Decision-making styles during stressful scenarios: The role of anxiety in COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Frontiers in psychiatry 2023-04, Vol.14, p.1105662-1105662
• Main Authors: Marques da Rocha, Mariana Castro, Malloy-Diniz, Leandro Fernandes, Romano-Silva, Marco Aurélio, Joaquim, Rui Mateus, Serpa, Alexandre Luiz de Oliveira, Paim Diaz, Alexandre, de Paula, Jonas Jardim, Costa, Danielle Souza, da Silva, Antônio Geraldo, Pinto, André Luiz de Carvalho Braule, de Miranda, Débora Marques
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: COVID-19; decision making; decision strategies; post traumatic symptoms; Psychiatry; psychological distress; trait anxiety
• ISSN: 1664-0640; 1664-0640
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1105662

Decision-making is not purely rational but highlighted by the influence of intuitive and emotional processes. Recently, researchers have focused more attention on understanding which environmental and personal features influence decision-making processes, and how. On this study, we investigate whether Trait Anxiety moderates the impact of Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) symptoms reported during COVID-19 pandemic on decision-making styles. The study included 1,358 Brazilian participants (80% women) aged between 20 and 74 (M = 41.11; SD = 11.23) who responded to an online survey between May and August of the year 2021 of COVID-19 pandemic to The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, The Decisions Styles Scale, The Impact of Event Scale - Revised and questions related to COVID-19. Through moderation analysis, we observed that experiencing PTS is associated with a higher tendency to biased/heuristic decision-making processes. Trait Anxiety seems to influence how people respond to PTS symptoms on decision-making related processes. Subjects with higher Trait Anxiety reported lower tendency to appeal to rationality, especially under higher reported levels of PTS. Meanwhile, lower Trait Anxiety subjects exhibited more reason-based decision-making under higher rates of PTS. This work contributes to a deeper understanding of the interplay among environmental and individual differences on decision-making styles and helps to identify factors of vulnerability for poorer cognitive functioning on stressful scenarios.