The COVID-19 anxiety syndrome and selective attentional bias towards COVID-19-related stimuli in UK residents during the 2020-2021 pandemic

Clin Psychol Psychother. 2021 Jun 25. doi: 10.1002/cpp.2639. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe psychological and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are pervasive and there is potential for a long-lasting impact on mental health. In the current study we sought to provide, in a representative sample of UK residents during the third COVID-19 lockdown in February 2021, further evidence for the validation of the COVID-19 anxiety syndrome construct. We did this by evaluating the COVID-19 anxiety syndrome against measures of personality, health anxiety and COVID-19 anxiety in predicting levels of generalised anxiety and depression, and by examining whether increased health anxiety and COVID-19 psychological distress (COVID-19 anxiety and COVID-19 anxiety syndrome) scores were associated with increased attentional bias to COVID-19-related stimuli. A series of correlation analyses revealed that neuroticism, health anxiety, COVID-19 anxiety and COVID-19 anxiety syndrome scores were positively and significantly correlated with generalised anxiety and depression scores, and that the perseveration component of the COVID-19 anxiety syndrome predicted generalised anxiety and depression scores independently of age, gender, conscientiousness, openness, health anxiety and COVID-19 anxiety. Furthermore, results indicated that only the total COVID-19 anxiety syndrome score, and the scores on the avoidance and perseveration components, were positively and significantly correlated with attent...
Source: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research