Examining the mediating roles of difficulty in emotion regulation, obsessive beliefs and disgust in the relationship between COVID-19 pandemic stress and obsessive compulsive symptoms: A structural equation modeling example

In the current study, it was aimed to evaluate the stress level of the general population during COVID-19 pandemic, to examine the relationships between pandemic stress and obsessive-compulsive symptomology, and to evaluate mediating roles of emotion regulation difficulties, obsessive beliefs and disgust in this relationship. In addition, the proposed structural model for the development mechanism of symptoms during pandemic was also tested. In line with the objectives of the study, firstly, in order to evaluate pandemic stress in a multidimensional way, COVID-19 Stress Scale was translated into Turkish and its psychometric properties were examined. According to anaylzes, Turkish form of scale, which consists of 6 factors and 33 items, is a valid and reliable measurement tool for evaluating COVID-19 pandemic stres. In the second part of the study, correlational analysis was conducted for the relationships between the variables. In addition, hierarchical regression analysis to identify predictors of obsessive compulsive symptoms and mediation analysis to test mediation models were performed. Finally, the proposed structural model was tested using structural equation modeling method. As a result of the analyzes, it was determined that the participants pandemic stress was at a high level. It has also been found that pandemic stress is associated with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Again, the direct effect of pandemic stress on obsessive-compulsive symptoms is also significant. According to mediation analysis, difficulty in emotion regulation, obsessive beliefs and disgust play a partial mediating role in this relationship. Finally, it was determined that proposed structural model fits well and can explain most of the variance in obsessive-compulsive symptoms. It seems that stress related to COVID-19 may play a role as a risk factor for obsessive compulsive symptoms and there are many cognitive and emotional factors affecting the relationship. Finally, these results were discussed on basis of the relevant literature, and suggestions were made for future studies.