Predicting the severity of anxiety in Coronavirus disease based on anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty

Various psychological vulnerabilities such as uncertainty, perceived vulnerability to disease, psychological vulnerability background, anxiety, and worry can contribute to the fear of the coronavirus disease. One of these factors is anxiety sensitivity that refers to the fear of the feelings associated with anxiety arousal due to perceived physical, psychological, or social consequences. There is evidence that anxiety sensitivity plays an important role in the persistence and progression of anxiety symptoms in all anxiety disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of anxiety sensitivity and uncertainty intolerance in predicting the severity of coronavirus disease anxiety. For this purpose, a descriptive correlational study was conducted on 128 volunteers assessed in terms of Covid-19 disease anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, and uncertainty intolerance. The results of multiple regression analysis showed the existence of a significant relationship between disease anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, and uncertainty intolerance (p <.001). The results of stepwise regression analysis showed that 30.1% of the variance of coronavirus disease anxiety was explainable by anxiety sensitivity and uncertainty intolerance. According to the results of this study, anxiety sensitivity and uncertainty intolerance can be considered appropriate predictors of coronavirus disease anxiety.