The Role of Spirituality, Awareness, Cognitive Control, and Resilience Variables in the Effect of COVID-19-Related Anxiety on Pervasive Anxiety Disorder

In the project, it is aimed to examine the relationship between COVID-19 Induced Anxiety and Generalized Anxiety Disorder symptoms and the mediating roles of Spirituality, Conscious Awareness, Cognitive Control and Cognitive Flexibility components on this relationship. In addition, within the scope of the research, it is aimed to conduct the validity and reliability study of the Coronavirus Induced Anxiety Scale (CPSS), which was developed to measure concerns about COVID-19. Our validity and reliability study has shown that the psychometric properties of STEQ are a high and useful measurement tool. Based on our main findings, it was concluded that Anxiety Due to COVID-19 is significantly associated with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Moreover, Conscious Awareness and Cognitive Control variables have been shown to predict the relationship between COVID-19 Induced Anxiety and GAD. Spirituality and Cognitive Flexibility were not found to be related. Conscious Awareness has been defined as focusing one's attention on what is happening now in a non-judgmental and accepting way. According to the results of the research, people with a high level of Conscious Awareness showed less GAD symptoms even though they felt anxiety during the pandemic process. Cognitive Control, on the other hand, is defined as the ability to direct the attention of individuals to information for a purpose and to prevent the coming of non-purpose information. It has been found that individuals show less GAD symptoms if their thoughts are more purposeful during the COVID-19 epidemic. In the light of these findings, it is possible to say that individuals who can stay in the moment, accept their experiences without judgment, and think more purposefully are less affected during the COVID-19 outbreak. A contribution was made to better understand the predictors and protective factors of GAD symptoms that developed due to the extraordinary process experienced. Research results have shown that Conscious Awareness and Cognitive Control can be protective factors during the epidemic period. It is thought that these findings may also be a guide in the treatment of GAD. On the other hand, it is thought that these research outputs will shed light on future intervention programs (such as mindfulness or cognitive-based intervention programs). In addition, considering that the coronavirus epidemic is still ongoing and may have long-term negative effects on the psychological health of individuals, a useful and practical scale has been developed to examine coronavirus anxiety.