Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.
Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China.
Front Public Health. 2022 Feb 8;10:832819. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.832819. eCollection 2022.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to observed increases in reported mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety symptoms. There is evidence attentional bias is associated with depression and anxiety, and it has been further suggested that anxiety sensitivity has a role in both the development and maintenance of depression and anxiety symptoms. Understanding these relationships may help inform preventative interventions for those at risk of mental health concerns. The present study explores the role of anxiety sensitivity, specifically physical and cognitive concerns, as a potential mediator of the relationship between attentional bias with depression and anxiety symptoms.
Participants ( = 460) were recruited from the general population in China, and completed an online survey between February and March, 2020 which included the Attention to Positive and Negative Information Scale (APNI), Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3) and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). After exploring the correlations between the measures, mediation analysis was performed to explore the role of anxiety sensitivity (physical and cognitive subscales) in the relationship between attentional bias and depression and anxiety (as measured by the DASS-21).
The results indicated that negative attention bias was significantly positively correlated with physical and cognitive concerns, physical and cognitive concerns were significantly positively correlated with depression and anxiety, and negative attention bias was significantly positively correlated with depression and anxiety (all < 0.001). Physical and cognitive anxiety sensitivity mediated the relationship between negative attention bias and both anxiety and depression symptoms.
Negative bias was associated with levels of anxiety and depression, and physical and cognitive anxiety sensitivity mediated associations between negative bias and anxiety and depression symptoms. The study provides theoretical support for intervention and guidance on individual mental health during the pandemic, and helps individuals increase their concern to negative emotions.
COVID-19 大流行导致报告的心理健康问题（如抑郁和焦虑症状）有所增加。有证据表明，注意力偏向与抑郁和焦虑有关，并且进一步表明，焦虑敏感在抑郁和焦虑症状的发展和维持中都起着作用。了解这些关系可能有助于为那些有心理健康问题风险的人提供预防干预措施。本研究探讨了焦虑敏感（特别是身体和认知方面）作为注意力偏向与抑郁和焦虑症状之间关系的潜在中介因素的作用。
参与者（n=460）从中国的一般人群中招募，并于 2020 年 2 月至 3 月之间在线完成了一项调查，其中包括注意积极和消极信息量表（APNI）、焦虑敏感指数-3（ASI-3）和抑郁、焦虑和压力量表（DASS-21）。在探索了这些措施之间的相关性之后，进行了中介分析，以探讨焦虑敏感（身体和认知子量表）在注意力偏向与抑郁和焦虑（由 DASS-21 测量）之间的关系中的作用。
结果表明，负性注意偏向与身体和认知关注呈显著正相关，身体和认知关注与抑郁和焦虑呈显著正相关，负性注意偏向与抑郁和焦虑呈显著正相关（均<0.001）。身体和认知性焦虑敏感性介导了负性注意偏向与焦虑和抑郁症状之间的关系。
负性偏向与焦虑和抑郁水平相关，身体和认知性焦虑敏感性介导了负性偏向与焦虑和抑郁症状之间的关联。该研究为大流行期间个体心理健康的干预和指导提供了理论支持，并帮助个体增加对负性情绪的关注。
