The mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies and worry in the relationship between resilience and anxiety of being infected by COVID-19

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses and a subset of Coronaviridae that range from the common cold virus to more serious diseases such as SARS, Morse, and COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to determine the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies and worry in the relationship between resilience and anxiety of being infected by COVID-19.

The research method was descriptive correlational type and the statistical population of the present study included all residents of Karaj city in the spring of 2020, among which 360 people were selected by online available sampling method. Research tools include Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (2003); Penn State Worry Questionnaire Meyer et al., (1990); Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire by Garnefski et al., (2001) and Corona Disease Anxiety Scale by Alipour et al., (2020). Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data.

The results of the present study showed that the direct relationship between resilience with positive (β=0.278, P=0.010) and negative (β=-0.232, P=0.010) cognitive emotion regulation strategies and worry (β=-0.451, P=0.015) were significant. The direct relationship between resilience (β=-0.390, P=0.040), positive (β=-0.270, P=0.006) and negative (β=0.200, P=0.003) cognitive emotion regulation strategies and worry (β=0.226, P=0.006) with anxiety of being infected by COVID-19 were significant. The indirect relationship between resilience (β=-0.178, P=0.007) with anxiety of being infected by COVID-19 was significant

People who are less resilient are more likely to worry about developing the virus and develop negative cognitive emotion regulation strategies that increase the risk of developing anxiety about covidase-19.