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. 2022 Oct;63(5):476-483.
doi: 10.1111/sjop.12832. Epub 2022 May 23.

Antecedents of COVID-19 rumination: A three-wave study

Marjolein C J Caniëls #  1 , Irina Nikolova #  2 , Isabella Hatak  3 , Petra C de Weerd-Nederhof  4
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Antecedents of COVID-19 rumination: A three-wave study

Marjolein C J Caniëls et al. Scand J Psychol. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of our lives and has caused a considerable rise in psychological complaints such as anxieties and depression. The majority of studies so far has focused on outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic. To augment current knowledge, we focus on the antecedents of COVID-19 rumination. Specially, we examine how negative and positive work events prior to the outbreak influence individuals' coping capacity with regard to COVID-19 (i.e., the extent to which individuals have recurrent negative thoughts about COVID-19). Drawing on Conservation of Resources Theory (COR), we maintain that positive and negative work events prior to the pandemic can affect one's self-efficacy experiences and in turn can impact recurrent negative thoughts about COVID-19. Alongside exploring the proposed theoretical mediation model, we test one of the key assumptions of the COR theory: the notion of primacy of negative over positive affect that results from negative (vs. positive) work events. Three-waved data was collected among Dutch employees (T1 = 302; T2 = 199; T3 = 171); two prior to the pandemic and one at the onset of the outbreak. Results showed that positive work events increased self-efficacy, which in turn reduced COVID-19 rumination. Contrary to the expectation of primacy of the effects of negative work events, we found no significant impact of negative work events on individuals' COVID-19 rumination.

Keywords: COVID-19; positive and negative events; rumination; self-efficacy; work events.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Results for the hypothesized model. Note: ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05.
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