Rodrigues David L, Zoppolat Giulia, Balzarini Rhonda N, B Slatcher Richard
Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, CIS-Iscte, Lisboa, Portugal.
Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Psychol Health. 2022 Dec;37(12):1605-1625. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2022.2067332. Epub 2022 May 5.
Self-regulation can help individuals cope during stressful events, but little is known about why and when this might occur. We examined if being more focused on prevention was linked to negative affective experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also examined possible underlying mechanisms for this association, and whether social support buffered it.
Pre-registered longitudinal study, with surveys every 2 weeks over one month ( = 1269).
Regulatory focus and worry for health (T1), adherence to self-isolation and preventive health behaviours (T2), negative affective experiences, positive affect, frequency of online interactions, and perceived social support (T3).
Prevention focus was associated with health worries at baseline and linked to greater adherence to preventive health behaviours (T2). Only adherence to self-isolation was linked to more negative affective experiences (T3). Exploratory analyses showed that prevention focus was linked to more negative affective experiences (T3), but only for participants with fewer online interactions with their family and less perceived social support from family and friends.
Prevention motives in threatening times can be a double-edged sword, with benefits for health behaviours and consequences for negative affective experiences. Having a strong social network during these times can alleviate these consequences.
自我调节有助于个体在压力事件中应对，但对于其发生的原因和时机却知之甚少。我们研究了在新冠疫情期间，更关注预防是否与负面情绪体验有关。我们还研究了这种关联可能的潜在机制，以及社会支持是否能起到缓冲作用。
预先注册的纵向研究，在一个月内每两周进行一次调查（n = 1269）。
调节焦点和对健康的担忧（T1）、对自我隔离和预防性健康行为的依从性（T2）、负面情绪体验、积极情绪、在线互动频率以及感知到的社会支持（T3）。
预防焦点在基线时与健康担忧相关，并与对预防性健康行为的更高依从性有关（T2）。只有对自我隔离的依从性与更多的负面情绪体验相关（T3）。探索性分析表明，预防焦点与更多的负面情绪体验相关（T3），但仅适用于与家人在线互动较少且从家人和朋友那里获得的社会支持较少的参与者。
在威胁时期，预防动机可能是一把双刃剑，对健康行为有益，但会带来负面情绪体验。在这些时期拥有强大的社交网络可以减轻这些后果。
