COVID-19-related threat, existential isolation, and well-being

ABSTRACT

Objective

Prior work suggests perceived COVID-19-related threat and existential isolation (EI) would be associated with greater anxiety and depression, worse subjective health and well-being, and lower hope. However, it was unclear whether such concerns might have additive effects (no interaction, two independent main effects) or interact (one effect modifies the other).

Method

Two studies collected data via MTurk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 1 (N = 110) measured perceived COVID19-related threat, EI, anxiety and depression, subjective well-being, and hope. Study 2 (N = 2,673) measured perceived COVID19-related threat, EI, anxiety, subjective health, and hope.

Results

In general, perceived COVID19-related threat and EI were associated with anxiety and depression, worse subjective health and well-being, and reduced hope. On one outcome (hope, Study 2), an interaction was observed: perceived threat was associated with lower hope among those with high EI, but higher hope among those with low EI. However, on most outcomes (6 of 7), across both studies, additive effects were observed: greater cumulative existential stress (perceived COVID-19-related threat, EI) was associated with worse anxiety and depression, subjective health and well-being, and hope.

Conclusion

Discussion highlights theoretical considerations, practical implications, and the therapeutic value of addressing existential concerns in mental health.

Key points

What is already known about this topic:

1. Prior work found perceived COVID-19-related threat and other death-related existential concerns were related to anxiety, depression, and undermined well-being and hopeful engagement.

2. Prior work found existential isolation was related to anxiety, depression, and undermined well-being.

3. COVID-19-related threat was associated with worse anxiety, depression, and well-being, but not subjective health or hope.

What this topic adds:

1. EI was consistently associated with worse anxiety and depression, subjective health and well-being, and reduced hope.

2. In one outcome (hope, Study 2), an interaction found that perceived COVID-19-related threat decreased hope when people felt existentially isolated, but increased hope when people felt a sense of existential connection (e.g., “we’re all in this together”).

3. However, on six of seven outcomes, across two studies, additive effects were observed such that the more existential stress (COVID-19-related threat, existential isolation) experienced the worse the outcome.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• existential threat
• existential isolation
• anxiety
• hope
• well-being

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Open scholarship

This article has earned the Center for Open Science badge for Open Data. The data are openly accessible at https://osf.io/pa37v/?view_only=7425bb4981174bdaade2f8a17afc4699

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/13284207.2022.2155510.

Notes

1. To address research questions beyond the scope of the present article, the researchers who conducted the T1 eligibility screener and T2 survey (Reed, Cobos, et al., 2021, Reed, Lehinger, et al., 2021) were interested in identifying participants who met the threshold for chronic pain, for PTSD, for both (comorbid), and for neither (a “healthy” group). See the online supplement for “Recruitment and Sample Flow Diagram”, which shows the numbers of respondents identified in each such category at the T1, T2, and T3 stages of data collection. Of the final sample of 110 participants who completed the T3 follow-up survey, 34 were those with chronic pain, 22 were those with PTSD, 22 were those with comorbid pain and PTSD, and 32 were from the healthy group. However, in the present study, these categorizations were not related to the present research question, and there was no theoretical basis to expect that these conditions would influence the data patterns. Indeed, chronic pain and PTSD symptoms were not even measured in Study 2. Therefore, they will not be further mentioned.