Lee-Won Roselyn J, Jang Inyoung, Kim Hyun-Suk, Park Sung-Gwan
School of Communication, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Department of Communication, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jan 18;19(3):1062. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19031062.
How does future anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic relate to people's willingness to remain vigilant and adhere to preventive measures? We examined the mediating role of message fatigue and the moderating role of autonomy satisfaction in the relationship between future anxiety due to COVID-19 and willingness to remain vigilant. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with adults residing in the United States in June 2021 when numerous U.S. states re-opened following the CDC's relaxed guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals. Our data showed that message fatigue mediated the relationship between future anxiety due to the pandemic and willingness to remain vigilant. The data further revealed that autonomy satisfaction significantly moderated the mediation. Namely, the role of message fatigue in the indirect relationship between future anxiety and willingness to remain vigilant was significant only among people low to moderate in autonomy satisfaction; its role in the indirect path was not significant for those high in autonomy satisfaction. Notably, independent of the mechanism involving message fatigue, future anxiety was directly and positively associated with willingness to remain vigilant regardless of the levels of autonomy satisfaction. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of psychological and behavioral responses to the current pandemic and policy directions.
由新冠疫情引发的未来焦虑与人们保持警惕并坚持预防措施的意愿有怎样的关联？我们研究了信息疲劳的中介作用以及自主满意度在因新冠疫情产生的未来焦虑与保持警惕意愿之间关系中的调节作用。2021年6月，在美国众多州按照疾病控制与预防中心针对完全接种疫苗者放宽的指导方针重新开放之际，我们对居住在美国的成年人开展了一项横断面在线调查。我们的数据表明，信息疲劳在因疫情产生的未来焦虑与保持警惕意愿之间起中介作用。数据还进一步显示，自主满意度对这一中介作用有显著的调节作用。也就是说，信息疲劳在未来焦虑与保持警惕意愿的间接关系中的作用仅在自主满意度低至中等的人群中显著；对于自主满意度高的人，其在间接路径中的作用并不显著。值得注意的是，不考虑涉及信息疲劳的机制，无论自主满意度水平如何，未来焦虑都与保持警惕意愿直接且正相关。我们根据对当前疫情的心理和行为反应以及政策方向对这些研究结果的意义进行了讨论。
