Associations of risk perception of COVID-19 with emotion and mental health during the pandemic

Han Q. Zheng B. Agostini M. Bélanger J.J. Gützkow B. Kreienkamp J. Reitsema A.M. van Breen J.A. Leander N.P. Abakoumkin G. Abdul Khaiyom J.H.B. Ahmedi V. Akkas H. Almenara C.A. Atta M. Bagci S.C. Basel S. Kida E.B. Buttrick N.R. Chobthamkit P. Choi H.-S. Cristea M. Csaba S. Damnjanović K. Danyliuk I. Dash A. Di Santo D. Douglas K.M. Enea V. Faller D.G. Fitzsimons G.J. Gheorghiu A. Grzymala-Moszczynska J. Gómez Á. Hamaidia A. Helmy M. Hudiyana J. Jeronimus B.F. Jiang D.-Y. Jovanović V. Kamenov Ž. Kende A. Keng S.-L. Kieu T.T.T. Koc Y. Kovyazina K. Kozytska I. Krause J. Kruglanski A.W. Kurapov A. Kutlaca M. Lantos N.A. Lemay E.P. Lesmana C.B.J. Louis W.R. Lueders A. Malik N.I. Martinez A.P. McCabe K.O. Mehulić J. Milla M.N. Mohammed I. Molinario E. Moyano M. Muhammad H. Mula S. Muluk H. Myroniuk S. Najafi R. Nisa C.F. Nyúl B. OKeefe P.A. Osuna J.J.O. Osin E.N. Park J. Pica G. Pierro A. Rees J.H. Resta E. Rullo M. Ryan M.K. Samekin A. Santtila P. Sasin E. Schumpe B.M. Selim H.A. Stanton M.V. Stroebe W. Sultana S. Sutton R.M. Tseliou E. Utsugi A. van Lissa C.J. van Veen K. van Dellen M.R. Vázquez A. Wollast R. Yeung V.W. Zand S. Žeželj I.L. Zick A. Zúñiga C.
1 April 2021 Elsevier B.V.

Journal of Affective Disorders
2021 #284 247 - 255 pp.

Background: Although there are increasing concerns on mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, no large-scale population-based studies have examined the associations of risk perception of COVID-19 with emotion and subsequent mental health. Methods: This study analysed cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the PsyCorona Survey that included 54,845 participants from 112 countries, of which 23,278 participants are representative samples of 24 countries in terms of gender and age. Specification curve analysis (SCA) was used to examine associations of risk perception of COVID-19 with emotion and self-rated mental health. This robust method considers all reasonable model specifications to avoid subjective analytical decisions while accounting for multiple testing. Results: All 162 multilevel linear regressions in the SCA indicated that higher risk perception of COVID-19 was significantly associated with less positive or more negative emotions (median standardised β=-0.171, median SE=0.004, P<0.001). Specifically, regressions involving economic risk perception and negative emotions revealed stronger associations. Moreover, risk perception at baseline survey was inversely associated with subsequent mental health (standardised β=-0.214, SE=0.029, P<0.001). We further used SCA to explore whether this inverse association was mediated by emotional distress. Among the 54 multilevel linear regressions of mental health on risk perception and emotion, 42 models showed a strong mediation effect, where no significant direct effect of risk perception was found after controlling for emotion (P>0.05). Limitations: Reliance on self-reported data. Conclusions: Risk perception of COVID-19 was associated with emotion and ultimately mental health. Interventions on reducing excessive risk perception and managing emotional distress could promote mental health.

COVID-19 , Emotion , Mental health , Risk perception

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School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
Ageing Epidemiology Research Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Department of Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Department of Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
University of Thessaly, Greece
International Islamic University, Malaysia
Pristine University
Ankara Science University
Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas
University of Sargodha
Sabancı University
New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
University of Virginia
Thammasat University
Sungkyunkwan University
Heriot Watt University
ELTE Eötvös Loránd University
University of Belgrade
Taras Shevchenko University
Leuphana University of Luneburg
University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
University of Kent
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
Duke University
Jagiellonian University
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
Setif 2 University
Menoufia University
Universitas Indonesia
University of Groningen
National Chung-Cheng University
University of Novi Sad
University of Zagreb
Eötvös Loránd University
Yale-NUS College
HCMC University of Education
Kazakhstan
University of Maryland
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Durham University, University of Osnabrück
Udayana University
University of Queensland
Université Clermont-Auvergne
University of Sheffield
Vanderbilt University
Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria
University of Cordoba
University of Peshawar
Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch
National Distance Education University (UNED)
National Research University, Higher School of Economics
NUCB Business School
University of Bielefeld
University of Siena
University of Exeter, University of Groningen
International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan
New York University Shanghai
King Saud University
California State University, East Bay, United States
Nagoya University
Utrecht University
University of Georgia
Lingnan University
Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

School of Psychological Science
Ageing Epidemiology Research Unit
Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Department of Psychology
University of Thessaly
International Islamic University
Pristine University
Ankara Science University
Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas
University of Sargodha
Sabancı University
New York University
University of Virginia
Thammasat University
Sungkyunkwan University
Heriot Watt University
ELTE Eötvös Loránd University
University of Belgrade
Taras Shevchenko University
Leuphana University of Luneburg
University La Sapienza
University of Kent
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
Duke University
Jagiellonian University
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
Setif 2 University
Menoufia University
Universitas Indonesia
University of Groningen
National Chung-Cheng University
University of Novi Sad
University of Zagreb
Eötvös Loránd University
Yale-NUS College
HCMC University of Education
Kazakhstan
University of Maryland
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Durham University
Udayana University
University of Queensland
Université Clermont-Auvergne
University of Sheffield
Vanderbilt University
Usmanu Danfodiyo University
University of Cordoba
University of Peshawar
Islamic Azad University
National Distance Education University (UNED)
National Research University
NUCB Business School
University of Bielefeld
University of Siena
University of Exeter
International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan
New York University Shanghai
King Saud University
California State University
Nagoya University
Utrecht University
University of Georgia
Lingnan University
Universidad de Chile

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