Loneliness, Emotion Dysregulation, and Internalizing Symptoms During Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Abstract

Background: Our study aimed to test the hypotheses that an increased level of loneliness experienced during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) confinement was predictive of internalizing symptoms and that this pathway was mediated by emotion dysregulation levels.Methods: To reach this aim, we performed an online longitudinal survey recruiting 1,330 participants at Time 1 (at the beginning of the lockdown) and 308 participants at Time 2 (few days before the end of the lockdown). All filled out a set of questionnaires: demographic data, University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale−18 items, and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale−21 items. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling in two steps and controlling for age. First, hypotheses were tested on cross-sectional data. Then, a cross-lagged panel analysis was performed on longitudinal data.Results: Models obtained a good fit and evidenced the predictive role of loneliness levels on the three outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress). Moreover, we found that emotion dysregulation levels partially mediated the longitudinal relationship between loneliness and both depression and stress but not between loneliness and anxiety levels.Conclusions: This study points out that a central goal of clinical intervention could be the ability to regulate negative emotional states.

The Global Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Individuals' and Couples' Sexuality

“…Overall, the increase in the use of phones or webcams and pornography during the restrictions period, compared to before the pandemic, was significantly associated with higher levels of mental distress (Shilo and Mor, 2020a ). Pornography consumption can be seen as a coping mechanism to face stress due to uncertainty and insecurity (Mestre-Bach et al, 2020 ; Velotti et al, 2020 ; Zattoni et al, 2020 ). Nonetheless, pornography consumption or using remote devices for sexual satisfaction were not a predictor of abstaining from casual sex during the pandemic.…”

Systematic review of psychometric properties and cross-cultural adaptation of the University of California and Los Angeles loneliness scale in adults

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From Resilience to Burnout in Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Emergency: The Role of the Ability to Tolerate Uncertainty

“…The mental state of the Italian population has been severely tested, and multiple studies have found a marked increase in psychological symptoms in the nonclinical population. Furthermore, the incidence of high mortality in Italy has considerably aggravated the situation by perpetuating the traumatic dimension of grieving (Bruno et al, 2020;Forte et al, 2020;Mariani et al, 2020;Castellini et al, 2021;Velotti et al, 2021).…”