The mediating role of difficulty in emotion regulation in the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and separation anxiety: A comparison of healthcare professionals and community sample

The mediator role of difficulty in emotion regulation in the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and separation anxiety was examined in the study, which was carried out during the Covid-19 epidemic and included healthcare workers and the community sample. The sample of this group comparative study consisted of 525 volunteers (264 females, 261 males) aged between 19-77 years (X= 33.62 SD= 10.43), where 265 of them were healthcare professionals and 260 of them were non-healthcare workers. The data obtained from the study were collected with the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS-12), Adult Separation Anxiety Inventory (ASA-27), Emotion Regulation Difficulty Scale (DERS-16), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Test (GAD-7). As a result of the analyzes carried out, it was observed that the levels of intolerance to uncertainty, separation anxiety, difficulty in emotion regulation, and generalized anxiety symptoms of healthcare professionals were higher than those of non-healthcare professionals. In addition, positive relationships were found between the variables of intolerance of uncertainty, separation anxiety, difficulty in emotion regulation and generalized anxiety symptoms, and it was concluded that emotion regulation difficulty had a mediating role in the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and separation anxiety, even when the effect of generalized anxiety symptoms was controlled. The results obtained from the research were discussed and evaluated within the framework of the relevant literature.