Relationship Between Economic Loss and Anxiety During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: Moderating Effects of Knowledge, Gratitude, and Perceived Stress.

Objectives: The prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused individuals to suffer economic losses, in particular due to the implementation of intensive quarantine policies. Economic loss can cause anxiety and has a negative psychological impact on individuals, worsening their mental health and satisfaction with life. We examined the protective and risk factors that can influence the relationship between economic loss and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Panel data from 911 participants were collected in April and May 2020 and again 6 months later. We analyzed the relationship between economic loss and anxiety and investigated the moderating effects of knowledge about COVID-19, gratitude, and perceived stress. Moreover, we investigated whether there were any changes in moderating effects over time or in different demographic groups.

Results: In the early stages of the spread of COVID-19, gratitude ( = -0.0211, = 4.8130, < 0.05) and perceived stress ( = 0.0278, = 9.3139, < 0.01) had moderating effects on the relationship between economic loss and anxiety. However, after 6 months, only perceived stress had a significant moderating effect ( = 0.0265, = 7.8734, < 0.01).

Conclusion: In the early stages of COVID-19, lower levels of gratitude and higher perceived stress led to greater anxiety. In later stages of the prolonged pandemic, only perceived stress had a continued moderating effect on the relationship between economic loss and anxiety. This study suggests that psychological interventions to reduce perceived stress are needed to treat the possible adverse effects of the spread of infectious diseases on mental health.