The Role of Uncertainty, Worry, and Control in Well-Being: Evidence From the COVID-19 Outbreak and Pandemic in U.S. and China

Howell, Jennifer L.; Sweeny, Kate; Hua, Jacqueline; Werntz, Alexandra; Hussain, Maryam; Hinojosa, Bianca M.; Johnson, Angela E.; Lindgren, Kristen P.; Meese, William; O’Shea, Brian A.; Teachman, Bethany A.

Abstract

Uncertainty about the future often leads to worries about what the future will bring, which can have negative consequences for health and well-being. However, if worry can act as a motivator to promote efforts to prevent undesirable future outcomes, those negative consequences of worry may be mitigated. In this article, we apply a novel model of uncertainty, worry, and perceived control to predict psychological and physical well-being among four samples collected in China (Study 1; during the early COVID-19 outbreak in China) and the United States (Studies 2–4, during 4 weeks in May 2020, 4 weeks in November 2020, and crosssectionally between April and November 2020). Grounded in the feeling-is-for-doing approach to emotions, we hypothesized (and found) that uncertainty about one’s COVID-19 risk would predict greater worry about the virus and one’s risk of contracting it, and that greater worry would in turn predict poorer well-being. We also hypothesized, and found somewhat mixed evidence, that perceptions of control over 1’s COVID-19 risk moderated the relationship between worry and well-being such that worry was related to diminished well-being when people felt they lacked control over their risk for contracting the virus. This study is one of the first to demonstrate an indirect path from uncertainty to well-being via worry and to demonstrate the role of control in moderating whether uncertainty and worry manifest in poor well-being.

Citation

Howell, J. L., Sweeny, K., Hua, J., Werntz, A., Hussain, M., Hinojosa, B. M., …Teachman, B. A. (2022). The Role of Uncertainty, Worry, and Control in Well-Being: Evidence From the COVID-19 Outbreak and Pandemic in U.S. and China. Emotion, https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001163

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 15, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Oct 6, 2022
• Publication Date: Oct 6, 2022
• Deposit Date: May 10, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: May 31, 2023
• Journal: Emotion
• Print ISSN: 1528-3542
• Electronic ISSN: 1931-1516
• Publisher: American Psychological Association
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001163
• Keywords: General Psychology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/20561352
• Publisher URL: https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2023-07025-001.html
• Additional Information: This article may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.