The uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated negative emotions, especially among adolescents, who feel unable to tolerate the uncertainty of the epidemic. However, the mechanism by which the intolerance of COVID-19-related uncertainty (COVID-19 IU) affects negative emotions in adolescents remains unclear. This study explored the underlying mechanism from COVID-19 IU to negative emotions using a moderated mediation model in adolescents. In total, 3037 teenagers completed a cross-sectional survey including measures of COVID-19 IU, risk perception, social exclusion, perceived efficacy, and negative emotions. The results showed that COVID-19 IU positively predicted negative emotions and that risk perception and social exclusion mediated this relationship. In addition, both the direct effect of COVID-19 IU on negative emotions and the mediating effect of risk perception on this relationship were moderated by perceived efficacy; in particular, COVID-19 IU had a greater impact on negative emotions among adolescents with lower levels of perceived efficacy. These findings suggest that COVID-19 IU is closely associated with negative emotions among adolescents and that effective measures should be taken to enable adolescents to improve their perceived efficacy and develop a reasonable perception of risk, help them eliminate the stigma of the disease, and strengthen their connections with society.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Adolescent, intolerance of uncertainty, negative emotions, Risk perception, social exclusion, perceived efficacy, 【초록키워드】 Efficacy, COVID-19 pandemic, risk, mechanism, cross-sectional survey, negative emotion, connection, help, measure, exclusion, Affect, mediation model, effective, the epidemic, IMPROVE, greater, predicted, develop, caused, addition, the disease, exacerbated, 【제목키워드】 Model, emotion, Uncertainty, mediation, Perception, Chinese, intolerance, negative, Perceived,