Trends in State Anxiety during the Full Lockdown in Italy: The Role Played by COVID-19 Risk Perception and Trait Emotional Intelligence

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with mental health outcomes in the general population. This study assessed how state anxiety changed at different time points during the pandemic and how it was influenced by risk perception and trait emotional intelligence (trait EI). The study was conducted online in two data collections, at the beginning (wave 1, N = 1031) and at the end (wave 2, N = 700) of the lockdown. Participants were asked to self-report their state anxiety, risk perception of COVID-19 contagiousness, and trait EI. The interaction between risk perception and wave showed that, in wave 1 (but not in wave 2), anxiety increased as risk perception increased. Further, trait EI by wave interactions showed that effective (vs. ineffective) regulators experienced lower anxiety and this difference was larger in wave 2 than in wave 1. Because of the cross-sectional design of the study and the convenience sample we should be cautious when generalizing the present findings to the entire population. Our findings support the moderating role of trait EI on state anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. This knowledge provides further support for the importance of EI in coping with uncertain and stressful environmental conditions such as those posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Relationship between Coping Strategies and State Anxiety during COVID-19 Lockdown: The Role of Perceived Emotional Intelligence

“…In this regard, individuals with high EI are expected to utilize emotional cues to direct attention and process emotions effectively. Consequently, these findings align with previous studies indicating that individuals with high EI may possess enhanced abilities and resources to effectively manage the emotional challenges presented by the pandemic [82][83][84][85].…”

“…Therefore, high EI individuals «may, therefore, have greater abilities and resources to adaptively navigate the emotional challenges posed by this pandemic» [82] (p. 1019). Trait EI people experienced anxiety less intensely during lockdown [83], and this tendency increased over time [84]. In addition, PEI was linked to effective coping strategies in dealing with government confinement measures [85].…”

Psychological and behavioral responses to the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic: A comparative study of Hong Kong, Singapore, and the U.S.

“…People who were experiencing the onset of the disease during the period of data collection (i.e., U.S., an early stage country) manifested increased “reasonable” fear (i.e., fear about exceeding the healthcare system’s capacity, and about not receiving treatments) to a greater extent than people in regions that had experiences, and where control measures had taken effect (in Hong Kong and Singapore) in the respective period. Indeed, as the pandemic progresses and risk perceptions change, the public’s anxiety levels adjust accordingly [ 39 ]. It is also important to note that our data do not shed any light on the optimal timing of the pandemic declaration.…”

Effect of social support on anxiety of medical staff one year after COVID-19 outbreak: a moderated mediating model

“…Regarding the mechanisms underlying the onset of emotional stress reactions, a large number of studies have addressed the important role of risk perception on anxiety reactions, and some scholars have even suggested that risk perception plays an important role in each stage of anxiety response generation, presentation, and treatment 16 , 17 . An individual's perception of external objective risks can be referred to as risk perception, which emphasizes the influence of experiences based on intuitive judgments and subjective feelings on an individual's cognition 18 .…”