Neuroticism and fear of COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic: Testing the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty and sense of control among Chinese high school students

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Donghuan Zhang¹  Min Fan¹  Lingyi Meng¹  Xifu Zheng¹ 

[1] Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University;School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University

关键词: Teenager;    COVID - 19;    Fear;    neuroticism;    Sense of control;    Intolerance of Uncertainty;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1010767

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2019, neuroticism has been proved a predictor of fear of COVID-19 infection. But few studies have been conducted researching the factors affecting the relationship between neuroticism and this kind of fear. The aim of the present study was to explore how trait neuroticism influences pandemic fear. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Guangdong and Guangxi province, China, and collected complete datasets from 792 high school students. Our study found that a) individuals with high neuroticism tended to have higher intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and lower sense of control (SOC); b) IU and SOC played a mediating role between neuroticism and fear of COVID-19 and a serial mediation effect was found between these factors; c) after controlling both IU and SOC, the effect of neuroticism on fear was no longer significant. The results suggested a critical role of IU and sense of control in the causal relationship between neuroticism and fear.

【 授权许可】

CC BY