TY - JOUR

T1 - Associations of risk perception of COVID-19 with emotion and mental health during the pandemic

AU - PsyCorona Collaboration

AU - Han, Qing

AU - Zheng, Bang

AU - Agostini, Maximilian

AU - Bélanger, Jocelyn J.

AU - Gützkow, Ben

AU - Kreienkamp, Jannis

AU - Reitsema, Anne Margit

AU - van Breen, Jolien A.

AU - Leander, N. Pontus

AU - Abakoumkin, Georgios

AU - Abdul Khaiyom, Jamilah H.B.

AU - Ahmedi, Vjollca

AU - Akkas, Handan

AU - Almenara, Carlos A.

AU - Atta, Mohsin

AU - Bagci, Sabahat Cigdem

AU - Basel, Sima

AU - Kida, Edona Berisha

AU - Buttrick, Nicholas R.

AU - Chobthamkit, Phatthanakit

AU - Choi, Hoon Seok

AU - Cristea, Mioara

AU - Csaba, Sára

AU - Damnjanović, Kaja

AU - Danyliuk, Ivan

AU - Dash, Arobindu

AU - Di Santo, Daniela

AU - Douglas, Karen M.

AU - Enea, Violeta

AU - Faller, Daiane Gracieli

AU - Fitzsimons, Gavan J.

AU - Gheorghiu, Alexandra

AU - Grzymala-Moszczynska, Joanna

AU - Gómez, Ángel

AU - Hamaidia, Ali

AU - Helmy, Mai

AU - Hudiyana, Joevarian

AU - Jeronimus, Bertus F.

AU - Jiang, Ding Yu

AU - Jovanović, Veljko

AU - Kamenov, Željka

AU - Kende, Anna

AU - Keng, Shian Ling

AU - Kieu, Tra Thi Thanh

AU - Koc, Yasin

AU - Kovyazina, Kamila

AU - Kozytska, Inna

AU - Krause, Joshua

AU - Kruglanski, Arie W.

AU - Kurapov, Anton

PY - 2021/4/1

Y1 - 2021/4/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Emotion

KW - Mental health

KW - Risk perception

KW - Business psychology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101302236&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/8292f1c9-a24d-325c-a87b-aa900100f6b4/

U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.049

DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.049

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 33602537

AN - SCOPUS:85101302236

VL - 284

SP - 247

EP - 255

JO - Journal of Affective Disorders

JF - Journal of Affective Disorders

SN - 0165-0327

ER -