Impact of loneliness and cognitive emotion regulation in psychological well-being of students during the pandemic

The current study, seeks to determine how loneliness and the different cognitive emotion regulation strategies contribute to psychological well-being of young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also examines whether cognitive emotion regulation explains well-being beyond loneliness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

The relationship between cognitive emotion regulation and corona disease anxiety in the elderly: The mediating role of distress tolerance

The spread of Coronavirus seems to be an important challenge for health care systems in Iran. Cognitive emotion regulation and distress tolerance are thought to be the variables that can have a significant impact on mental health and quality of life in the elderly during the outbreak of coronavirus. Consequently, this study aimed to investigate the mediating role of distress tolerance in the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation and Corona disease anxiety (CDA) in the elderly. The research method was correlational, of path analysis type. The statistical population included all the elderly living in Sanandaj, Iran in 2021, among whom 300 were selected using convenience sampling method. Data were collected using Alipour et al.'s CDA Scale, Garnefski & Kraaij's Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and Simons & Gaher's Distress Tolerance Questionnaire, and were analyzed using Pearson's correlation method and path analysis in Amos software. The results demonstrated that the model fits the research data. According to the results, the path of positive cognitive emotion regulation strategies to CDA was mediated by distress tolerance (beta = -0.17, P < 0.05) and the path of negative cognitive emotion regulation strategies to CDA was mediated by distress tolerance (beta = 0.25, P < 0.01) significantly. According to the results of the current research, it can be said that targeting the three components of positive and negative cognitive emotion regulation as well as distress tolerance in relation to treatments and psychological services can be effective for the elderly during the spread of coronavirus. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Anxiety in early adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of intolerance of uncertainty and cognitive emotion regulation

Introduction: Anxiety is one of the most common psychological problems in children, with an increasing trend during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty and cognitive emotion-regulation strategies in the relationship between stress and anxiety symptoms of children and early adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted the study with 234 elementary school students (128 females) aged 11 to 15 years. The students completed the COVID-19 Stress Scale, Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale, Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale for Children, and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. To determine whether stress affects anxiety symptoms both directly and indirectly through intolerance of uncertainty and cognitive emotion-regulation strategies, we performed a mediation analysis with gender as a covariate. Results: Our results confirmed cognitive emotion regulation and intolerance of uncertainty as important cognitive vulnerability factors for anxiety in children and adolescents. A stressful experience contributes directly to anxiety and indirectly through higher intolerance of uncertainty and less adaptive strategies. The results serve to further improve prevention and intervention programs for children and adolescents which focus on correcting maladaptive cognitive emotion-regulation strategies and increasing tolerance of uncertainty. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety among college students during the re-emergence of COVID-19: Mediation effects of cognitive emotion regulation and moderation effects of family function.

OBJECTIVE: In June 2021, the COVID-19 spread again in the community, and residents had to face the impact of the outbreak again after 276 days, none of the local cases in Guangdong Province, China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanisms underlying the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and anxiety in college students in non-epidemic area during the periods of re-emergence of COVID-19. METHODS: A survey was conducted among 86,767 college students in Guangdong Province, China from 10 to 18 June 2021, information on the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and Family APGAR Index were collected. Five moderation and mediation models were analyzed using latent moderated structural equations. RESULTS: The results showed that IU was positively related to anxiety (r = 0.42, p < 0.000). After controlling for age and gender, latent moderated structural equations indicated that catastrophizing mediated the relationship between IU and anxiety, and family function acted as a moderator in this relationship. Further analyses indicated that IU directly affected anxiety and had indirect effects on anxiety by catastrophizing. This relationship was weaker among college students who reported lower family function. CONCLUSION: This study provides practical implications for designing intervention strategies to reduce anxiety in college students when the epidemic re-emerges.

Emotional Disorders During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Spain: The Role of Sociodemographic Risk Factors and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS) play a transdiagnostic role in emotional disorders, but the role of these strategies in coping with emotions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic remains poorly understood. AIMS: To assess the presence of emotional disorders in Spain and the association to sociodemographic characteristics and CERS during the COVID-19 outbreak. METHOD: Cross-sectional survey administered through an online platform. Sociodemographic variables and CERS (CERQ-Short) were collected and possible diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD, GAD-7), major depression disorder (MDD; Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9]), panic attacks (PA; PHQ-PD), and panic disorders (PD; PHQ-PD) were assessed. Sociodemographic risk factors and CERS association to the possible diagnosis of emotional disorders were reported with hierarchical multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: A total of 1,753 respondents completed the questionnaire in Spain. Of these, most (76.8%) were female, with a mean (SD) age of 40.4 years (12.9). A high proportion of participants met diagnostic criteria for emotional disorders: 15.3% for GAD, 12.2% for MDD, 17.2% for PD, and 25.7% had experienced a PA. The contribution of sociodemographic variables to diagnoses of emotional disorders was modest, explaining from 3.1% to 5.7% of the variance; however, when CERS were added, the combination of sociodemographic and CERS explained from 15% to 29% of the variance. Rumination and catastrophizing were the most transdiagnostic maladaptive strategies and positive refocusing was another adaptive strategy. DISCUSSION: Although results from convenience samples should be handled with caution, the high prevalence of emotional disorders in this study suggests that the demand of mental health interventions will probably increase in Spain. Also, CERS play a clear role in the presence of these disorders. CONCLUSION: Intervention programs should focus on training CERS in populations at high risk, focusing on the reduction of maladaptive CERS and the reinforce of other more adaptive CERS.

COVID-19 Related Negative Life Events and Psychological Distress: The Role of Emotion and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies.

This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the potential role of hopelessness, helplessness, and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in the relationship between adverse life events and psychological distress among Turkish adults. Participants' ages ranged from 18 to 64 years old. The majority were female. From June 21, 2021, to August 18, 2021, 432 participants responded to an online questionnaire that included the Negative Life Events List (NLEs), the Helplessness, and Hopelessness, and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies Scale (CERS) and General Health Questionnaire-12. The findings suggest that the NLEs, directly and indirectly, predict psychological distress through helplessness and hopelessness. The direct and indirect predictive effects of the NLEs on psychological distress varied depending on the level of CERS. The current study's findings have contributed to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between the NLEs and psychological distress during pandemics.

The Effect of Emotion Regulation on Predicting Depressive Symptoms in Students

Background: Many people around the world have been affected by depression, which causes a great deal of problems. Emotion regulation refers to processes influencing emotion, experiences, and expresses. Objective(s): This study aimed to evaluate the role of emotion regulation to predict depressive symptoms among Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences students. Method(s): This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 305 students at Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Iran, who were randomly selected by convenient sampling method. The informed consent forms were signed by the participants. Then the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II) and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Scale (CERQ-18) were completed in a virtual/face-to-face manner due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were analyzed with SPSS software version 26. A total of 296 participants were analyzed, of whom 198 (66.9%) were female, and 98 (33.1%) were male. Result(s): The self-blame strategies (beta = 0.31, P <= 0.001), positive reassessment (beta =-0.26, P <= 0.001), catastrophic (beta = 0.26, P <= 0.001), numerical importance (beta =-0.12, P <= 0.001) and positive refocus (beta =-0.10, P <= 0.001) predict 40% of the variance of depression in five steps. Inconsistent strategies such as self-blame and catastrophe directly predict depression. Further, depression is inversely related to positive reassessment, insignificance, and positive refocus. Conclusion(s): According to the results, there was a significant direct relationship between self-blame and catastrophic thinking as maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies with depression. In addition, positive refocusing and positive reassessment had a significant negative correlation with depression among adaptive emotion regulation strategies. Copyright © 2022 Journal of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences.

Direct and indirect relationships between cognitive flexibility and COVID-19 related psychological distress: The mediating role of maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies

Objective: The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are remarkable on individuals' mental health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increase in mental health problems and psychological distress in uninfected healthy people. The present study aimed to examine the mediator role of maladaptive cognitive emotion regula-tion strategies in the relationship between cognitive fle-xibility and COVID-19 related psychological distress experienced during the current pandemic. Method: The sample consisted of 351 young adults (86% female and 14% male) who were not infected with COVID-19 aged between 18 to 25 years old. Participants completed the self-report questionnaires, including the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and COVID-19 Related Psychological Distress Scale. Mediation analysis estimated total, indi-rect, and direct effects between cognitive flexibility and COVID-19 related psychological distress. Results: The correlation analyses showed that cognitive flexibility -control dimension was negatively associated with both COVID-19 related psychological distress and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Also, maladap-tive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and COVID-19 related psychological distress was found to be posi-tively correlated. In the study sample, the results of the bootstrap mediation indicated that maladaptive cogni-tive emotion regulation strategies, including self-blame, acceptance, rumination, catastrophizing, and blaming others, fully mediated the relationship between cogni-tive flexibility -control and COVID-19 related psycholog-ical distress. Discussion: Our findings would help psy-chological interventions designed for COVID-19 unin-fected healthy people who have lower-level cognitive flexibility -control dimension by highlighting the promi-nence that the fewer people use maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies, the less they feel COVID-19 related psychological distress.

Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies as Mediators between Resilience and Stress during COVID-19 Pandemic.

(1) Background: Although there is accumulating evidence for the associations between resilience, emotion regulation and stress, little is known about the mechanisms of these relations. To extend the existing research, the present study examined cognitive emotion regulation strategies as one potential mechanism between trait resilience and perceived stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods: Young adults (N = 266; M = 20.05; SD = 3.93) were invited to fill out questionnaires that assessed trait resilience, cognitive emotion regulation strategies and perceived stress. (3) Results: The results showed that resilience was negatively associated with perceived stress and with self-blame, catastrophizing and rumination, and positively associated with positive reappraisal, focus on planning, positive refocus and putting into perspective. Stress was positively associated with self-blame, catastrophizing, rumination, other-blame and acceptance, and negatively associated with positive reappraisal and positive refocus. Moreover, positive refocus, rumination, catastrophizing and self-blame partially explained the associations between trait resilience and perceived stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. (4) Conclusions: These findings highlight the potential utility of targeting cognitive emotion regulation strategies in the development and implementation of preventive interventions for reducing stress during highly challenging situations.

Temperament, Character and Cognitive Emotional Regulation in the Latent Profile Classification of Smartphone Addiction in University Students

The frequency of smartphone use has been increasing since COVID-19, and the problem of smartphone addiction is expected to intensify in modern society where smartphones have diverse uses. According to a recent study, cognitive emotional regulation strategies have proven to be effective in deepening or alleviating smartphone addiction. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of smartphone addiction according to various psychosocial approaches, including the cognitive emotional regulation strategy. The purpose of this study is to classify the potential profiles of smartphone addiction and to verify the trends and differences of the classified groups. A total of 333 college students with an age range of 22–25 were targeted. All subjects were asked to take the Smartphone Addition Scale Based on Behavioral Addiction Criteria (SAS-B), Temperature and Character Inventory (TCI), and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). In order to conduct a person-centered approach, Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used, and it was analyzed using Mplus 7. As a result, there were significant differences in the classification of potential groups for smart addiction. It was found that there is a high correlation between temperament and character in smartphone addiction and cognitive emotional regulation strategies. This study is expected to be useful as basic data for treatment and preventive approaches according to smartphone addiction in the future.

Relationship between Attachment to Pet and Post-Traumatic Growth after Pet Loss: Mediated Moderating Effect of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategy through Separation Pain.

The declining fertility rate and an aging population have accelerated the number of single-person households and nuclear families, and the number of households raising pets has naturally increased. However, pet owners experience great sorrow and trauma due to the death of their pets. The stronger the attachment to pets, the more severe the separation pain caused by pet loss. The purpose of this study was to analyze the moderating effect of a cognitive emotion regulation strategy mediated through separation pain on the relationship between attachment and post-traumatic growth after pet loss among owners. The study participants were 303 owners who have experienced pet loss. We analyzed the mediated moderating effects by PROCESS macro. The results showed that the adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategy strengthened the effect of attachment to pets on post-traumatic growth and decreased the effect on separation pain. Conversely, the maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategy weakened the effect of attachment to pets on post-traumatic growth and strengthened the effect on separation pain. The act of intentionally expanding the perspective on pet loss experience, switching into a more positive focus, and accepting reality will reduce the grief of its companions and become an opportunity for growth.

Academic stressors and depressive symptomatology among economically vulnerable college women during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Female university students from socioeconomically vulnerable groups is a high-risk group for the development of mental health problems in the covid-19 pandemic. Objective: To evaluate the moderating role of teacher support on emotional regulation strategies (ERS) in the relationship between academic stressors (AS) and depressive symptoms in female university students from socioeconomically vulnerable groups. Method: 371 women between 18 and 29 years old who were in higher education completed a survey where depressive symptoms were evaluated through the PHQ-9 and the ERD through CERQ. To assess academic stressors and perception of teacher support, specific questions were designed. Results: Two indirect effect models were identified that showed that low teacher support moderated the moderation of low and medium levels of ERS planning in the relationship of “quality of online learning” and “concern for academic performance” with depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The role of ERS that points to metacognitive aspects and teaching support as protective factors for this specific group against AS, mainly linked to academic performance is discussed at the end.

Investigating Anxiety and Fear of COVID-19 as Predictors of Internet Addiction With the Mediating Role of Self-Compassion and Cognitive Emotion Regulation.

Background: In addition to many deaths due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many psychological issues and problems are affecting people's health. Including the constant anxiety and fear of infecting themselves and their families, COVID-19 has led to excessive spending of time in cyberspace and the Internet. Methods: In this study, the role of fear and anxiety of COVID-19 in predicting Internet addiction among 1,008 students was investigated. The mediating role of the two components of self-compassion and cognitive emotion regulation has also been measured. Data collection was done online due to the outbreak of the disease and a modeling method was used to analyze the data. Results: The results shows that anxiety and fear of COVID-19 has a positive and significant relationship with both Internet addiction (r = 0.32) and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (r = 0.17), and it has a negative relationship with self-compassion (r = -0.25). Conclusions: The findings suggest that self-compassion can play a protective role against internet addiction at the time of COVID-19 pandemic while maladaptive strategies for emotion regulation can be risk factors for anxiety and fear of the virus.

Home-Schooling During COVID-19 Lockdown: Effects of Coping Style, Home Space, and Everyday Creativity on Stress and Home-Schooling Outcomes

The present study examined parents' experiences of home-schooling their children during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the U.K. A total of 322 parents completed an online survey between the 1st May and the 24th July 2020. Relationships were explored between predictor variables (coping mechanisms, household income, adequacy of space, access to "green" space) and outcome variables (parenting self-efficacy, discipline, home-schooling relationships) mediated by stress and moderated by creativity and parenting dimensions. Moderated mediation analyses showed that inadequate space at home and negative coping mechanisms resulted in elevated stress and worse outcomes in terms of parents' approaches to discipline and their experience of home-schooling their children. Negative outcomes were more pronounced for parents who used high levels of behavioral control. In turn, negative outcomes were reduced when parents had higher levels of self-perceived everyday creativity and outcomes were improved by positive coping strategies. Our findings suggest that interventions focused on developing creative self-efficacy and positive coping strategies may be effective routes to help parents deal with the stress of supporting their children with periods of schooling at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cognitive emotion regulation strategies mediate the relationships between Dark Triad traits and negative emotional states experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 has become a major source of stress as it puts individuals at risk of a range of mental health problems. Personality traits may predispose people to use adaptive or maladaptive coping strategies that lead to different health-related outcomes. The goal of the present study was to examine whether the use of distinct coping strategies during this stressful COVID-19 outbreak mediates the relationships between Dark Triad (DT) traits and stress, depression, and anxiety. The study was conducted in Poland (N = 1086) and Spain (N = 582), thus cross-culturally validated measures were used to assess depression, anxiety and stress (DASS-21), cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERQ) and socially aversive traits covered by DT (Dirty Dozen scale). The study shows that maladaptive CERS mediates the relationships between narcissism/Machiavellianism and stress, anxiety and depression. Additionally, adaptive CERS mediates the relationship between psychopathy and depression. The results provide a better understanding of the mediating role of CERS on the relationships between DT traits and the stress, anxiety and depression experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Worry about COVID-19 contagion and general anxiety: Moderation and mediation effects of cognitive emotion regulation.

The global pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) occasioned that most of the population in Spain was confined to home to reduce the risk of contagion. This affected mental health, increasing anxiety and worry about COVID-19 contagion. The aim of this study was assessing the moderation and mediation effect of cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS) on general anxiety and whether the mediation effect was moderated by gender and/or age. A total of 1753 Spanish adults (78,6% female; M = 40.4 years, SD = 12.9) participated in an online survey that was available from March 26 to April 25 (2020) during the time period in which the population in Spain was confined. Participants completed measures of worry about COVID-19 contagion, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short (CERQ-Short) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). Several models were tested through structural equation modelling. Moderation analyses reported that maladaptive strategies moderated positively anxiety, whereas adaptive strategies moderated negatively anxiety. Also, the best fitted mediation model found that worry about COVID-19 contagion and general anxiety was mediated by CERS in different directions. Maladaptive CERS increased anxiety, whereas adaptive CERS reduced anxiety. Age (not gender) also moderated this mediation, were younger adults presented an indirect effect only through maladaptive CERS, but older adults through both adaptive and maladaptive. Limitations are related to the study design which was a convenience sample. CERS moderated and mediated between worry about COVID-19 contagion and general anxiety. Prevention programs for mental health problems during the pandemic must be provided, especially for younger adults.

Anxiety, depression and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 outbreak.

AIMS: To explore the association between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and anxiety and depression among nurses during the COVID-19 outbreak. BACKGROUND: Nurses play a vital role in responding to the COVID-19 outbreak, but many of them suffer from psychological problems due to the excessive workload and stress. Understanding the correlation between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and anxiety and depression will promote targeted psychosocial interventions for these affected nurses. METHODS: This cross-sectional study of 586 nurses was conducted in Eastern China. Participants completed online questionnaires that investigated anxiety, depression and cognitive emotion regulation strategies. RESULTS: The prevalence of nurses' anxiety and depression was 27.6% and 32.8%, respectively. Lower self-blame, rumination and catastrophizing, as well as greater acceptance and positive refocusing, were related to fewer symptoms of anxiety or depression. CONCLUSION: The cognitive emotion regulation strategies of acceptance and positive refocusing contribute to reducing anxiety or depression. These strategies should be considered when implementing psychotherapeutic interventions to improve nurses' adverse emotional symptoms. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: This study highlights the need to assess cognitive emotion regulation strategies use in screening for anxiety and depression. Nurse managers should develop psychosocial interventions including appropriate strategies to help nurses with adverse emotions during a pandemic.

Psychological problems in general population during covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan: role of cognitive emotion regulation.

Objectives: To explore psychological problems (Anxiety, Depression and Stress) in general population during Covid-19 pandemic. To find predictive effects of cognitive emotion regulation on psychological problems. Methodology: Convenient sampling technique was used to obtain the sample of 500 participants (Male = 239, Female = 261). Research instrument consists of four parts. First part comprised of consent form, second part was about demographic profile, third part was Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS-21) while Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire was the last part of the instrument. Results: SPSS 23.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version was used for study analysis. Descriptive statistics used to summarize the raw data. The inferential statistics such as regression, correlation and t-test were used to calculate the findings according to research objectives. Results indicated that 33%, 40% and 27% individuals were experiencing Depression, Anxiety and Stress respectively during Covid-19 pandemic. Among these participants, 48% (N = 242) were experiencing normal level of all these targeted psychological problems while remaining 52% (N = 258) respondents have mild to very severe level of all these disorders. Furthermore, findings of linear regression analysis illustrated that cognitive emotion regulation significantly predicts psychological problems [R2=.216; F = 51.223, p < .01] and 21% variation in psychological problems is due to cognitive emotion regulation. Conclusion: This study recommended that policy makers must develop and implement some necessary programmes to prevent and cure people from devastating psychological and mental health consequences of covid-19 on priority basis.

Knowledge of COVID-19 and Its Influence on Mindfulness, Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Psychological Flexibility in the Indian Community.

The current global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has brought about an immense effect on the mental health of the general public. Considering the escalation in number of cases, mankind is facing a myriad of psychological problems, ranging from those related to taking precautions and maintaining safety to the ones caused by separation and bereavement. The current study aims to explore whether there is a significant difference between individuals with excellent, good, fair and vague knowledge of COVID-19 with respect to depression, anxiety, stress, level of mindfulness, specific cognitive emotion regulation strategies and psychological flexibility; to find out whether there is any significant relationship among these variables; and to determine whether knowledge of COVID-19, level of mindfulness, specific cognitive emotion regulation strategies and psychological flexibility are significant predictors of depression, anxiety and stress in the sample of the current study. The sample consisted of 402 individuals selected from the community following the research criteria. Data was collected using digital consent form, information schedule and questionnaires, from 3rd May to 13th May, 2020. The questionnaires consisted of a semi-structured interview schedule to assess knowledge of COVID-19, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21, Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Short version and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II. The data was statistically analyzed using analysis of variance test, correlational analysis and linear regression. The findings show that significant differences were present among individuals having varying degrees of knowledge of COVID-19 with respect to anxiety, level of mindfulness and psychological flexibility. Significant relationships were found to be present among the variables of the present study, having differing trends brought forward by the COVID-19 crisis. Certain socio-demographic characteristics and study variables were found to significantly predict the existing levels of depression, anxiety and stress in the current sample. The study suggests the necessity to formulate and implement appropriate mindfulness-based therapeutic interventions to address the mental health concerns arising as a result of the pandemic.