IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i3p981-d485561.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • Lijun Zhuo

    (School of Medicine and Health Management of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
    These authors contributed equally to this study.)

  • Qian Wu

    (School of Medicine and Health Management of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China
    These authors contributed equally to this study.)

  • Hong Le

    (School of Medicine and Health Management of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

  • Hao Li

    (School of Medicine and Health Management of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

  • Ling Zheng

    (School of Medicine and Health Management of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

  • Guoqing Ma

    (School of Medicine and Health Management of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

  • Hongbing Tao

    (School of Medicine and Health Management of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Lijun Zhuo & Qian Wu & Hong Le & Hao Li & Ling Zheng & Guoqing Ma & Hongbing Tao, 2021. "COVID-19-Related Intolerance of Uncertainty and Mental Health among Back-To-School Students in Wuhan: The Moderation Effect of Social Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-11, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:3:p:981-:d:485561
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/3/981/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/3/981/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xin Li & Peixin Lu & Lianting Hu & Tianhui Huang & Long Lu, 2020. "Factors Associated with Mental Health Results among Workers with Income Losses Exposed to COVID-19 in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-11, August.
    2. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2020_011 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Caggiano, Giovanni & Castelnuovo, Efrem & Kima, Richard, 2020. "The global effects of Covid-19-induced uncertainty," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    4. Jiannan Li & Wenqi Liang & Bocong Yuan & Guojun Zeng, 2020. "Internalized Stigmatization, Social Support, and Individual Mental Health Problems in the Public Health Crisis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-14, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peng Wan & Jinsheng Hu & Qi Li, 2023. "Impact of Social Support on Depressive Symptoms among Postgraduates during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: A Moderated Mediation Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-13, February.
    2. Aylin Arici & Sayra Lotfi & Hatice Selin Irmak & Beyza Erkoç & Taner Artan, 2024. "Return to School Anxiety after Covid-19 in High School Students: A Field Study in Turkey," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(1), pages 349-366, February.
    3. José M. Ramírez-Hurtado & Alfredo G. Hernández-Díaz & Ana D. López-Sánchez & Víctor E. Pérez-León, 2021. "Measuring Online Teaching Service Quality in Higher Education in the COVID-19 Environment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-14, March.
    4. Aina Gabarrell-Pascuet & Helena García-Mieres & Iago Giné-Vázquez & Maria Victoria Moneta & Ai Koyanagi & Josep Maria Haro & Joan Domènech-Abella, 2023. "The Association of Social Support and Loneliness with Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, and Posttraumatic Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-25, February.
    5. Mohamad-Hani Temsah & Shuliweeh Alenezi & Mohammed Alarabi & Fadi Aljamaan & Khalid Alhasan & Rasha Assiri & Rolan Bassrawi & Fatimah Alshahrani & Ali Alhaboob & Ali Alaraj & Nasser S. Alharbi & Abdul, 2022. "Healthcare Workers’ SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant Uncertainty-Related Stress, Resilience, and Coping Strategies during the First Week of the World Health Organization’s Alert," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-19, February.
    6. Hui Zhou & Eva P. W. Hung & Li Xie & Zhen Yuan & Anise M. S. Wu, 2022. "The Application of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Model to Gambling Urge and Involvement," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-11, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yan Wang & Tachia Chin & Francesco Caputo & Hanfeng Liu, 2022. "How Supportive Leadership Promotes Employee Innovation under Uncertainty: Evidence from Chinese E-Commerce Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-14, June.
    2. Miescu, Mirela & Rossi, Raffaele, 2021. "COVID-19-induced shocks and uncertainty," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    3. Norbert Bajkó & Zsolt Fülöp & Kinga Nagyné Pércsi, 2022. "Changes in the Innovation- and Marketing-Habits of Family SMEs in the Foodstuffs Industry, Caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic in Hungary," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Jianchun Fang & Giray Gozgor & Sercan Pekel, 2020. "Where You Export Matters: Measuring Uncertainty in Turkey's Export Markets," CESifo Working Paper Series 8404, CESifo.
    5. Zaghum Umar & Mariya Gubareva & Tatiana Sokolova, 2021. "The impact of the Covid-19 related media coverage upon the five major developing markets," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(7), pages 1-28, July.
    6. Andrea Carriero & Todd E. Clark & Massimiliano Marcellino & Elmar Mertens, 2020. "Measuring Uncertainty and Its Effects in the COVID-19 Era," Working Papers 20-32R, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, revised 05 Jan 2022.
    7. Afees A. Salisu & Idris A. Adediran & Rangan Gupta, 2021. "A Note on the COVID-19 Shock and Real GDP in Emerging Economies: A Counterfactual Analysis from the Threshold-Augmented Global Vector Autoregressive Model," Working Papers 202149, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    8. Markus Brueckner & Joaquin Vespignani, 2021. "COVID‐19 Infections and the Performance of the Stock Market: An Empirical Analysis for Australia," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 40(3), pages 173-193, September.
    9. Maysa H. Almomani & Wejdan A. Khater & Laila M. Akhu-Zaheya & Aladeen Alloubani & Safa A. AlAshram & Mohammed Azab & Adeeb K. Al-malkawi, 2022. "Nurses’ Experiences of Caring for Patients with COVID-19: A Qualitative Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, December.
    10. Peng-Fei Dai & Xiong Xiong & Zhifeng Liu & Toan Luu Duc Huynh & Jianjun Sun, 2021. "Preventing crash in stock market: The role of economic policy uncertainty during COVID-19," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-15, December.
    11. Todd Sandler, 2023. "COVID-19 Activities: Publicness and Strategic Concerns," Games, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, January.
    12. Pedro M. Nogueira Reis, 2022. "Determinants of Qualified Investor Sentiment during the COVID-19 Pandemic in North America, Asia, and Europe," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    13. Arigoni, Filippo & Lenarčič, Črt, 2023. "Foreign economic policy uncertainty shocks and real activity in the Euro area," MPRA Paper 120022, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Hao Li & Ling Zheng & Hong Le & Lijun Zhuo & Qian Wu & Guoqing Ma & Hongbing Tao, 2020. "The Mediating Role of Internalized Stigma and Shame on the Relationship between COVID-19 Related Discrimination and Mental Health Outcomes among Back-to-School Students in Wuhan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-14, December.
    15. Pop, Ionuț Daniel, 2022. "COVID-19 crisis, voters’ drivers, and financial markets consequences on US presidential election and global economy," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    16. Pavel Kotyza & Katarzyna Czech & Michał Wielechowski & Luboš Smutka & Petr Procházka, 2021. "Sugar Prices vs. Financial Market Uncertainty in the Time of Crisis: Does COVID-19 Induce Structural Changes in the Relationship?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-16, January.
    17. Luigi Infante & Francesca Lilla & Francesco Vercelli, 2023. "The effects of the pandemic on households' financial savings: a Bayesian structural VAR analysis," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1421, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    18. Fan Yang & Yao Jiang, 2020. "Heterogeneous Influences of Social Support on Physical and Mental Health: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-17, September.
    19. Castillo, Brenda & León, Ángel & Ñíguez, Trino-Manuel, 2021. "Backtesting VaR under the COVID-19 sudden changes in volatility," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    20. Klose, Jens & Tillmann, Peter, 2022. "The Real and Financial Impact of COVID-19 Around the World," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264030, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:3:p:981-:d:485561. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.