Emotion Regulation and Coronavirus Anxiety: The Moderating Role of Perceived Social Support

Yıl 2022, Cilt: 9 Sayı: 2, 424 - 442, 30.06.2022

Nazif Kutay Erden , Ayşe Berna Sarı

https://doi.org/10.31682/ayna.1065638

Cited By: 2

Öz

COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the whole world rapidly. Due to serious preventive measures, many people had to change their everyday routines which may have an influence on their behavioral and emotional states. Hence, the pandemic has been a threat not only to physical health but also to mental health. During the pandemic people who had seen or experienced the adverse effects of the pandemic might have been suffering from coronavirus anxiety. Emotion regulation skills can function as a protective factor against anxiety while difficulties in emotion regulation may be related to elevated coronavirus anxiety. Preventive measures of the pandemic also reduced social contact, which may, in turn, reduce perceived social support. Due to close links with both emotion regulation and anxiety, perceived social support may be a mechanism moderating the relationship between emotion regulation and coronavirus anxiety. The current study sought to assess this moderation model. To this aim, we recruited 282 adult volunteers to fill in self-report questionnaires in emotion regulation, perceived social support and coronavirus anxiety. Results revealed a positive correlation between difficulties in emotion regulation and coronavirus anxiety. Furthermore, perceived social support was significantly moderating this relationship. However, the relationship between the difficulties in emotion regulation and coronavirus anxiety was stronger as the level of perceived social support increased. The findings are discussed in light of the current literature.

Anahtar Kelimeler

emotion regulation, Coronavirus anxiety, Percieved social support, COVID-19 Pandemic, Moderation, communication

Duygu Düzenleme ve Koronavirüs Kaygısı: Algılanan Sosyal Desteğin Aracı Rolü

Öz

COVID-19 virüsü tüm dünyayı hızla etkisi altına almıştır. Dünya çapında çeşitli karantinalar uygulanmış, insanların zorunlu durumlar haricinde evlerinden çıkmamaları, maske ve mesafe kavramlarına dikkat etmeleri için kesin kurallar konulmuştur. Alışılagelmiş davranış dinamiklerinin dışına çıkmak zorunda kalan bireylerde çeşitli duygu ve davranış değişiklikleri görülebilir. Dolayısıyla COVID-19 küresel salgını yalnızca fiziksel iyi oluş için değil mental iyi oluş için de bir risk faktörü oluşturabilir. Salgın sürecinde çeşitli beklenmedik durumlarla karşılaşan veya pandeminin seyrini basından takip eden birçok kişinin koronavirüs kaygısı yaşadıkları gözlemlenmiştir. Duygu düzenleme becerilerinin genel kaygı hususunda olduğu gibi koronavirüs kaygısı için de koruyucu bir faktör olabileceği düşünülmektedir. Bu çerçevede duygu düzenleme konusunda yaşanılan sıkıntılar da yüksek koronavirüs kaygısı ile ilişkilendirilebilir. Bununla birlikte COVID-19 salgınının yayılmasına karşı alınması gereken önlemler sebebiyle tecrübe edilen sosyal izolasyon, mental iyi oluş için önem teşkil eden algılanan sosyal desteği azaltma potansiyeline de sahiptir. Algılanan sosyal destek ise duygu düzenleme ve kaygı ile olan yakın ilişkisi sebebiyle bu iki değişken arasında aracı rol oynayan faktörlerden biri olarak karşımıza çıkabilir. Bu çalışmada duygu düzenleme ve koronavirüs kaygısı arasındaki ilişkide algılanan sosyal desteğin aracı rolü incelenmiştir. Bu amaçla 282 gönüllü yetişkin çevrimiçi ortamda duygu düzenleme, koronavirüs kaygısı ve algılanan sosyal destek ölçeklerini doldurmuşlardır. Bulgulara göre duygu düzenlemede güçlükler (alt boyutları da dahil olmak üzere) ile koronavirüs kaygısı arasında pozitif bir ilişki vardır ve algılanan sosyal destek bu ilişkiye aracılık etmektedir. Ancak koronavirüs kaygısı-duygu düzenlemede güçlükler ilişkisi algılanan sosyal desteğin yüksek olduğu durumlarda daha güçlü olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Sonuçlar var olan literatür çerçevesinde tartışılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Duygu düzenleme, Koronavirüs kaygısı, Algılanan sosyal destek, Covid-19 Küresel Salgını, Aracı değişken, iletişim

Kaynakça

• Barlow, D. H. (2002). Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic. Guilford press.
• Bell, K. L. ve Calkins, S. D. (2000). Relationships as inputs and outputs of emotion regulation. Psychological Inquiry, 11(3), 160–163.
• Berking, M. ve Wupperman, P. (2012). Emotion regulation and mental health: Recent findings, current challenges, and future directions. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 25(2), 128–134.
• Berkman, L. F. (1983). The assessment of social networks and social support in the elderly. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
• Bhatta, K. R., Shrestha, P., Khati, K., Joshi, P. R., Thagunna, N. S., Shrestha, K., & Pokharel, T. P. (2021). Prevalence and factors influencing COVID-19 Anxiety among Nepalese Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 9(3).
• Bi̇çer, İ., Çakmak, C. ve Demi̇R, H. (2020). Coronavirus Anxiety Scale Short Form: Turkish validity and reliability study. Anadolu Kliniği Tıp Bilimleri Dergisi, 216–225. https://doi.org/10.21673/anadoluklin.731092
• Bjureberg, J., Ljótsson, B., Tull, M. T., Hedman, E., Sahlin, H., Lundh, L. G., Bjärehed, J., DiLillo, D., Messman-Moore, T., Hellner Gumpert, C. ve Gratz, K. L. (2016). Development and validation of a brief version of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale: the DERS-16. Journal of psychopathology and behavioral assessment, 38(2), 284-296.
• Boserup, B., McKenney, M. ve Elkbuli, A. (2020). Alarming trends in US domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The American journal of emergency medicine, 38(12), 2753-2755.
• Brehl, A.-K., Schene, A., Kohn, N. ve Fernández, G. (2021). Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in a vulnerable population predict increased anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic: A pseudo-prospective study. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 4, 100113.
• Buckner, J. D., Lewis, E. M., Abarno, C. N., Morris, P. E., Glover, N. I. ve Zvolensky, M. J. (2021). Difficulties with emotion regulation and drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic among undergraduates: The serial mediation of COVID-related distress and drinking to cope with the pandemic. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 50(4), 261–275. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2020.1861084
• Campbell-Sills, L., Ellard, K. K., & Barlow, D. H. (2014). Emotion regulation in anxiety disorders. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 393–412). The Guilford Press.
• Cengiz, G. F., & Gürel, G. (2020). Difficulties in emotion regulation and quality of life in patients with acne. Quality of Life Research, 29(2), 431-438.
• Chen, Y., Huang, X., Zhang, C., An, Y., Liang, Y., Yang, Y. ve Liu, Z. (2021). Prevalence and predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety among hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in China. BMC Psychiatry, 21(1), 1–8.
• Cisler, J. M., Olatunji, B. O., Feldner, M. T. ve Forsyth, J. P. (2010). Emotion regulation and the anxiety disorders: An integrative review. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 32(1), 68–82.
• Cohen, J. (1988). Set correlation and contingency tables. Applied psychological measurement, 12(4), 425-434. Cohen, S., Underwood, L. G. ve Gottlieb, B. H. (2000). Social support measurement and intervention: A guide for health and social scientists. Oxford University Press.
• Cullen, W., Gulati, G. ve Kelly, B. D. (2020). Mental health in the Covid-19 pandemic. QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, 113(5), 311–312.
• Çetinkaya, G. ve Ülper, H., (2019). Yabancı dil olarak Türkçe öğrenen öğrencilerin kullandıkları sözcük öğrenme stratejileri ile sözcük dağarcıkları arasındaki i̇lişkinin i̇ncelenmesi.
• d’Arbeloff, T. C., Freedy, K. R., Knodt, A. R., Radtke, S. R., Brigidi, B. D. ve Hariri, A. R. (2018). Emotion Regulation and the Experience of Future Negative Mood: The Importance of Assessing Social Support. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02287
• Desrosiers, A., Vine, V., Klemanski, D. H. ve Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2013). Mindfulness and emotion regulation in depression and anxiety: Common and distinct mechanisms of action. Depression and Anxiety, 30(7), 654–661.
• Di Blasi, M., Gullo, S., Mancinelli, E., Freda, M. F., Esposito, G., Gelo, O. C. G., Lagetto, G., Giordano, C., Mazzeschi, C., Pazzagli, C., Salcuni, S. ve Lo Coco, G. (2021). Psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 lockdown: A two-wave network analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 284, 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.02.016
• Dovbysh, D. V. ve Kiseleva, M. G. (2020). Cognitive emotion regulation, anxiety, and depression in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Psychology in Russia: State of the Art, 13(4), 134–147.
• Eker, D. D., Arkar, D. H. ve Yaldiz, D. H. (2001). Çok Boyutlu Alg›lanan Sosyal Destek Ölçeği’nin Gözden Geçirilmiş Formunun Faktör Yapısı, Geçerlik ve Güvenirliği. Türk Psikiyatri Dergisi, 9. George, D., & Mallery, P. (2012). IBM SPSS statistics 19 step by step. Boston, Mass.
• Gerald, J. H. ve George, S. H. (2010). Self-report: Psychology’s four-letter word. American Journal of Psychology, 123(2), 181–188.
• Gerardo, G. M., Williams, D. P., Cooper, G., Vasey, M., Koenig, J., & Thayer, J. F. (2016). Different facets of emotion dysregulation as a mediator between resting heart rate variability and trait anxiety. Psychosom. Med, 78, A118-A118.
• González-Sanguino, C., Ausín, B., Castellanos, M. Á., Saiz, J., López-Gómez, A., Ugidos, C., & Muñoz, M. (2020). Mental health consequences of the coronavirus 2020 pandemic (COVID-19) in Spain. A longitudinal study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 1256.
• Gratz, K. L. ve Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26(1), 41–54.
• Grey, I., Arora, T., Thomas, J., Saneh, A., Tohme, P. ve Abi-Habib, R. (2020). The role of perceived social support on depression and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychiatry Research, 293, 113452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113452
• Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271–299.
• Gross, J. J. (2008). Emotion regulation. Handbook of emotions, 3(3), 497-513.
• Gross, J. J., Richards, J. M., & John, O. P. (2006). Emotion Regulation in Everyday Life. In D. K. Snyder, J. Simpson, & J. N. Hughes (Eds.), Emotion regulation in couples and families: Pathways to dysfunction and health (pp. 13–35). American Psychological Association.
• Gunning, M. D., Denison, F. C., Stockley, C. J., Ho, S. P., Sandhu, H. K., & Reynolds, R. M. (2010). Assessing maternal anxiety in pregnancy with the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI): issues of validity, location and participation. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 28(3), 266-273.
• Haber, M. G., Cohen, J. L., Lucas, T. ve Baltes, B. B. (2007). The relationship between self-reported received and perceived social support: A meta-analytic review. American Journal of Community Psychology, 39(1–2), 133–144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-007-9100-9
• Hayes, A. F. (2017). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Publications.
• Horwitz, E. K. (2010). Foreign and second language anxiety. Language teaching, 43(2), 154-167. Lee, S. A. (2020). Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: A brief mental health screener for COVID-19 related anxiety. Death Studies, 44(7), 393–401.
• Liu, X., Shao, L., Zhang, R., Wei, Y., Li, J., Wang, C., Hong, X. ve Zhou, F. (2020). Perceived Social Support and Its Impact on Psychological Status and Quality of Life of Medical Staffs After Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia: A Cross-Sectional Study (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 3541127). Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3541127
• Lopes, P. N., Salovey, P., Côté, S., Beers, M. ve Petty, R. E. (2005). Emotion regulation abilities and the quality of social interaction. Emotion, 5(1), 113.
• Lucock, M. P., & Morley, S. (1996). The health anxiety questionnaire. British journal of health psychology, 1(2), 137-150.
• Marroquín, B. (2011). Interpersonal emotion regulation as a mechanism of social support in depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(8), 1276–1290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2011.09.005
• Marroquín, B. ve Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2015). Emotion Regulation and Depressive Symptoms: Close Relationships as Social Context and Influence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(5), 836–855. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000034
• Mazloomzadeh, M., Asghari Ebrahim Abad, M. J., Shirkhani, M., Zamani Tavousi, A. ve Salayani, F. (2021). Relationship between Corona virus anxiety and health anxiety: Mediating role of emotion regulation difficulty. Journal of Clinical Psychology.
• Min, J.-A., Yu, J. J., Lee, C.-U. ve Chae, J.-H. (2013). Cognitive emotion regulation strategies contributing to resilience in patients with depression and/or anxiety disorders. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 54(8), 1190–1197.
• Muñoz-Navarro, R., Malonda, E., Llorca-Mestre, A., Cano-Vindel, A. ve Fernández-Berrocal, P. (2021). Worry about COVID-19 contagion and general anxiety: Moderation and mediation effects of cognitive emotion regulation. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 137, 311–318.
• Özmete, E. ve Pak, M. (2020). The relationship between anxiety levels and perceived social support during the pandemic of COVID-19 in Turkey. Social Work in Public Health, 35(7), 603–616.
• Panayiotou, G., Panteli, M. ve Leonidou, C. (2021). Coping with the invisible enemy: The role of emotion regulation and awareness in quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 19, 17–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.11.002
• Pfefferbaum, B. ve North, C. S. (2020). Mental health and the Covid-19 pandemic. New England Journal of Medicine, 383(6), 510–512.
• Preacher, K. J. ve Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891.
• Prikhidko, A., Long, H. ve Wheaton, M. G. (2020). The Effect of Concerns About COVID-19 on Anxiety, Stress, Parental Burnout, and Emotion Regulation: The Role of Susceptibility to Digital Emotion Contagion. Frontiers in Public Health, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.567250
• Rachman, S. (1998). A cognitive theory of obsessions. In Behavior and cognitive therapy today (pp. 209-222). Pergamon.
• Riaz, M., Abid, M. ve Bano, Z. (2021). Psychological problems in general population during covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan: Role of cognitive emotion regulation. Annals of Medicine, 53(1), 189–196.
• Rugancı, R. N. ve Gençöz, T. (2010). Psychometric properties of a Turkish version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 66(4), 442-455.
• Salari, N., Hosseinian-Far, A., Jalali, R., Vaisi-Raygani, A., Rasoulpoor, S., Mohammadi, M., Rasoulpoor, S. ve Khaledi-
• Paveh, B. (2020). Prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Globalization and Health, 16(1), 1–11.
• Sarason, I. G., & Sarason, B. R. (1990). Test anxiety. In Handbook of social and evaluation anxiety (pp. 475-495). Springer, Boston, MA.
• Sarason, B. R., Sarason, I. G., & Pierce, G. R. (1990). Traditional views of social support and their impact on assessment. In B. R. Sarason, I. G. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.), Social support: An interactional view (pp. 9–25). John Wiley & Sons.
• Shevlin, M., McBride, O., Murphy, J., Miller, J. G., Hartman, T. K., Levita, L., ... & Bentall, R. P. (2020). Anxiety, depression, traumatic stress and COVID-19-related anxiety in the UK general population during the COVID-19 pandemic. BJPsych open, 6(6).
• Shukla, M., & Pandey, R. (2021). Identifying the transdiagnostic and unique domains of emotion regulation difficulties in subclinical conditions of anxiety and co-occurring anxiety-depression. Current Psychology, 40(6), 2896-2909.
• Skalski, S., Uram, P., Dobrakowski, P. ve Kwiatkowska, A. (2021). The link between ego-resiliency, social support, SARS-CoV-2 anxiety and trauma effects. Polish adaptation of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 171, 110540.
• Solbakken, O. A., Ebrahimi, O. V., Hoffart, A., Monsen, J. T. ve Johnson, S. U. (2021). Emotion regulation difficulties and interpersonal problems during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Predicting anxiety and depression. Psychological Medicine, 1–16.
• Spielberger, C. D. (Ed.). (2013). Anxiety: Current trends in theory and research. Elsevier. Ünal, B. ve Gülseren, L. (2020). COVID-19 pandemisinin görünmeyen yüzü: Aile içi kadına yönelik şiddet. Klinik Psikiyatri Dergisi, 23, 89-94.
• Vindegaard, N. ve Benros, M. E. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic and mental health consequences: Systematic review of the current evidence. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 89, 531–542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.05.048
• Wang, Q.-Q., Fang, Y.-Y., Huang, H.-L., Lv, W.-J., Wang, X.-X., Yang, T.-T., Yuan, J.-M., Gao, Y., Qian, R.-L. ve Zhang, Y.-H. (2021). Anxiety, depression and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 outbreak. Journal of Nursing Management.
• Williams, D. P., Cash, C., Rankin, C., Bernardi, A., Koenig, J., & Thayer, J. F. (2015). Resting heart rate variability predicts self-reported difficulties in emotion regulation: a focus on different facets of emotion regulation. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 261.
• Yılmaz, E. ve Doğan, R. A. (2021). Covid-19 Pandemisi Nedeniyle Yaşanılan Toplumsal İzolasyonun Aile İçi ve Kadına Yönelik Şiddet Üzerine Etkisi. Unika Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi, (41).
• Yiğit, İ. ve Yiğit, M. G. (2019). Psychometric properties of Turkish version of difficulties in emotion regulation scale-brief form (DERS-16). Current Psychology, 38(6), 1503–1511.
• Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G. ve Farley, G. K. (1988). The multidimensional scale of perceived social support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30-41