There is a potential for a long‐lasting psychological and social impact from the COVID‐19 pandemic. Recently, the COVID‐19 Anxiety Syndrome Scale (C19‐ASS) has been developed, which measures individuals' coping mechanisms in relation to the fear or threat of COVID‐19. The C19‐ASS was developed and has been used so far only in Western samples. Further psychometric evaluation is needed in ethnically diverse samples. Therefore, the current study sought to test the psychometric properties in a large sample of Iranians ( n = 1429; female = 52.1%; Mean age = 35.83, ±12.89) who completed a cross‐sectional survey. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the Persian C19‐ASS has a two‐factor structure corresponding to the perseveration and avoidance subscales of the original scale. Confirmatory factor analyses also supported a two‐factor solution, which showed a firm model fit and high internal consistencies. Furthermore, it showed excellent divergent validity from generalized anxiety, indicating that it is concerned explicitly with COVID‐19, supported by correlational analyses and exploratory factor analysis. Test of incremental validity indicated the Persian C19‐ASS explained more variance in functional impairment and COVID‐19 anxiety than the gender, marital and educational status, generalized anxiety, neuroticism, openness, consciousness and having lost someone close due to COVID‐19. Also, based on a mediation test, it was found that C19‐ASS mediates the relationship between the Big Five personality traits (except openness and consciousness) and health anxiety, generalized anxiety, depression and COVID‐19 anxiety. Overall, the current findings provide further evidence for the construct of the COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome. The COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome is discussed in light of the S‐REF model that provides an explanatory framework for this pandemic‐related construct.

The current study aimed to investigate the mediating role of metacognitions, intolerance of uncertainty and emotion regulation in the relationship between fear of COVID‐19 (FC‐19) and health anxiety, among families with COVID‐19 infected. Participants were 541 individuals from family members of patients with COVID‐19 (F = 52.3%, mean age = 41.3 ± 13.2 years). Data were collected with a packet including sociodemographic and risk factors, the Fear of COVID‐19 Scale, the Short Health Anxiety Inventory, the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30, the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale‐12 and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Structural equation modelling analyses revealed a full mediation of metacognitions (i.e., positive beliefs about worry, negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger, cognitive confidence and beliefs about the need to control thoughts), intolerance of uncertainty and expressive suppression in the relation between FC‐19 and health anxiety. Moreover, the strongest indirect links were found between FC‐19 and health anxiety through negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger and intolerance of uncertainty. These associations were independent of gender and risk status. The final model accounted for 71% of the variance of health anxiety. These findings suggest that particularly metacognitions, intolerance of uncertainty and expressive suppression play a full mediational role in the relation between FC‐19 and health anxiety.

No abstract

No abstract

The global COVID‐19 outbreak has put the human race's distress tolerance abilities to the test. And, the distress experienced getting worse with each pandemic wave; however, the more flexible the person, the greater the chance of surviving. Thus, the current study aimed to examine the mediating role of personalized psychological flexibility (PPF) in the link between distress intolerance to psychological distress during the fourth wave of the pandemic in Iran. A total of 576 individuals (Mean age 34.80, ±10.9, females 55.6%) took part in the online survey. In this national sample, PPF partially played a role in mediating the association mentioned above. Interestingly, this mediation was independent of demographic factors (age, gender, marital status, and educational level) and fear of COVID‐19, mindfulness, and satisfaction with life. So, despite the mentioned variables, accepting and using unpleasant emotions as fuel to achieve valued goals rather than avoiding them would mitigate the psychological distress during the pandemic. Consequently, public health services can aim to provide psychological flexibility enhancing interventions to decay COVID‐19‐related mental distress.