How do threat to life and state anxiety disturb the psychological functioning of Polish adults during coronavirus pandemic? / W jaki sposób poczucie zagrozenia zycia i lek jako stan zaklócaja psychiczne funkcjonowanie doroslych Polaków podczas pandemii koronawirusa?

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to answer the following question: how do threat to life and state anxiety predict psychological functioning in a coronavirus pandemic among Polish adults aged 18-65 years? METHODS: The web-based cross-sectional survey was applied to 1466 Polish respondents (1074 women, 73.3%) aged 18-65 years. They were divided into four age groups (18-25; 26-35; 36-45; 46-65). All participants completed: General Functioning Questionnaire (GFQ), State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), and General Sense of Threat to Life Scale (GSTLS). RESULTS: The youngest adults (aged 18-25 years) manifested significantly higher psychological distress, state anxiety, and a sense of threat to life compared to all the older participants. A sense of threat to life and state anxiety were significant predictors of psychological distress during the COVID-19 epidemic, where state anxiety mediates the relation between threat to life and psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: The youngest participants constitute a risk group for psychological difficulties during the pandemic situation. The COVID-19 psychological distress could be significantly predicted by the two kinds of emotional state such as threat to life and anxiety.

Significant predictors of psychological distress in the group of Polish young adults during the COVID-19 epidemic outbreak: Sequential mediation model

The study was conducted to identify significant predictors of psychological distress in the group of young Polish adults during COVID-19 epidemic outbreak. The web-based cross-sectional survey was applied to 975 Polish respondents (755 female, 77.44%) aged 18-35 years. They were divided into two age groups: younger (18-25) and older (25-35). All participants completed: General Functioning Questionnaire (GFQ), COVID-19 Risk Perception Scale (C-RPS), State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S), and General Sense of Threat to Life Scale (GSTLS). The Polish adults aged 18-25 years manifested significantly higher psychological distress, state anxiety, and a sense of threat to life, but they perceived less risk in COVID-19 epidemic compared to older participants. Risk perception and a sense of threat to life were indirectly related to state anxiety and psychological distress. Significant predictors of psychological distress in the group of young adult Poles during the COVID-19 epidemic are: state anxiety, risk perception, and a sense of threat to life, where risk perception and a sense of threat to life mediate the relation between state anxiety and psychological distress.