Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36158304›Full record

ArticleWorld journal of psychiatry2022

Fear of COVID-19 and emotional dysfunction problems: Intrusive, avoidance and hyperarousal stress as key mediators.

Raquel Falcó, Verónica Vidal-Arenas, Jordi Ortet-Walker, Juan C Marzo, José A Piqueras, PSICO-RECURSOS COVID-19 Study Group

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in World journal of psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Social Anxiety: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023
    Pooled it
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Raquel FalcóDepartment of Health Psychology and Center for Applied Psychology, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche 03202, Alicante, Spain.
Verónica Vidal-ArenasDepartment of Basic and Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de la Plana 12071, Castellón, Spain. vvidal@uji.es.
Jordi Ortet-WalkerDepartment of Basic and Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de la Plana 12071, Castellón, Spain.
Juan C MarzoDepartment of Health Psychology and Center for Applied Psychology, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche 03202, Alicante, Spain.
José A PiquerasDepartment of Health Psychology and Center for Applied Psychology, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche 03202, Alicante, Spain.
PSICO-RECURSOS COVID-19 Study Group

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is mounting empirical evidence of the detrimental effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on mental health. Previous research has underscored the effects of similar destabilizing situations such as war, natural disasters or other pandemics on acute stress levels which have been shown to exacerbate current and future psychopathological symptoms.

aimTo explore the role of acute stress responses (intrusive, avoidance and hyperarousal) as mediators in the association between fear of COVID-19 and emotional dysfunction-related problems: Depression, agoraphobia, panic, obsessive-compulsive, generalized anxiety, social anxiety and health anxiety symptoms.

methodsA sample of 439 participants from a university community in Spain (age: mean ± SD: 36.64 ± 13.37; 73.1% females) completed several measures assessing their fear of COVID-19, acute stress responses and emotional dysfunction syndromes through an online survey. Data collection was carried out from the start of home confinement in Spain until May 4, 2020, coinciding with initial de-escalation measures. Processing of the dataset included descriptive and frequency analyses, Mann-Whitney U Test of intergroup comparisons and path analysis for direct and indirect effects. This is an observational, descriptive-correlational and cross-sectional study.

resultsThe prevalence of clinical symptoms in our sample, reported since the beginning of the pandemic, reached 31.44%. The female group presented higher scores although the effect size was small. Overall, the participants who exceeded the clinical cut-off points in emotional problems showed higher levels of fear of COVID-19 and of cognitive, motor and psychophysiological responses of acute stress, unlike the group with normative scores. In addition, the results show significant mediated effects of hyperarousal stress among fear of COVID-19 and emotional dysfunction psychopathology. However, the clinical syndromes most related to the consequences of the pandemic (

conclusionThe present study illustrates a clearer picture of the role of acute stress on several forms of psychopathology during the COVID-19 crisis and home confinement.

Indexed as

Acute stressEmotional dysfunctionFear of COVID-19Mediated effectsPsychophysiological activation

Identifiers

PMID36158304
PMCPMC9476845

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.