Lockdown measures have been widely used to control and prevent virus transmission in pandemic regions. However, the psychological effects of lockdown measures have been neglected, and the related theoretical research lags behind the practice. The present study aimed to better understand the mechanism of social anxiety in pandemic regions where the lockdown measures were imposed, based on the conceptual framework of the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR). For that, this research investigated how lockdown measures and psychological distance influenced social anxiety in the pandemic region. The Chinese national data was analyzed for the outcome. The results showed that (1) psychological distance mediated the relationship between pandemic COVID-19 severity and social anxiety, (2) lockdown measures buffered the detrimental effect of the COVID-19 pandemic severity on social anxiety, (3) lockdown measures moderated the mediation effect of psychological distancing on social anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, under the SOR framework, the lockdown measures had a buffer effect on social anxiety in pandemic regions, with the mediating role of psychological distancing.

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has impacted many people’s meaning in life and health behaviors. This study aimed to verify the relationship among meaning in life (MIL), epidemic risk perception, health locus of control (HLC), and preventive health behaviors among older adults after the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic. Method In this longitudinal study, 164 participants aged 55 years and above completed the following measures at time 1 (February 19, 2021) and one month later at time 2 (March 19, 2021): Meaning in Life in the Epidemic Questionnaire, Epidemic Risk Perception Questionnaire, Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale, and Health Behaviors Before and After the Epidemic Survey. Hayes’ SPSS Process Macro was used to analyze the mediating effect of epidemic risk perception (model 4) and the moderating role of powerful others HLC in the mediation model (model 14). Results The results showed that after controlling for gender, age, education level, and health behaviors at the baseline, risk perception had a significant mediating effect on the relationship between MIL and preventive health behaviors ( β = .02, SE = .01, 95% CI [.00, .04]). In addition, powerful others HLC had a moderating effect on the second half of the mediating effect ( β = .02, p = .02, 95% CI [.00, .03]). Specifically, compared to the older adults with low powerful others HLC, the risk perception of older adults with high powerful others HLC increased preventive health behaviors. Conclusion Practitioners should adequately cultivate older adults’ risk awareness and reinforce the importance of advice from doctors and professionals, thereby effectively enhancing the preventive health behaviors of older adults in China during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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This study aims to be the first to use meta-analysis to explore the relationship between meaning in life (MIL) and mental health issues among older adults. A meta-analysis was conducted using six databases, resulting in 16 studies with 5,074 participants in total. The "metacor" and "forestplot" packages in R-Studio were used for data analysis. The total effect was calculated using a random-effects model, with I² = 86% in the heterogeneity test. The results showed a moderate negative correlation between MIL and mental health issues among older adults, with an average effect of −0.37. Five potential moderating variables were examined: the conceptualization of MIL (value vs. purpose), region (Asian vs. Western countries), residence status (community vs. nursing home vs. hospital), types of mental health issues, and evaluation methods (clinical vs. non-clinical). The first four had no significant moderating effect. The mean correlation coefficients between mental health issues and value/purpose were −0.49/−0.33; the mean correlation coefficients in Asian countries and Western countries were −0.48 and −0.34; the mean correlation coefficients among participants living in community/nursing home/mixed status were −0.33/−0.40/−0.40; the mean correlation coefficients between MIL and depression/others were −0.37/−0.35; however, the negative relationship between MIL and mental health issues was stronger when non-clinical evaluations (self-report only) were used. Specifically, the mean correlation coefficient for non-clinical evaluations was −0.42 and for clinical evaluations was −0.29. This study is the first meta-analysis to identify the negative correlation between older adults' MIL and mental health issues. Significant moderating effects of evaluation methods were found.