Anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty are unique and interactive risk factors for COVID-19 safety behaviors and worries

Saulnier, Kevin G.; Koscinski, Brandon; Volarov, Marija; Accorso, Catherine; Austin, M. Jill; Suhr, Julie A.; Allan, Darcey M.

doi:10.1080/16506073.2021.1976819

Cited by 10 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In addition, COVID-19 is an exemplar of a real-world uncertain and threatening situation related to uncertainty distress ( 37 ). Moreover, anxiety sensitivity significantly increased individuals' COVID-19 worries and behaviors, especially those with high IU ( 38 ). Emerging evidence suggests that individuals with high IU may take different threat reactivity strategies (e.g., internet searches and avoidance) to adjust to changing information about COVID-19 threats ( 39 , 40 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Prevalence of Fear of Childbirth and Its Association With Intolerance of Uncertainty and Coping Styles Among Pregnant Chinese Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2022

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BackgroundFear of childbirth (FOC) is one of the most common psychological symptoms among pregnant women and significantly relates to cesarean section, anxiety, and depression. However, it is not clear the prevalence and risk factors of FOC among Chinese pregnant women since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.AimsThe objective of this study was to examine the associations between coping styles, intolerance of uncertainty, and FOC.MethodFrom December 2021 to April 2022, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in two hospitals in China through convenient sampling. The cross-sectional survey was conducted among 969 pregnant women, which included the Childbirth Attitude Questionnaire (CAQ), Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12 (IUS-12), and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ).ResultsThe total prevalence of FOC was 67.8%. The percentages of women with mild (a score of 28–39), moderate (40–51), and severe FOC (52–64) were 43.6, 20.2, and 4.0%, respectively. The regression results indicated that primiparas, unplanned pregnancy, few spousal support, intolerance of uncertainty, and negative coping styles were significant risk factors of FOC. Women who adopt positive coping strategies experienced a lower level of childbirth fear.ConclusionThese findings suggest that cultivating positive coping styles and obtaining sufficient childbirth information may be helpful for mothers' mental health. Regular screening assessment of perinatal psychological symptoms, such as the high level of intolerance of uncertainty and negative coping styles, should be adopted to reduce the risk of fear of childbirth.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Prevalence of Fear of Childbirth and Its Association With Intolerance of Uncertainty and Coping Styles Among Pregnant Chinese Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2022

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“…In line, Taylor et al (2020) individuated worries about the dangerousness of the virus as the most important hub mediating the subjective stress associated with the current situation. Less clear remains the role of intolerance of uncertainty as this personality trait did not strongly predict the subjective fear of COVID-19 (it was only a trend; Mertens et al, 2020), and only in combination with anxiety sensitivity (Saulnier et al, 2021). Together these studies (Mertens et al, 2020;Paluszek et al, 2021;Taylor et al, 2020) suggest however that fear or anxiety of the virus but also symptoms related to obsessive-compulsive disorders seem to be crucial in the emotional response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Indeed it has already been shown that individual risk factors such as intolerance of uncertainty (Mertens et al, 2020;Saulnier et al, 2021) or concerns for physical symptoms (i.e., anxiety sensitivity; Paluszek et al, 2021) have been found to be crucially involved in the safety responses to the coronavirus pandemic. These studies found that concerns for physical health and health anxiety predict at most the safety response to the virus (measured via questionnaires).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Context-dependent responses to the spread of COVID-19 among national and international students during the first lockdown

Andreatta¹,

Jongerling²,

Wieser³

2022

Preprint

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Restriction to minimize social contacts (often called social distancing) are necessary to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but they can greatly impact individuals’ mental well-being. In general, emotional responses are modulated by contextual information such that negative emotions are enhanced when experienced within aversive contexts. In this online survey study, we investigated 850 university students during March/April 2020 (first lockdown in the Netherlands), comparing the psychological impact of social distancing when living in a familiar (national students) or in unfamiliar (international students) and therefore likely more aversive context. Four factors (worry, perceived risk of infection, physical distancing, social distancing) were identified, describing how students felt and reacted to the virus. International students showed higher levels in these measures than national students. We then used structural equation modelling (SEM) to compare how these virus-related factors were predicted by health anxiety (fear of contamination, body vigilance, healthy anxiety, anxiety sensitivity), emotional distress (depression, state anxiety), and personal traits (intolerance of uncertainty, trait anxiety) questionnaires. The virus-related factors were mainly predicted by health anxiety across international students, while emotional distress and individual traits played a role across national students. In sum, the familiar context may have been less aversive than the unfamiliar foreign context, and the individual characteristics (traits) predicted the responses to the virus. Living in an unfamiliar and more uncertain context seemed to drive individuals’ health-focused responses to the virus. These results also suggest having living in a foreign country is associated with psychological burdens and this should be considered by universities for mental well-being plans of these students.

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“…Although unhelpful in the long term, these behaviors typically provide short-term distress relief, thereby negatively reinforcing maladaptive coping [12]. Difficulties with emotion regulation conferred by low distress tolerance, high anxiety sensitivity, and greater intolerance of uncertainty, which may collectively be described as affect intolerance [13], further increase an individuals' risk for developing and/or maintaining emotional disorder symptoms [14,15], which appeared particularly true during the pandemic [16,17]. Consistent use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies may be important for parents' ability to be flexible, responsive, and perceptive [18,19], especially when managing stressors, addressing challenging child behaviors, problem-solving, and making decisions [18,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Effects of a Brief Transdiagnostic Intervention on Parent Emotion Management During COVID-19

Halliday

Cepeda

Grassie

et al. 2022

Child Psychiatry Hum Dev

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Parents are a vulnerable group to increased distress resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, 80 parents with at least mildly elevated internalizing symptoms were randomized to receive a four session, transdiagnostic intervention via telehealth during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic based on the Unified Protocols for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders ( UP-Caregiver ), immediately or 6-weeks after receipt of psychoeducational materials. Results showed no between-condition differences in slopes of primary outcome measures; however, significant group differences in intercepts indicated that those receiving UP-Caregiver immediately had greater improvements in distress tolerance and intolerance of uncertainty than those in the delayed condition. Analyses also suggested within-condition improvements in emotional functioning and high satisfaction with UP-Caregiver. Results suggest that psychoeducation and symptom monitoring may be helpful to some distressed parents. Future investigations should utilize a larger sample to identify which parents might benefit the most from interventions like UP-Caregiver during crises.

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Anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty are unique and interactive risk factors for COVID-19 safety behaviors and worries

Cited by 10 publications

References 33 publications

The Prevalence of Fear of Childbirth and Its Association With Intolerance of Uncertainty and Coping Styles Among Pregnant Chinese Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Prevalence of Fear of Childbirth and Its Association With Intolerance of Uncertainty and Coping Styles Among Pregnant Chinese Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Context-dependent responses to the spread of COVID-19 among national and international students during the first lockdown

Initial Effects of a Brief Transdiagnostic Intervention on Parent Emotion Management During COVID-19

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