Psychological resilience and emotion regulation as mediators between COVID-19 fear and mental health outcomes

This cross-sectional study examined whether psychological resilience and emotion regulation difficulties mediate the relationship between COVID-19 fear and mental health outcomes among 1483 Turkish adults. Anxiety and depression served as primary outcomes given their status as the most prevalent mental health consequences of pandemic-related fear. Structural equation modeling revealed partial mediation through both pathways. When examined simultaneously, emotion regulation difficulties showed substantially stronger mediating effects (β = 0.21 for anxiety, β = 0.27 for depression) than psychological resilience (β = 0.04 for anxiety, β = 0.05 for depression). Women reported higher fear, anxiety, depression, and emotion regulation difficulties; men showed greater resilience. Married participants exhibited higher resilience and lower distress than single participants, and income reduction predicted increased depression. Emotion regulation difficulties may represent a particularly relevant intervention target for reducing pandemic-related distress, although experimental research is needed to confirm intervention effectiveness.