Data_Sheet_1_Mental Well-Being During Pandemic: The Role of Cognitive Biases and Emotion Regulation Strategies in Risk Perception and Affective Response to COVID-19.PDF

Both cognitive appraisals of risks associated with the specific disease and affective response to crisis situations have been shown to shape an individual response to pandemics. COVID-19 pandemic and measures introduced to contain it present an unparalleled challenge to mental well-being worldwide. Here, we examine the relationship between self-reported cognitive biases (CB) and emotion regulation skills (ER), COVID-19 risk perception and affective response, and mental well-being (MWB). Five Hundred and Eleven individuals completed General Health Questionnaire, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Davos Assessment of Cognitive Biases Scale (DACOBS) as well as scales measuring COVID-19 risk perception and affective response during the initial days of the epidemic in Poland. We used path and bootstrapping analyses to examine the hypothesis that CB may shape MWB during COVID-19 pandemic both directly and indirectly by (i) decreasing ER capacity and (ii) by increasing COVID-19 risk perception and affective response. Negative effect of CB and positive effect of ER via cognitive reappraisal on MWB were observed in participants. Furthermore, in line with our hypothesis, we observed indirect effects of CB via increased COVID-19 risk perception and affective response and decreased use of reappraisal strategy, which all, in turn, were related to MWB. Finally, we found an indirect effect of CB on MWB through double mediation of suppression strategies and COVID-19 affective response. Results of the current study suggest that CB, which have been shown to be linked to a variety of mental health symptoms in non-clinical populations, may exacerbate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health outcomes.

认知上对特定疾病风险的评估以及对危机情境的情感反应，已被证实能够塑造个体对流行病的应对策略。COVID-19大流行及其采取的防控措施，对全球心理健康构成了前所未有的挑战。本研究旨在探讨自我报告的认知偏差（CB）与情绪调节技能（ER）、COVID-19风险感知和情感反应，以及心理健康（MWB）之间的关系。五百一十一名参与者完成了一般健康问卷、情绪调节问卷、达沃斯认知偏差评估量表（DACOBS），以及测量COVID-19风险感知和情感反应的量表。在波兰疫情初期，我们运用路径分析和靴 strap 分析来检验假设，即认知偏差可能通过以下途径对COVID-19大流行期间的心理健康产生直接和间接影响：（i）降低情绪调节能力；（ii）增加COVID-19风险感知和情感反应。在参与者中观察到认知偏差对心理健康产生负面影响，以及情绪调节通过认知重评对心理健康产生正面影响。此外，与我们的假设相符，观察到认知偏差通过增加COVID-19风险感知和情感反应，以及减少重评策略的使用，对心理健康产生间接影响，而这些因素反过来又与心理健康相关。最终，我们发现认知偏差对心理健康产生间接影响，这一影响通过抑制策略和COVID-19情感反应的双重中介作用得以实现。本研究的结果表明，认知偏差，已被证实与非临床人群中的多种心理健康症状相关联，可能会加剧COVID-19大流行对心理健康结果的影响。