Abstract:The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in various psycho-social effects, including adverse effects on mental health in the general population. Many studies across different countries showed a significant increase in symptoms of fear, depression, anxiety and stress compared to the situation before the COVID-19 outbreak. Thus, it has gained more importance to examine the relationship between fear of the disease and mental health problems. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of intolerance of uncertaint… Show more
“…Of the three resources, intolerance of uncertainty was found to be the most powerful factor associated with mothers’ psychological distress. This finding is consistent with previous studies that examined the relationship between intolerance to uncertainty and psychological distress in other populations and stressful situations [ 51 , 52 ]. The difficulty of enduring uncertainty and the desire to clarify the uncertainty emerges here as a debilitating factor.…”
Mothers of infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are at a high risk for psychological distress, which is of concern to health and social professionals due to the negative implications for mothers and infants. A model for explaining maternal psychological distress, consisting of intolerance to uncertainty and support from informal (spouse, family, and friends) and formal (medical staff) systems was examined. Data was collected from one of the largest NICUs in Israel; 129 mothers of 215 preterm infants completed self-report questionnaires regarding their background variables, intolerance to uncertainty, perceived informal support and perceived medical staff support. The NICU’s medical staff provided indicators for the infants of participating mothers. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted. The examined model explained 29.2% of the variance in maternal psychological distress. Intolerance of uncertainty positively predicted psychological distress. Informal support, and in particular, spousal support negatively predicted psychological distress above and beyond intolerance of uncertainty. Medical staff support negatively predicted psychological distress above and beyond intolerance to uncertainty and informal support. Our findings suggest that maternal psychological distress is reduced through a family-centered care approach in NICUs. Medical professionals and social services should develop further solutions for addressing preterm mothers’ need for certainty and support.
“…Of the three resources, intolerance of uncertainty was found to be the most powerful factor associated with mothers’ psychological distress. This finding is consistent with previous studies that examined the relationship between intolerance to uncertainty and psychological distress in other populations and stressful situations [ 51 , 52 ]. The difficulty of enduring uncertainty and the desire to clarify the uncertainty emerges here as a debilitating factor.…”
Mothers of infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are at a high risk for psychological distress, which is of concern to health and social professionals due to the negative implications for mothers and infants. A model for explaining maternal psychological distress, consisting of intolerance to uncertainty and support from informal (spouse, family, and friends) and formal (medical staff) systems was examined. Data was collected from one of the largest NICUs in Israel; 129 mothers of 215 preterm infants completed self-report questionnaires regarding their background variables, intolerance to uncertainty, perceived informal support and perceived medical staff support. The NICU’s medical staff provided indicators for the infants of participating mothers. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted. The examined model explained 29.2% of the variance in maternal psychological distress. Intolerance of uncertainty positively predicted psychological distress. Informal support, and in particular, spousal support negatively predicted psychological distress above and beyond intolerance of uncertainty. Medical staff support negatively predicted psychological distress above and beyond intolerance to uncertainty and informal support. Our findings suggest that maternal psychological distress is reduced through a family-centered care approach in NICUs. Medical professionals and social services should develop further solutions for addressing preterm mothers’ need for certainty and support.
“… Collectivism Karadem et al, 2021 527 N.A. Turkey Europe Hospital staff 35.7 Collectivism Karahan et al, 2021 138 12.5 Turkey Europe Hospital staff 37.6 Collectivism Kardaş, 2021 679 9 Turkey Europe General population 26.7 Collectivism Krägeloh et al, 2021 1029 4.5 Saudi Arabia Middle East General population 33.7 Collectivism Landa-Blanco et al, 2021 595 N.A. Honduras North America General population 25.1 Collectivism Mahmoud et al, 2021 382 11.5 Egypt Middle East Hospital staff 33.83 Collectivism Malik et al, 2021 421 4.5 Pakistan Asia Hospital staff 30.81 Collectivism Mamun, 2021 10,052 4 Bangladesh Asia General population 26.95 Collectivism Mistry et al, 2021 1032 10 Bangladesh Asia Older adults N.A.…”
“…According to this, the fear of COVID-19 is an important cause of anxiety. 16 Therefore, to lower the fear of COVID-19 is a prerequisite for reducing the level of public anxiety.…”
Purpose
How to reduce the damage of COVID-19 pandemic to people’s mental health is a current research hotspot. The present study examined the mediating role of trust in the government and hope in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety.
Participants and Methods
In this cross-sectional study, a total of 1053 Chinese subjects (20.24±3.97 years old, 85.3% female) were investigated by using the
Fear of COVID-19 Scale, Anxiety Scale, Trust in the Government Measure Scale
and
Herth Hope Scale
, which was conducted by an online survey using snowball sampling technique. Hayes PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to test the hypothesized mediating effects of trust in the government and hope in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety.
Results
The fear of COVID-19 could positively predict anxiety level (
β
=0.36,
p
<0.001). Results of the mediation analyses demonstrated that trust in the government (
β
=−0.16,
p
<0.001) and hope (
β
=−0.28,
p
<0.001) mediated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety level respectively. Moreover, fear of COVID-19 could also indirectly predict anxiety level through the chain-mediated role of the trust in the government and the hope (
β
=0.28,
p
<0.001).
Conclusion
Our findings shed light on a correlation between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety. This study emphasizes the value of trust in the government and hope in maintaining mental health when individuals face public stress events from both external and internal perspectives.
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