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From Perceived Vulnerability to Disease to Psychological Distress in times of COVID19 pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

A.T. Pereira ,
C. Cabacos ,
A. Araújo ,
A. Manão ,
A.P. Amaral ,
M.J. Soares ,
R. De Sousa  and
A. Macedo
A.T. Pereira*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
C. Cabacos
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal University Beira Interior, Faculty Of Health Sciences, Covilhã, Portugal
A. Araújo
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal University Beira Interior, Faculty Of Health Sciences, Covilhã, Portugal
A. Manão
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
A.P. Amaral
Affiliation:
Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, Icnas, Coimbra, Portugal
M.J. Soares
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
R. De Sousa
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
A. Macedo
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal University Beira Interior, Faculty Of Health Sciences, Covilhã, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Perceived vulnerability to disease/PVD may influence psychological reactions to COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives

To analyse the role of PVD in psychological distress/PD during the COVID-19 pandemic, testing whether it is mediated by perceived risk of COVID-19, fear of COVID-19 and repetitive negative thinking/RNT.

Methods

Participants (N=413 adults; 69.2% women) were recruited from September until December 2020, via social networks. They completed the following self-report validated questionnaires: Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Questionnaire/PVDQ; Perceived Risk of COVID-19 Scale, Fear of COVID-19 Scale; Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. As women had significantly higher levels of PVD, COVID-19 perceived risk and fear, RNT, and psychological distress/PD, gender was controlled in mediation analysis (using PROCESS macro for SPSS; Hayes 2018).

Results

All the variables significantly (p<.01), moderately (r>.20) and positively correlated. The serial mediation model 6 with the three sequential mediators resulted in significant total effect (c=.326, se=.0791, p<.001, CI:.1702-.4814), non-significant direct effect (c’=.111, se=.065, p=.087, CI:-.0162 to .2380), significant total indirect effect (.2149, se=.065, CI:.1079-.3278); most indirect effects were significant, including the indirect 7 (.0144, se=.0077, CI=.0017-.0320), that goes through all mediators (PVD->COVID19 perceived risk->COVID19 fear->RNT->PD), meaning full mediation.

Conclusions

The effect of PVD on psychological distress operates by increasing the perception of risk and the fear of COVID-19, which intensify related worries and ruminations in times of pandemic. People with high perceived threat, aversion and discomfort in situations associated with increased risk of infection should be helped to decrease dysfunctional cognitive contents and processes in times of pandemic.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

diseaseCOVID19 pandemicpsychological distressvulnerability
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S266
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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