Symposia
Translational
Hayley E. Fitzgerald, M.A.
Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts
E. Parsons, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts
Teresa Indriolo, PhD
Research Coordinator
Massachusetts general Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts
Nadine R. Taghian, M.A.
Graduate Student
Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts
Alexandra K. Gold, M.A.
Graduate Student
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts
Danielle Hoyt, M.A.
Graduate Student
Rutgers
Piscataway, New Jersey
Megan A. Milligan, B.S.
Research Coordinator
University of New Hampshire
Durham, New Hampshire
Michael J. Zvolensky, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Houston
Houston, TX
Michael Otto, Ph.D.
Professor
Boston University
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts
Research has demonstrated that intolerance of uncertainty (IU) relates to COVID-19 emotional responses such as COVID-19 related fear and distress. However, IU does not necessarily relate to engaging in COVID-19 preventative behaviors such as wearing a mask. The current study sought to further evaluate this discrepancy in the relationships between IU and emotional responses/preventative behaviors. In April and May of 2020, a total of 480 participants completed an online survey. The survey included self-report forms about COVID-19 emotional responses (i.e., worry, fear, sensitivity to symptoms) and COVID-19 behavioral responses (i.e., interference due to worry, interference in daily activities, and engagement in preventative behaviors). Consistent with previous research, we found that IU positively predicted the COVID-19-related emotional responses as well as two of the COVID-19-related behavioral responses (i.e., interference due to worry and interference in daily activities). We further found that IU negatively predicted engaging in COVID-19 preventative behaviors (i.e., adaptive health behaviors). To further understand these findings, we conducted exploratory analyses which revealed a significant indirect effect of IU on lower engagement in preventative behaviors through lower belief in the effectiveness of such behaviors. Thus, our findings provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that these relationships may be explained by associations between IU and processing of health-related information (i.e., lower belief in the efficacy of health behaviors). Overall, our results suggest that IU may be important for understanding a particular profile of responses to disease threat: one involving higher distress but lower adaptive health behaviors. Accordingly, it may be important to consider IU in the assessment and treatment of such individuals in order to tailor therapy to their pandemic-specific needs. Future studies should investigate IU alongside other potentially important markers as some of the current analyses indicate small effect sizes.