Symposia
Cognitive Science/ Cognitive Processes
Hannah C. Broos, M.S.
University of Miami
Coral Gables, Florida
Maria M. Llabre, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Miami
Coral Gables, Florida
Patrice G. Saab, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Miami
Coral Gables, Florida
Kiara R. Timpano, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Miami
Coral Gables, Florida
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology that captures subjective distress and negative beliefs about unknown elements of a situation. Greater IU is associated with uncertainty-reducing behaviors that can contribute to the development and maintenance of affective symptoms. IU is considered to be a dispositional, or trait-level, tendency, which can further give rise to situation-specific IU. Little research has examined the relationship between dispositional and situational IU, and whether one accounts for greater variance in mental health outcomes than the other. The COVID-19 pandemic presents an ideal opportunity to examine these questions. The current study used structural equation modeling to estimate the unique effects of dispositional IU and COVID-specific IU on affective symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically testing whether COVID-specific IU mediated the relationship between dispositional IU and symptoms. Participants (N = 2152) were adults living in Florida who completed three waves of online surveys: Wave 1 (April 2020; n = 2152), Wave 2 (May 2020; n = 831), and Wave 3 (December 2021; n = 344). Participants completed a measure of dispositional IU at Wave 1 and a measure of COVID-specific IU at Wave 2. They also completed measures of pandemic stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms at Wave 3. We tested a mediation model, controlling for age and gender. Dispositional IU did not have a significant direct effect on either pandemic stress, anxiety, or depression at Wave 3 (all p’s > .05). Wave 2 COVID-specific IU significantly predicted Wave 3 pandemic stress (B = .36, SE = .05), anxiety (B = .54, SE = .11), and depression (B = .59, SE = .10). As hypothesized, COVID-specific IU fully mediated the relationships between dispositional IU and all three outcomes (all p’s < .05). Overall, our results suggest that situational IU may be more relevant to mental health outcomes than dispositional IU, indicating that uncertainty may be more aversive when it is related to specific situations that are particularly distressing. Our findings clarify the relationship between dispositional and situational IU, and extend previous work on this topic. Clinically, it may be more helpful to address and modify IU related to specific situations to reduce affective symptoms, rather than focusing on dispositional IU. Situational IU may be an important treatment target to consider for reducing symptoms of psychopathology during the COVID-19 pandemic or other similar emergency events.