Living conditions during confinement moderate the relationship between trait anxiety and negative repetitive thinking

Confinement and isolation have negative mental health consequences. It is however unknown how the characteristics of these singular situations interact with psychological vulnerability factors in the development of psychological disorders.

The present study was designed to test the extent to which trait anxiety is a predictor of the level of repetitive negative thinking in individuals and how this relationship may be moderated by the environmental characteristics in which individuals experience confinement. An internet survey was conducted on a sample of 435 participants aged 18 to 85, including 82 % women and mainly students (65 %). The results showed that the level of repetitive negative thinking was significantly higher for participants who exhibited a high level of trait anxiety and this was even more the case for participants who had the most detrimental environmental characteristics during confinement.

Future studies should replicate these results in other contexts, and also test the mediating role of repetitive negative thinking in the relationship between psychological vulnerability factors and psychological disorders, and whether such mediation is moderated by environmental characteristics.