We only know that we don’t know: attachment patterns and psychological coping during the COVID-19 pandemic – the mediation role of intolerance of uncertainty

ABSTRACT

The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic created sudden changes in many areas of daily life and increased uncertainty about the future. Two studies examined the association between attachment patterns and mental well-being during the pandemic, the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty (IOU), and factors related to social relationships and self-perceptions. The results of the first study, conducted at the outbreak of the pandemic, indicated that individuals with high levels of attachment anxiety experienced more negative emotions and fewer positive emotions at that time, and that IOU and perceived social support mediated these associations. The results of the second study, conducted several months into the pandemic, indicated an association between attachment anxiety and avoidance, and perceived stress during the time of the pandemic. Results of Study 2 also indicated that IOU mediated the association between attachment anxiety and stress, and that sense of coherence (SOC) mediated the association between attachment anxiety and avoidance, and stress. These findings underscore the adverse psychological effects of uncertain situations, especially for individuals with a fragile foundation of interpersonal support, thus emphasizing the need for action to reduce uncertainty, especially in times of emergency.

KEYWORDS:

• Attachment
• intolerance of uncertainty
• social support
• sense of coherence
• stress

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/m6z2u.

Open Scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badges for Open Data and Open Materials through Open Practices Disclosure. The data and materials are openly accessible at https://osf.io/m6z2u.

Notes

1. The data and research materials are publicly available at: https://osf.io/m6z2u

2. An a-priori power analysis was performed for sample size estimation using G*Power 3.1.9 (Faul et al., 2009). Based on J. Cohen’s (1988) criteria for large effect size (ES =.35), with an alpha =.05 and power =.95, the projected sample size needed for the current model of two predictors and three mediators is N = 138.

3. An a-priori power analysis was performed for sample size estimation using G*Power 3.1.9 (Faul et al., 2009). Based on J. Cohen’s (1988) criteria for large effect size (ES =.35), with an alpha =.05 and power =.95, the projected sample size needed for the current model of two predictors, three mediators, and two covariates is N = 153.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.