Dispositional Awe Predicts Mental Health Through Interpretation Bias During COVID-19 Transmission: A Longitudinal Study.

Abstract

During a public health emergency, such as the widespread transmission of COVID-19 following loosened COVID-19 policies in China, people's mental health is impacted along with their physical well-being. In order to investigate ways to mitigate these negative effects, this study examined how dispositional awe can predict mental health outcomes during such emergencies using a three-wave longitudinal design. Five hundred twenty seven participants (mean age = 21.18, SD = 3.39; 368 males) took part in the study within the first 2 months after the implementation of loosened COVID-19 policies, with one-month intervals between waves. Cross-lagged analysis revealed that dispositional awe in Wave 1 significantly predicted higher positive and lower negative interpretation bias in Wave 2, which in turn promoted positive mental functioning in Wave 3. Furthermore, negative interpretation bias in Wave 2 acted as a mediator for the predictive role of dispositional awe in Wave 1 on psychosomatic symptoms in Wave 3. These findings suggest that dispositional awe can act as a protective factor for mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic by influencing people's interpretation orientation.