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Cited by 68COVID-19 and Mental HealthStudent Stress and CopingAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

COVID-19-Related Intolerance of Uncertainty and Mental Health among Back-To-School Students in Wuhan: The Moderation Effect of Social Support

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Zhuo, Lijun, Wu, Qian, Le, Hong, Li, Hao, Zheng, Ling, Ma, Guoqing, Tao, Hongbing·2021·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI 10.3390/ijerph18030981PMC PMC7908243
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Abstract

The current wave and future trend of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has triggered public uncertainty, causing unbearable psychological pressure on people. A cross-sectional online questionnaire was conducted among back-to-school students in Wuhan from 31 August 2020, to 14 September 2020, by using convenience sampling. A total of 1017 participants voluntarily provided sociodemographic characteristics and accomplished the following scales: the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS-12), the Social Support Scale (SSQ), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Insomnia Severity Index-7 (ISI-7). Results revealed that the levels of anxiety, depression, and insomnia were moderate, moderate and subthreshold, respectively. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance indicated that those with different attitudes toward the trajectory of the COVID-19 epidemic in China showed significantly different results in anxiety and depression (p < 0.001). Moderation modeling implicated that social support significantly moderated the predictive relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and mental health variables including anxiety and depression, but failed on insomnia. Findings indicate that back-to-school students in Wuhan experience mental health problems and improving social support measures could buffer the effect of intolerance of uncertainty with respect to COVID-19 on mental health.

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  • A positive relationship exists between intolerance of uncertainty and depression, anxiety, and stress in individuals over 18 years of age.

    “In the literature, a positive relationship was found between intolerance for uncertainty with depression, anxiety, and stress in individuals over 18 years of age (Bakioğlu et al. 2020, Fedorenko et al. 2021, Zhuo et al. 2021).”

    From DETERMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEALTH TECHNICIAN STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND INTOLERANCE OF UNCERTAINTY WITH DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS LEVELS (2023) · cites this paper as Zhuo et al. 2021

    The Conclusions report a positive association between intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety and depression. The Participants section specifies back-to-school college students in Wuhan who were at least 18 years old, not individuals over 18 generally. The study reports insomnia rather than stress as an outcome, so it does not support the stress portion of the claim. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Zhuo, L., Wu, Q., Le, H., Li, H., Zheng, L., Ma, G., & Tao, H.
Affiliations
Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN)
Corresponding author
Tao, Hongbing
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2021-01-22
Volume
18
Issue
3
Pages
981
ISSN
1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ijerph18030981
PMC
PMC7908243
OpenAlex
W3121892589
Cited by
68
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 7
FWCI
10.06
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Student Stress and Coping
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, intolerance of uncertainty, mental health, social support, moderating effect, anxiety, depression, insomnia, Wuhan
MeSH terms
Return to School, COVID-19, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, China, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Surveys and Questionnaires, Schools, Social Support, Students, Uncertainty, Young Adult

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