Days of worry: Emotional intelligence and social support mediate worry in the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
This study tested a model accounting for worries among 275 adults during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. The main hypothesis posited that psychological and instrumental social support will mediate the association between emotional intelligence and worry, controlling for the level of exposure to the virus risk and demographics. The results showed that social support mediated the above association: social support showed a negative association with worries while instrumental support showed a positive one. The results are discussed in light of existing findings and theories.
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COVID-19 stress and rumination are important vulnerability factors for psychological health during the pandemic.
“Second, this study also confirmed that COVID-19 stress and rumination are important vulnerability factors for psychological health.”
From Mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: exploring the role of psychological flexibility and stress-related variables. (2023) · cites this paper as Zysberg & Zisberg, 2020
Cites
Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire
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Life in the future versus life in the present
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“A recent study found an association between personality level flexibility and worry patterns, and with EI being located on a the flexibility-rigidity personality continuum, these findings suggest that EI may be involved in how effectively people process and cope with stress and worry (Tavakoli et al., 2019).”
ResultThe role of social support in anxiety for persons with COPD
DiNicola, G., Julian, L., Gregorich, S. E., Blanc, P. D., & Katz, P. P. (2013) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2012.09.022 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
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“At times, it leads to attempts to cope with and resolve threats, but at other times, it leads to rumination, or repetitive attempts to process the threat in an ineffective effort to resolve and overcome it (Anniko et al., 2019; Donovan et al., 2017).”
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Prudenzi, A., Graham, C. D., Rogerson, O., & O’Connor, D. B. (2023) · Psychology & Health · doi:10.1080/08870446.2021.2020272 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
- Authors
- Zysberg, L., & Zisberg, A.
- Affiliations
- Gordon Academic College of Education (IL)
- University of Haifa (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Zysberg, Leehu
- Venue
- Journal of Health Psychology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2020-08-18
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 268-277
- ISSN
- 1359-1053 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7277
- OpenAlex
- W3055588371
- Cited by
- 101
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 7.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Health Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotional Intelligence and Performance
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- worry, emotional intelligence, social support, instrumental support, psychological support, mediation, COVID-19 pandemic, adults
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adult, Humans, Social Support, Emotional Intelligence, Pandemics
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