Hope and anxiety.

Anxiety-related disorders continue to be one of the most prevalent and burdensome psychiatric disorders. Research has examined resilience factors, such as hope, that can build resilience toward or mitigate the impact of anxiety disorders. The following review provides a summary of hope as a factor of resilience as well as a mechanism of change in reducing levels of anxiety. First, hope and anxiety are conceptualized as future-oriented traits. Then, hope as a source of resilience against trait anxiety is discussed. The article then discusses the moderate, indirect relationship between hope and general as well as specific forms of anxiety before providing empirical support for hope as a mechanism of change in the reduction of anxiety. Finally, considerations for future study of hope and anxiety are discussed.

Hope, optimism, and self-efficacy predicting mental health and illness in a community sample exposed to Hurricane Harvey.

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey flooded more than 300,000 buildings causing an estimated $125 billion in damages and resulting in 68 deaths (National Hurricane Center). This actual or threatened loss of life and physical harm led many to report negative effects on mental well-being and greater mental illness. However, many individuals have been able to experience similar adverse events without a significant negative impact on their mental health and well-being. Positive thinking factors such as hope, optimism, and self-efficacy have been proposed as protective factors in the face of difficult life events. Hope, optimism, and self-efficacy are related but distinct constructs that have often been studied separately, but whose unique impact on well-being and mental illness is less clear, especially in the context of a natural hazard. The current study uses structural equation modeling to measure the unique contribution of hope, optimism, and hurricane-coping self-efficacy on mental well-being and mental illness in a community sample of 300 subjects who experienced Hurricane Harvey, recruited from Mechanical Turk.

Six Month Trajectories of COVID-19 Experiences and Associated Stress, Anxiety, Depression, and Impairment in American Adults.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on health and well-being worldwide. There is increasing research seeking to better understand the psychological impact of COVID-19 experiences. However, this research has largely been limited in size and scope. Methods: The present study examined longitudinal trajectories of COVID-19 experiences on COVID-19 related stress, anxiety, depression, and functional impairment in a convenience sample of 788 American adults recruited through MTURK. Data was collected across four waves between March and October 2020. Results: COVID-19 experiences were consistently associated with higher odds of probable anxiety and depression diagnoses. COVID-19 related stress also predicted large proportions of variance in anxiety, depression, and functional impairment in latent variable analyses. Overtime, the results indicated that while anxiety and depression decreased, functional impairment remained stable. Conclusions: These findings highlight the emotional toll of the COVID-19 pandemic over time. Decreases in COVID-19 related stress, anxiety, and depression over time may reflect resiliency among respondents. Importantly, these results underscore the continued need for mental health services as associations between COVID-19 and functional impairment remained consistent over time.

Examining the longitudinal effects and potential mechanisms of hope on COVID-19 stress, anxiety, and well-being.

Hope is a cognitive trait that predicts both resilience to and recovery from anxiety and stress-related disorders. The present study examines the prospective associations of hope with subsequent anxiety, stress, and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perceived emotional control, a transdiagnostic vulnerability factor, was also examined as a potential mediator of these relationships. American adults (N = 822) were recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic using Amazon mTURK and structural equation modeling was used to examine how trait hope predicted outcomes approximately one month later. Higher hope was associated with greater well-being and perceived emotional control, as well as lower levels of anxiety and COVID-19 perceived stress. Results also indicated an indirect effect of hope with all outcomes via perceived emotional control. These findings suggest that hope may associated with resilience to the chronic stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anxiety Sensitivity Moderates the Impact of COVID-19 Perceived Stress on Anxiety and Functional Impairment.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound negative impact on mental health symptoms and daily life functioning across the United States and worldwide. Past work has revealed that perceived stress relates to poorer outcomes, however, little work to date has examined factors that may exacerbate these outcomes, and no work to date has examined this relation in terms of COVID-19. Anxiety sensitivity is a promising individual difference factor that has shown to be related to mental health and functional impairment. Anxiety Sensitivity is also a vulnerability factor related to heightened stress perception. METHOD: Therefore, the current study sought to examine the potential moderating role of anxiety sensitivity in the relation between COVID-19 specific perceived stress and global anxiety symptom severity, anxious arousal symptom severity, and functional impairment among 563 adults (58.1% male; M age = 38.3 years; SD = 12.15). RESULTS: Results indicated a statistically significant interaction between COVID-19 perceived stress and anxiety sensitivity with global anxiety symptom severity, anxious arousal symptom severity, and functional impairment. Post-hoc analysis indicated that COVID-19 perceived stress was associated with an increased likelihood of clinically significant global anxiety symptom severity and anxious arousal symptom severity at higher levels of anxiety sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: The current study provides support for the role of anxiety sensitivity in identifying individuals at risk for clinically significant global anxiety symptom severity and anxious arousal symptom severity.

The Potential Unique Impacts of Hope and Resilience on Mental Health and Well-Being in the Wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Natural disasters can lead to mental health problems, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Higher levels of loss and/or disruption and prior trauma exposure constitute risk factors for mental illness, whereas protective factors, including hope and resilience, support positive functioning. The present cross-sectional study used structural equation modeling to examine the relative influence of resilience and hope on mental health and well-being 1-3 months after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in August 2017, among a sample of 829 adults in the Greater Houston, Texas area. Resilience was more strongly associated with reduced PTSD symptoms, ß = -.31, 95% CI [-.42, -.21], than was hope, ß = -.17, 95% CI [-;.30, -.04], whereas hope was more strongly associated with components of well-being, ßs = .47-.63. Hope was positively associated with posttraumatic growth, ß = .30, 95% CI [.19, .41], whereas resilience was negatively associated with posttraumatic growth, ß = -.24, 95% CI [-.35, -.12]. These associations remained consistent after considering risk factors, although more variance in trauma-related outcomes was risk factors were included in the model. The present results suggest that considering the influence of both risk and resilience factors provides an enhanced picture of postdisaster mental health.