Designing the Model of Corona Anxiety Based on Intolerance of Uncertainty with the Mediation of Cognitive Emotion Regulation in Medical Students: A Descriptive Study

The anxiety due to coronavirus has caused the emergence of a special class of anxieties that originates from this widespread disease and has challenged the psychological characteristics of humans. Therefore, the present study developed the corona anxiety model based on intolerance of uncertainty with the mediation of cognitive emotion regulation.

This is a descriptive study. The statistical population of this research included all the medical students of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences who were studying in the academic year of 2021-2022. Based on the inclusion criteria, 350 medical students were selected by purposive and convenience sampling methods and completed the Ghobadian’s Corona Anxiety Scale, Freeston’s Intolerance of Uncertainty Questionnaire, and Garnefski’s Cognitive Emotional Regulation Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using path analysis method.

Cognitive emotion regulation strategies can mediate the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and coronavirus anxiety (Beta=0.481). In other words, intolerance of uncertainty through positive (Beta=-0.721) and negative (Beta=-0.321) strategies of cognitive regulation of emotion predicts the level of coronavirus anxiety of medical students (p<0.001).

The results of the present study suggested that psychological factors such as negative strategies of cognitive emotion regulation and intolerance of uncertainty are involved in corona anxiety. In other words, students' intolerance of uncertainty predicts an increase, and positive strategies of cognitive regulation of emotion predict a reduction in anxiety of corona.