The Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Sense of Cohesion with Coronavirus Anxiety in Students: The Mediating Role of Distress Tolerance

This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of distress tolerance in the relationship between perceived stress, and a sense of cohesion with coronavirus anxiety in students. The research method was correlational to path analysis type. The statistical population included all Students studying at the Farhangian University of Kurdistan Province in the academic year 2020-2021, from which 300 were selected by systematic random sampling. Data were collected using the Corona Anxiety Scale (CDAS, Alipour & et al, 2019), Distress Tolerance Questionnaire (DTS, Simmons & Gaher, 2005), Perceived Stress (PSS, Cohen & et al, 1983), and Sense of Cohesion (SOC, Antonovsky, 1993). In order to analyze the data, the path analysis method was used in SPSS and AMOS-21 software. The results showed that the model fits the research data (P<0.01). According to the results, perceived stress, sense of cohesion, and distress tolerance have a direct effect on coronavirus anxiety in students. Also, perceived stress and a sense of cohesion have an indirect effect on coronavirus anxiety through distress tolerance (P<0.01). Therefore, the results show that a high sense of cohesion and high distress tolerance, despite perceived stress, can prevent the impact of coronavirus stressors on human health.