The role of physiological and affective state in coping behavior in university students
Embargo Date
2030-01-31
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
According to the National College Health Assessment study findings from 2017 through 2020 (American College Health Association, 2017, 2020), anxiety has increased among university students. A problem is that anxiety may distort an individual’s coherence, or perception of their physiological and affective state. Increased anxiety is associated with decreased heart rate interoception and misattribution of physiological signals as negative, contributing to negative affective appraisal and increased self-reported anxiety (Inzlicht & Al-Khindi, 2012). This process activates the sympathetic nervous system, overriding cognition that otherwise allows an individual to reason through anxiety and identify coping strategies learned previously. The activation of this stress response may also limit awareness of anxiety triggers (Bar-Haim et al., 2007; Ledoux, 2014), making it difficult for an individual to select and engage in efficacious coping behaviors. This study aimed to investigate whether coherence, as indicated by heart rate variability and state anxiety, is associated with trait anxiety, sensitivity to anxiety, and fear of COVID-19. Individuals with high trait anxiety were expected to have low coherence. Individuals with high anxiety sensitivity, or perceived fear of physiological arousal, were also expected to have low coherence, because they may misattribute physiological arousal as having negative consequences. Existing evidence supports this expectation (Taylor et al., 2007). It was finally predicted that an individual with high COVID-19 fear would have low coherence, because their perception of COVID-19 risk and uncertainty would be associated with reduced HRV and emotion regulation (Makovac et al., 2022). A secondary aim of the study was the determination of whether college students with greater coherence engage in greater use of coping skills. Each of the 83 university undergraduate and graduate student participants completed one in-person meeting on Day 1, during which demographics, self-report surveys, heart rate interoception, and heart rate variability were recorded. Participants then completed an online survey on the use of coping behaviors once per day at a random time of day for the next 13 days. A series of multiple hierarchical regressions were conducted to assess the predictive roles of trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, and fear of COVID-19 on coherence while controlling for gender, sexual orientation, race, age, interoception, and alexithymia. A subsequent repeated measures analysis of variance allowed assessment of differences in coping behavior between high and low coherence groups over 13 days. Trait anxiety negatively predicted coherence, while anxiety sensitivity and fear of COVID-19 did not predict coherence. A post hoc moderation analysis of the influence of categorical coherence (high, medium, or low) on the relationship between trait anxiety and fear of COVID-19 indicated that only high coherence had a significant direct effect on this relationship. The repeated measures analysis of variance indicated significant differences between high and low coherence groups in the use of avoidance coping behaviors but not distancing coping behaviors. This finding suggests that although students with high coherence experience positive coherence, such as relaxation, they may also experience negative coherence, such as restlessness. The finding also indicates that students with high coherence are more likely to experience increased anxiety and fear of COVID-19 than students with low coherence. Implementing a coherence measure by university wellness administrators may thus aid the identification of students at increased risk of experiencing higher levels of COVID-19 fear to allow programming targeting to aid with self-regulatory coping skills.
Description
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International