Department of Counseling and College Development, St Edward's University, Austin, Texas, USA.
Department of Psychology, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Virginia, USA.
Death Stud. 2022;46(1):1-13. doi: 10.1080/07481187.2020.1775362. Epub 2020 Jun 16.
This study examined core belief violation and meaning making as mechanisms mediating the relationship between adherence to social isolation policies for mitigating coronavirus transmission and reduced coronavirus anxiety (CA). Adherence to social isolation policies (social distancing, sheltering in place, and cessation of long-distance travel), use of nonsocial precautionary measures (handwashing, wearing a mask), core belief violation, meaning made of the COVID pandemic, and CA were assessed in a sample of 408 North Americans. Process analysis revealed that adhering to social isolation policies predicted lower levels of CA and that this effect was largely mediated by conservation of core beliefs (e.g., in predictability, control, and self-agency) and ability to make meaning of the pandemic. In contrast, exclusive reliance on nonsocial protections such as handwashing and mask wearing was associated with high levels of CA. These results suggest that social isolation policies support the integrity of adherents' meaning systems, thereby mitigating distress, which carries useful implications for both policy and psychological intervention.
本研究考察了核心信念违背和意义建构作为调节减轻冠状病毒传播的社会隔离政策的遵守与减少冠状病毒焦虑（CA）之间关系的机制。在 408 名北美人的样本中评估了社会隔离政策（社交距离、就地避难、停止长途旅行）的遵守情况、非社交预防措施（洗手、戴口罩）、核心信念违背、对 COVID 大流行的意义建构以及 CA。过程分析表明，遵守社会隔离政策预测 CA 水平较低，而这种影响在很大程度上是通过保护核心信念（例如可预测性、控制和自我代理）和建构大流行意义的能力来介导的。相比之下，仅依赖洗手和戴口罩等非社交保护措施与高水平的 CA 相关。这些结果表明，社会隔离政策支持了遵守者的意义系统的完整性，从而减轻了痛苦，这对政策和心理干预都具有重要意义。
