The association between insecurity and subjective well-being among youth during the COVID-19 outbreak: A moderated mediation model

• Published in: Journal of affective disorders 2022-01, Vol.297, p.486-494
• Main Authors: Wen, Fangfang, Ye, Hanxue, Zuo, Bin, Han, Shi, Zhu, Jianli, Ke, Wenlin, He, Yujia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; COVID-19; Disease Outbreaks; Hope; Humans; Insecurity; Mental Health; Pandemics; Research Paper; SARS-CoV-2; Subjective well-being; Young Adult; Youth
• ISSN: 0165-0327; 1573-2517
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.10.091

•Few studies have examined the antecedent influences of environment-related insecurity on the subjective well-being of youth.•The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has increased insecurity worldwide, negatively impacting the subjective welling-being.•The negative correlation between insecurity and subjective well-being is mediated by self-control with hope moderating the first half path of the model.•Self-control and hope play important buffering roles, helping youths to enhance self-control and hope is beneficial to reduce the negative impact of insecurity and improve subjective well-being. Sudden and unpredictable changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have profoundly threatened the psychological well-being and increased insecurity among adolescents worldwide. At a critical developmental stage, the well-being of the youth is more vulnerable to adverse environments. This study constructed a moderated mediation model to explore the buffering factors between insecurity and subjective well-being of the youth during the pandemic. During the COVID-19 outbreak in June 2020, data of 5,503 Chinese youth (15–29 years old) were collected via an online questionnaire. Subjective well-being, insecurity, self-control, and hope were measured, and the moderated mediation model was analyzed. Findings from this study showed that with the mediating effect of self-control, insecurity negatively predicted subjective well-being, and hope moderated the association between insecurity and self-control. Specifically, the link between insecurity and self-control was stronger when hope was low but weaker when hope was high. Since this study was mainly conducted in China, and considering the continuous change of the pandemic on a global scale, it is of great significance to conduct cross-cultural and cross-time studies in the future. The results demonstrate that self-control and hope play important roles in buffering the negative effects of insecurity on the subjective well-being of adolescents and young adults. The findings provide implications for reducing the negative impact of insecurity from a positive psychology perspective and for youth mental health interventions during public health crises.