Do Mental Health and Vitality Mediate the Relationship between Perceived Control over Time and Fear of COVID-19? A Survey in an Italian Sample

Abstract

Several studies evidenced increased elevated symptomatology levels in anxiety, general stress, depression, and post-traumatic stress related to COVID-19. Real difficulties in the effective control of time that could be responsible for mental health issues and loss of vitality were also reported. Prior literature highlighted how perceived control over time significantly modulates anxiety disorders and promotes psychological well-being. To verify the hypothesis that perceived control over time predicts fear of COVID-19 and mental health and vitality mediate this relationship, we performed an online survey on a sample of 301 subjects (female = 68%; Mage = 22.12, SD = 6.29; age range = 18–57 years), testing a parallel mediation model using PROCESS macro (model 4). All participants responded to self-report measures of perceived control over time, COVID-19 fear, mental health, and vitality subscales of the Short-Form-36 Health Survey. Results corroborate the hypotheses of direct relationships between all the study variables and partially validate the mediation’s indirect effect. Indeed, mental health (a1b1 = −0.06; CI: LL = −0.11; UL = −0.01; p < 0.001) rather than vitality (a2b2 = −0.06; CI: LL = −0.09; UL = 0.03; n.s.) emerges as a significant mediator between perceived control over time and fear of COVID-19. Practical implications of the study about treatment programs based on perceived control over time and emotional coping to prevent fear and anxiety toward the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed.

The Switch to Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Interplay between Personality and Mental Health on University Students

“…Similarly, neuroticism is related to adverse emotional outcomes in stressful life experiences [ 62 ], so high neurotic individuals also have a high susceptibility to psychological distress, and are more prone to experiencing anxiety, anger, and sadness [ 30 ]. The data about the fact that anxiety affects individuals’ health and well-being during times of infectious epidemic crisis are also reported both in pre-pandemic studies [ 63 ] and in studies performed during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 19 , 64 , 65 ]. Many studies reported that the negative consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on people’s mental health refer to elevated symptomatology levels in anxiety, general stress, depression, post-traumatic stress [ 66 ], unpleasant emotions, anger, vulnerability [ 67 ], loss of vitality [ 68 ], lack of energy, an inability to start and carry out daily activities, and difficulty concentrating at schools or work [ 69 ].…”

“…In sum, our study showed that the online learning activities during the COVID-19 pandemic represented a stressful situation for a consistent percentage of university students, having a specific psychological profile characterized by high neuroticism, trait/state anxiety, and fear of COVID-19 and low self-efficacy and autonomous regulated motivation. In this sense, we retain that the online learning activities during the COVID-19 pandemic have increased the vulnerability of students in their physical and mental health, which would have required professional support both for all the people who already suffered from health issues and for the general population [ 64 , 65 ]. It must be noted that the social restrictions imposed by the pandemic have limited people the possibility to ask for professional help.…”

How Does COVID-19 Risk Perception Affect Sense of Control? The Roles of Death Anxiety and Confucian Coping

“…Prior studies have suggested a negative relation between risk perception and sense of control, whereby individuals who perceive higher risk in their environment exhibit lower sense of control [5,35]. In the context of COVID-19, there is some evidence for a negative correlation between sense of control and the perceived threat of COVID-19 [36,37] and fear of COVID-19 [38]. The causal connection between COVID-19 risk perception and sense of control has yet to be established.…”

Health-Care Professionals Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Emotional Intelligence May Enhance Work Performance Traversing the Mediating Role of Work Engagement

“…Under this scope of abduction, professional sectors are presently imperiled by a pervasive phenomenon that not only symbolizes a mental health crisis [ 17 ], but bewilderment for any corporation as to ensure the occupational integrity as well as the versatile labor efficiency of its internal departments [ 18 ]. Inwardly, the core of work performance consists of three major domains: (1) task performance, i.e., on-task activities straightforwardly pertaining to the particular profile role; (2) contextual performance, i.e., actions that transcend the duties and functions of the assigned occupation; and (3) counterproductive work behavior, i.e., intended detrimental attitudes that hinder the organizational norms and practices of its constituents [ 19 ].…”