α=.87 for NA) and a 5-item scale constructed for this study measuring fear of pandemic consequences (α=.72). We did a path analysis of a serial mediation model, using... MLE, and BC bootstrapping procedure with 1000 samples to calculate 95% confidence intervals. The findings for fear of pandemic consequences confirmed both hypotheses. Indirect effects were: .06, 95% CI [0.4, 0.8] on NA; -.05, 95% CI [-.06, -.03] on PA; -.02, 95% CI [-.03, -.01] on LS. Direct effects were also significant (p < .001): .20 on NA; -.21 on PA; -.25 on LS. Fear of COVID-19 had indirect effects on all aspects of SWB: .09, 95% CI [0.6, 0.12] on NA, -.08, 95% CI [-.11, -.06] on PA, -.03, 95% CI [-.05, -.02] on LS, but only one direct effect in expected direction - on NA (.20, p < .001). The direct effect on PA was insignificant (p = .413), and the effect on LS was small and positive (.10, p < .001), probably a suppression effect. We found indirect effects through both mediators separately and through serial mediation, with only insignificant pathways through distress tolerance on LS. To conclude, both fears are related to a significant decrease in SWB. Distress intolerance and tendency to worry are accountable for one part of this decrease, with fear of COVID-19 activating stronger distress intolerance. Our findings also indicate that worry is not reducible to distress avoidance function. Finally, fear of pandemic consequences was more detrimental for PA and LS than fear of COVID-19. This is important because we can expect this fear to grow stronger with the ongoing pandemic duration, and it has not been the focus of scientific research so far.
Keywords:
covid-19 fears / distress tolerance / tendency to worry / subjective well-beingSource:
Proceedings of the XXVII scientific conference Empirical studies in psychology (13th–16th May), Faculty of philosophy, University of Belgrade, 2021, 23-Institution/Community
Psihologija / PsychologyTY - CONF AU - Vukosavljević Gvozden, Tatjana AU - Stanković, Sanda AU - FIlipović, Severina PY - 2021 UR - http://reff.f.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/6224 AB - The aim of this study was to explore the relations of fear of COVID-19 and fear of pandemic consequences, to subjective well-being (SWB), represented by positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA) and life satisfaction (LS). We assumed that both fears are related to SWB in a direct way, and indirectly: fears as a distressing experience activate distress intolerance, which further activates tendency to worry as a cognitive avoidance response, leading to lower SWB. An online survey was conducted among the Serbian general population during the first wave of the pandemic (N=1409; 78.1% female, M=38.82, SD=9.24). Measures used were Fear of COVID-19 Scale (α=.83), Distress Tolerance Scale (α=.91), Penn State Worry Questionnaire (α =.92), 1 - item life satisfaction measure, Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (α=.92 for PA, α=.87 for NA) and a 5-item scale constructed for this study measuring fear of pandemic consequences (α=.72). We did a path analysis of a serial mediation model, using MLE, and BC bootstrapping procedure with 1000 samples to calculate 95% confidence intervals. The findings for fear of pandemic consequences confirmed both hypotheses. Indirect effects were: .06, 95% CI [0.4, 0.8] on NA; -.05, 95% CI [-.06, -.03] on PA; -.02, 95% CI [-.03, -.01] on LS. Direct effects were also significant (p < .001): .20 on NA; -.21 on PA; -.25 on LS. Fear of COVID-19 had indirect effects on all aspects of SWB: .09, 95% CI [0.6, 0.12] on NA, -.08, 95% CI [-.11, -.06] on PA, -.03, 95% CI [-.05, -.02] on LS, but only one direct effect in expected direction - on NA (.20, p < .001). The direct effect on PA was insignificant (p = .413), and the effect on LS was small and positive (.10, p < .001), probably a suppression effect. We found indirect effects through both mediators separately and through serial mediation, with only insignificant pathways through distress tolerance on LS. To conclude, both fears are related to a significant decrease in SWB. Distress intolerance and tendency to worry are accountable for one part of this decrease, with fear of COVID-19 activating stronger distress intolerance. Our findings also indicate that worry is not reducible to distress avoidance function. Finally, fear of pandemic consequences was more detrimental for PA and LS than fear of COVID-19. This is important because we can expect this fear to grow stronger with the ongoing pandemic duration, and it has not been the focus of scientific research so far. C3 - Proceedings of the XXVII scientific conference Empirical studies in psychology (13th–16th May), Faculty of philosophy, University of Belgrade T1 - COVID-19 related fears, distress tolerance and tendency to worry in relation to subjective well-being: serial mediation model SP - 23 UR - https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_reff_6224 ER -
@conference{ author = "Vukosavljević Gvozden, Tatjana and Stanković, Sanda and FIlipović, Severina", year = "2021", abstract = "The aim of this study was to explore the relations of fear of COVID-19 and fear of pandemic consequences, to subjective well-being (SWB), represented by positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA) and life satisfaction (LS). We assumed that both fears are related to SWB in a direct way, and indirectly: fears as a distressing experience activate distress intolerance, which further activates tendency to worry as a cognitive avoidance response, leading to lower SWB. An online survey was conducted among the Serbian general population during the first wave of the pandemic (N=1409; 78.1% female, M=38.82, SD=9.24). Measures used were Fear of COVID-19 Scale (α=.83), Distress Tolerance Scale (α=.91), Penn State Worry Questionnaire (α =.92), 1 - item life satisfaction measure, Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (α=.92 for PA, α=.87 for NA) and a 5-item scale constructed for this study measuring fear of pandemic consequences (α=.72). We did a path analysis of a serial mediation model, using MLE, and BC bootstrapping procedure with 1000 samples to calculate 95% confidence intervals. The findings for fear of pandemic consequences confirmed both hypotheses. Indirect effects were: .06, 95% CI [0.4, 0.8] on NA; -.05, 95% CI [-.06, -.03] on PA; -.02, 95% CI [-.03, -.01] on LS. Direct effects were also significant (p < .001): .20 on NA; -.21 on PA; -.25 on LS. Fear of COVID-19 had indirect effects on all aspects of SWB: .09, 95% CI [0.6, 0.12] on NA, -.08, 95% CI [-.11, -.06] on PA, -.03, 95% CI [-.05, -.02] on LS, but only one direct effect in expected direction - on NA (.20, p < .001). The direct effect on PA was insignificant (p = .413), and the effect on LS was small and positive (.10, p < .001), probably a suppression effect. We found indirect effects through both mediators separately and through serial mediation, with only insignificant pathways through distress tolerance on LS. To conclude, both fears are related to a significant decrease in SWB. Distress intolerance and tendency to worry are accountable for one part of this decrease, with fear of COVID-19 activating stronger distress intolerance. Our findings also indicate that worry is not reducible to distress avoidance function. Finally, fear of pandemic consequences was more detrimental for PA and LS than fear of COVID-19. This is important because we can expect this fear to grow stronger with the ongoing pandemic duration, and it has not been the focus of scientific research so far.", journal = "Proceedings of the XXVII scientific conference Empirical studies in psychology (13th–16th May), Faculty of philosophy, University of Belgrade", title = "COVID-19 related fears, distress tolerance and tendency to worry in relation to subjective well-being: serial mediation model", pages = "23", url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_reff_6224" }
Vukosavljević Gvozden, T., Stanković, S.,& FIlipović, S.. (2021). COVID-19 related fears, distress tolerance and tendency to worry in relation to subjective well-being: serial mediation model. in Proceedings of the XXVII scientific conference Empirical studies in psychology (13th–16th May), Faculty of philosophy, University of Belgrade, 23. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_reff_6224
Vukosavljević Gvozden T, Stanković S, FIlipović S. COVID-19 related fears, distress tolerance and tendency to worry in relation to subjective well-being: serial mediation model. in Proceedings of the XXVII scientific conference Empirical studies in psychology (13th–16th May), Faculty of philosophy, University of Belgrade. 2021;:23. https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_reff_6224 .
Vukosavljević Gvozden, Tatjana, Stanković, Sanda, FIlipović, Severina, "COVID-19 related fears, distress tolerance and tendency to worry in relation to subjective well-being: serial mediation model" in Proceedings of the XXVII scientific conference Empirical studies in psychology (13th–16th May), Faculty of philosophy, University of Belgrade (2021):23, https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_reff_6224 .