Conspiracies and contagion: Two patterns of COVID-19 related beliefs associated with distinct mental symptomatology
Conspiracies and contagion: Two patterns of COVID-19 related beliefs associated with distinct mental symptomatology
Blog Article
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unique challenges, leading to a simultaneous decline in global Disposables mental well-being and an increase in perceived social threats.The present study explores the interplay between COVID-19 beliefs and mental health symptoms in a multinational sample of 1523 individuals primarily from copyright, the US and Mexico.Between May 2020 and February 2021, participants completed an online survey assessing somatic symptoms, anxiety, depression, alexithymia, and psychotic-like symptoms, along with the newly developed COVID-19 beliefs questionnaire (CBQ).
The CBQ consisted of a series of statements corresponding to different beliefs about the origins and consequences of the virus and it revealed two dimensions through Exploratory Factor Analysis: Fear of contagion of COVID-19 (FC) and COVID-19 denial/conspiratorial ideation (CI).Correlation analyses and linear regressions revealed a negative correlation between these two belief patterns as well their distinct associations with mental health symptoms.Fear of contagion was positively predicted by somatic symptoms and anxiety.
In contrast, COVID-19 denial/conspiratorial ideation was positively predicted by positive psychotic-like experiences, alexithymia, and depression, and negatively predicted by negative psychotic-like symptoms.Furthermore, the relationship between positive psychotic-like symptoms and CI was mediated negatively by negative psychotic-like symptoms, suggesting that individuals with higher self-reported delusional ideation and bizarre experiences but lower avolition during the pandemic were the most likely to endorse COVID-19 related conspiracy theories.We provide an interpretation of these results according to which lunch boxes these two profiles represent distinct doxastic threat responses, shaped by the interaction between the non-specific pandemic distress response and individual proneness to mental health symptomatology.