UNCERTAINTY DISTRESS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF UNCERTAINTY AND THREAT RELATED COMPONENTS

NOGUEIRA-ARJONA, RAQUEL; ROMERO-SANCHIZ, PABLO; REQUENA, NEREA; GALEANO, PABLO; UNCERTAINTY IN CORONA VIRUS RESEARCH NETWORK, UNICORN

Belfast

Congreso; EABCT Annual Congress 2021; 2021

European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting an enormous strain on our mental health. Several studies have shown an increase in mood and anxiety disorders around the world. However, the mechanisms underlying the emotional distress provoked by the pandemic and its consequences remain unknown. Our international research network tested the uncertainty distress model as a potential framework to understand the emotional distress provoked by the pandemic. Eight hundred and seven Spanish speaking participants (Mage = 39.7, SD = 33.11, 68.9 % female) completed an online battery of questionnaires that evaluates the different components of the model (uncertainty distress, intolerance of uncertainty, perceived and actual uncertainty, and perceived and actual threat), as well as demographic and situational variables. The results show that, when threat related components of the model are entered first, they explain 24.9 % of the uncertainty distress variance and uncertainty related components explain 14.2 % of the uncertainty distress variance, after controlling for gender, age and education level. When the order is reversed, the uncertainty related components of the model explain 33.8 % and the threat related components explain 5.3 % of the uncertainty distress variance. Our results show that the components of our model significantly predict uncertainty distress in a Spanish speaking sample. These results support that uncertainty and threat, both actual and perceived, are independent mechanisms explaining uncertainty distress. Uncertainty related components of the model are stronger predictors of uncertainty distress than threat related components. These results also support the further study of the therapeutic intervention based on the uncertainty distress model.