Soledad y ansiedad durante el confinamiento por COVID-19. El efecto mediador de la regulación emocional / Loneliness and anxiety during COVID-19 lockdown. The mediating effect of emotion regulation

RESUMEN

Resumen El confinamiento ocasionado por la pandemia del COVID-19 ha impactado en la vida de los estudiantes universitarios en todo el mundo. Conocer sus efectos en la salud mental y el comportamiento será una prioridad en los siguientes años. En este contexto, el objetivo de la presente investigación fue analizar por primera vez las relaciones directas e indirectas entre la experiencia de soledad, las estrategias de regulación emocional desadaptativas (rumiación, evitación, supresión, catastrofización y autoculpa) y la ansiedad en una muestra de universitarios mexicanos. Con base en él, se hipotetizó que las estrategias de regulación emocional desadaptativas mediarían la relación entre la soledad y la ansiedad. Para lograr este propósito se especificó un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales. Un total de 824 estudiantes universitarios participaron en la presente investigación. Los resultados mostraron que los datos se ajustaron de manera adecuada al modelo estructural especificado. Por otra parte, también se encontró que la soledad tuvo un efecto directo que no fue estadísticamente significativo con la ansiedad. En conclusión, estos hallazgos revelan la presencia de un efecto de mediación al mostrar que la soledad estuvo relacionada indirectamente con la ansiedad por su relación con las estrategias de regulación emocional desadaptativas. Con ello, al analizar la función mediadora de las estrategias de regulación emocional desadaptativas se aportaron, por primera vez en México, nuevos elementos que permiten conocer con mayor profundidad los efectos directos e indirectos de estos tres constructos.

ABSTRACT

Abstract The lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of undergraduate students around the world. Knowing its effects on mental health and behavior will be a priority for years to come. Due to the multiple negative effects that confinement by the COVID-19 pandemic has brought, this study aims to provide new scientific evidence that will allow a better understanding of the effects of the experience of loneliness caused by this pandemic. Based on the procedural model of emotion regulation created by Gross, the objective of this research was to analyze the direct and indirect relations between the experience of loneliness, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (rumination, avoidance, suppression, catastrophizing, and self-blame) and anxiety in a sample of Mexican undergraduate students. Based on this goal, it was hypothesized that maladaptive emotion regulation strategies would mediate the relation between loneliness and anxiety. To achieve this purpose, a total of 824 undergraduate students participated in the present research. In addition to providing their sociodemographic data, they answered the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Cognitive-Behavioral Avoidance Scale, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. In order to carry out the mediating analysis, a structural equation model was created which included three latent variables (loneliness, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and anxiety). This model was tested using the Lavaan software. The indirect effects were analyzed using the bootstrapping method. The results showed that maladaptive emotional regulation strategies had a mediating role which was positive and significant in the relation between loneliness and anxiety. Regarding the measurement model, confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the measurement model comprising the three latent variables. Results showed that the measurement model fit the observed data appropriately. Furthermore, with the purpose of examining the validity of the measurement model, the average variance extracted and square root of the average variance extracted were calculated. Findings indicated that the average variance extracted for each construct was higher than all the squared correlations involving that construct. This confirmed the discriminant validity of all variables of study. Regarding the structural model, results showed acceptable data fit. The model explained 48 % of the variance in anxiety. The structural equation analysis revealed that loneliness was related positively with maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. Similarly, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies were associated positively with anxiety. Likewise, it was possible to confirm the main hypothesis of this study which stated that maladaptive emotion regulation strategies would mediate the influence of loneliness on anxiety among Mexican university students. Finally, it was confirmed that loneliness had a nonsignificant direct effect on anxiety. Regarding the contribution of each of the five maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, rumination had a significant function in the mediating process showing that loneliness had an impact on anxiety via the continuous thoughts that participants had about their own emotions. In turn, because of the strategy of catastrophizing, participants intensified their thoughts and emotions waiting for the worse scenario which in turn increased their levels of anxiety. Likewise, the strategies of avoidance and suppression had also a significant contribution on the mediating role of maladaptive strategies. Finally, the strategy of self-blame was a significant contribution to the mediating function. Therefore, with the purpose of controlling emotions associated with loneliness, it was possible that participants could blame themselves as a mechanism to regulate their emotions. In conclusion, these findings reveal the presence of a mediating effect by showing that loneliness was indirectly related to anxiety via its relation with maladaptive emotion regulation strategies.