ArticleBMC psychiatry2021
Locus of control moderates the association of COVID-19 stress and general mental distress: results of a Norwegian and a German-speaking cross-sectional survey.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 75 citations in OpenAlex.
- Understanding Experiences of Diabetes Distress: A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis.Journal of diabetes research · 2024Pooled it
- The impact of locus of control on somatic and psychological profiles of patients with irritable bowel syndrome engaging in aerobic exercise.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- The role of sense of control and locus of control in depressive and anxious symptoms during COVID-19: an integrative review.Psicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS · 2026Review
- Adverse childhood experiences, psychological distress, and the role of locus of control.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2026Article
- COVID-19, sense of control, and the rise of addictive behaviors: a study in Poland.Postepy psychiatrii neurologii · 2025Article
- Ethnic Discrimination in Social Media and Depressive Symptoms Among Hispanic Emerging Adult College Students: Examining the Moderating Roles of Emotion Self-Efficacy and Locus of Control.Emerging adulthood (Print) · 2025Article
- A happy place to be in: how beliefs about living places influence depression in Chinese international student returnees.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Australians' Well-Being and Resilience During COVID-19: The Role of Trust, Misinformation, Intolerance of Uncertainty, and Locus of Control.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Health Locus of Control and Medical Behavioral Interventions: Systematic Review and Recommendations.Interactive journal of medical research · 2024Review
- Delayed and unmet prescription drug access linked to elevated anxiety symptoms during COVID-19: Retrospective findings from the NLSY79 child and young adult cohort.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2024Article
- Associations among loneliness, internal locus of control and subjective accelerated ageing in older adults who received the booster vaccination.BJPsych open · 2024Article
- Prosociality predicts changes in leisure activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Development and Validation of an Instrument for Assessing Nurses' Control Sources of Resilience in the COVID-19 Pandemic.Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran · 2024Article
- Mental wellbeing of higher education students in challenging times.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- The mechanisms of student grit at the height of a major crisis: Identifying key predictors when times get really tough.Nursing open · 2024Article
- Young People and the Future: School Students' Concerns and Hopes for the Future after One Year of COVID-19 in Austria-Findings of a Mixed-Methods Pilot Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Healthy lifestyle mediates the association between health locus of control and life satisfaction among college students in Hubei, China: during the normalization stage of COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2023Article
- The beneficial role of personality in preserving well-being during the pandemic: A longitudinal population study.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Article
- Taking Charge: Social Support Dynamics among Older Adults and Their Significant Others in COVID-19 Vaccination and Mitigation Efforts.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Expectations and disappointments relative to COVID-19 passes: results from a voluntary mixed-methods study in French-speaking Belgium.IJID regions · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAn internal locus of control (LoC I) refers to the belief that the outcome of events in one's life is contingent upon one's actions, whereas an external locus of control (LoC E) describes the belief that chance and powerful others control one's life. This study investigated whether LoC I and LoC E moderated the relationship between COVID-19 stress and general mental distress in the general population during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsThis cross-sectional survey study analysed data from a Norwegian (n = 1225) and a German-speaking sample (n = 1527). We measured LoC with the Locus of Control-4 Scale (IE-4), COVID-19 stress with a scale developed for this purpose, and mental distress with the Patient Health Questionnaire 4 (PHQ-4). Moderation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.
resultsThe association between COVID-19 stress and general mental distress was strong (r = .61 and r = .55 for the Norwegian and the German-speaking sample, respectively). In both samples, LoC showed substantial moderation effects. LoC I served as a buffer (p < .001), and LoC E exacerbated (p < .001) the relation between COVID-19 stress and general mental distress.
conclusionsThe data suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic is easier to bear for people who, despite pandemic-related strains, feel that they generally have influence over their own lives. An external locus of control, conversely, is associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. The prevention of mental distress may be supported by enabling a sense of control through citizen participation in policy decisions and transparent explanation in their implementation.
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