Velotti Patrizia, Rogier Guyonne, Beomonte Zobel Sara, Castellano Rosetta, Tambelli Renata
Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jan 8;11:581494. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.581494. eCollection 2020.
Our study aimed to test the hypotheses that an increased level of loneliness experienced during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) confinement was predictive of internalizing symptoms and that this pathway was mediated by emotion dysregulation levels. To reach this aim, we performed an online longitudinal survey recruiting 1,330 participants at Time 1 (at the beginning of the lockdown) and 308 participants at Time 2 (few days before the end of the lockdown). All filled out a set of questionnaires: demographic data, University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-18 items, and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 items. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling in two steps and controlling for age. First, hypotheses were tested on cross-sectional data. Then, a cross-lagged panel analysis was performed on longitudinal data. Models obtained a good fit and evidenced the predictive role of loneliness levels on the three outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress). Moreover, we found that emotion dysregulation levels partially mediated the longitudinal relationship between loneliness and both depression and stress but not between loneliness and anxiety levels. This study points out that a central goal of clinical intervention could be the ability to regulate negative emotional states.
在2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）隔离期间经历的孤独感增强可预测内化症状，且这一途径由情绪失调水平介导。为实现这一目标，我们开展了一项在线纵向调查，在时间1（封锁开始时）招募了1330名参与者，在时间2（封锁结束前几天）招募了308名参与者。所有人都填写了一系列问卷：人口统计学数据、加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校孤独感量表、18项情绪调节困难量表以及21项抑郁焦虑压力量表。使用结构方程模型分两步并控制年龄来检验假设。首先，在横断面数据上检验假设。然后，对纵向数据进行交叉滞后面板分析。模型拟合良好，证明了孤独感水平对三种结果（即抑郁、焦虑和压力）的预测作用。此外，我们发现情绪失调水平部分介导了孤独感与抑郁和压力之间的纵向关系，但未介导孤独感与焦虑水平之间的纵向关系。这项研究指出，临床干预的一个核心目标可能是调节负面情绪状态的能力。
