Pandemic-related Media exposure and acute stress: A moderated mediation model of intolerance of uncertainty and perceived social support
Description
Media exposure to COVID-19 was positively correlated with IU (r = 0.17, p < 0.001) and acute stress (r = 0.26, p < 0.001). IU was positively correlated with acute stress (r = 0.35, p < 0.001). However, PSS was negatively correlated with IU (r = -0.10, p < 0.001) and acute stress (r = -0.24, p < 0.001). Media exposure to COVID-19 was positively associated with IU (β = 0.17, t = 6.60, p < 0.001), and IU was positively associated with acute stress (β = 0.32, t = 13.13, p < 0.001). Moreover, when the mediator (IU) was included in the model, media exposure to COVID-19 was also positively associated with acute stress (β = 0.20, t = 8.43, p < 0.001). This indicated that IU partially mediated the relationship between media exposure to COVID-19 and acute stress. The bootstrap results also indicated that the conditional indirect effect of media exposure to COVID-19 on acute stress through IU was significant (indirect effect = 0.05, SE = 0.01, 95% CI = [0.04, 0.07]). The mediation effect accounted for 21.38% of the total effect. The interaction between media exposure to COVID-19 and PSS had a significant predictive effect on acute stress (β = -0.08, t = -3.32, p < 0.001), but not on IU (β = -0.02, t = -0.83, p > 0.05). The interaction between IU and PSS had a significant predictive effect on acute stress (β = -0.07, t = -3.40, p < 0.001). The results suggested that PSS moderated the relationships between media exposure to COVID-19 and acute stress, and between IU and acute stress.