Prediction of Health Anxiety Based on Spiritual Well-being and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies During COVID-19 in Iranian Individuals

Background: Epidemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and quarantine implementation have had various effects on the psychological aspects of society. One of the psychological effects of COVID-19 is the fear of getting the disease. Objectives: The present study aimed to predict health anxiety based on spiritual well-being and cognitive emotion regulation strategies during COVID-19 in Iranian individuals. Methods: The present descriptive-correlational study was conducted on the statistical population of all 19-to-79-year-old individuals participating in the study online. A total of 545 subjects were selected by the convenience sampling method. These participants completed short-form health anxiety questionnaires, spiritual well-being scales, and short-form emotion regulation strategies online. The data were analyzed by the Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression analysis using SPSS software (version 23). Results: The results showed that health anxiety had a significant negative relationship with spiritual well-being (r = -0.339**) and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (r = -0.308**). Furthermore, health anxiety had a significant positive relationship with maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (r = 0.390**). Overall, the aforementioned three variables explained 26.1% of changes in health anxiety. Conclusions: The results of the present study showed the impacts of spiritual well-being and cognitive emotion regulation strategies on health anxiety. Therefore, it is recommended that training based on spiritual teachings and emotion regulation strategies reduces health anxiety during the outbreak of COVID-19.