Hospital Practices and Research

The Mediating Role of Mental Toughness in the Relationship between Meta-Emotion and Co-Rumination with Health Anxiety in Hospital Nurses

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mozaffar Ghaffari 1
Ahmad Esmali 2
Reza Mohammadi 3
Mahtab Aligolipour 4
Zahra Ramazani Alalani 5

1 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Maraghe University, Maraghe, Iran

3 Applied Research Center, Deputy of Health, IRI Police Force, Tehran, Iran

4 Department of Nurses, Maraghe University of Medical Sciences, Maraghe, Iran

5 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Urmia, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30491/hpr.2023.404124.1398
Abstract
Background: Hospital nurses are more exposed to health anxiety due to close contact with patients.
Objectives: This study aimed to determine the mediating role of mental toughness in the relationship between meta-emotion and co-rumination with nurses' health anxiety.
Methods: The research method was structural equations type correlation. The statistical sample of the research included 250 nurses from hospitals in West Azarbaijan province in 2022, who were selected by simple random sampling. Salkovskis and Warwick's (2002) health anxiety scale, Mitmansgruber et al.'s meta-emotion questionnaire (2009), Clough et al.'s (2002) mental toughness scale, and Davidson's co-rumination questionnaire (2014) were used to measure the variables. The data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient, Sobel test and bootstrap.
Results: Findings indicated that the meta-emotion and co-rumination variable interact with the mediating role of mental toughness which has a role in explaining the nurses’ model of health anxiety. In total, 38% of the variance of health anxiety was explained through the variables of negative and positive meta-emotion, co-rumination and psychological stability. The direct effect of positive meta-emotion (-0.327), negative meta-emotion (0.318), mental toughness (-0.452), and co-rumination (0.367) are significant in explaining the health anxiety model. Furthermore, the indirect effect of negative meta-emotion (0.158), positive meta-emotion (-0.161), and co-rumination (0.155) with the mediation of the role of mental toughness is significant.
Conclusion: Considering the direct and indirect effects of meta-emotion, mental toughness and co-rumination variables on the level of health anxiety variable, it seems that by strengthening positive meta-emotion and mental toughness, and improving co-rumination and negative meta-emotion, the health anxiety in nurses can be reduced.

Keywords

Health Anxiety
Meta-Emotion
Mental Toughness
Co-Rumination
Hospital
Nurse
  1. Hashemi S, Vahedian Azimi A, Mahmoudi H. Clarifying the concept of the role of the specialist nurse in the intensive care unit: analyzing the concept with the rogers approach. IJSR. 2021;1(2):75-88.
  2. Cheraghpour R, Hejazi N, Mohammadi A. Structural model of social health of nurses in health centers based on cultural intelligence variables and religious values, a case study: Health centers in the south of Kerman Province. IJPN. 2021;9(2):41-51.
  3. Ghaffari M, Esmali A, Aligolipour M, Ramazani Z. Designing a model of nurses' vulnerability to stress based on attachment to God, positive and negative perfectionism and personal intelligence. J Res Psychopathol. 2021;2(6):24-30. doi:22098/JRP.2022.10150.1051
  4. Alberts NM, Hadjistavropoulos HD, Jones SL, Sharpe D. The Short Health Anxiety Inventory: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Anxiety Disord. 2013;27(1):68-78. doi:10.1 016/j.janxdis.2012.10.009
  5. Asmundson GJ, Fergus TA. The concept of health anxiety. InThe Clinician's Guide to Treating Health Anxiety. Academic Press. 2019. pp. 1-18. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-811806-1.00001-9
  6. Brown RJ, Skelly N, Chew‐Graham CA. Online health research and health anxiety: A systematic review and conceptual integration. Clin Psychol: Sci Pract. 2020;27(2): e12299. doi:10.1111/cpsp.12299
  7. Kurcer MA, Erdogan Z, Cakir Kardes V. The effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on health anxiety and cyberchondria levels of university students. Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2022;58(1):132-40. doi:10.1111/ppc.12850
  8. Ojala M. Safe spaces or a pedagogy of discomfort? Senior high-school teachers’ meta-emotion philosophies and climate change education. J Environ Educ. 2021;52(1):40-52. doi:10.1080/00958964.2020.1845589
  9. Miceli M, Castelfranchi C. Meta-emotions and the complexity of human emotional experience. New Ideas Psychol. 2019;55:42-9. doi:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2019.05.001
  10. Norman E, Furnes B. The concept of “metaemotion”: What is there to learn from research on metacognition?. Emotion Review. 2016;8(2):187-93. doi:10.1177/1754073914552913
  11. Hurrell KE, Houwing FL, Hudson JL. Parental meta-emotion philosophy and emotion coaching in families of children and adolescents with an anxiety disorder. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2017;45:569-82. doi:10.1007/s10802-016-0180-6
  12. Daryadel SJ, Mikaeili N, Molavi P. The effectiveness of meta-emotion combined therapy on reducing anxiety sensitivity and experiential avoidance in women with postpartum depression. Shenakht J Psychol Psychiatr. 2021;8(3):116-27. doi:32598/shenakht.8.3.116
  13. Saqqezi A, Yazdani Esfidvajani H. The mediating role of positive metacognition and meta-emotion in the relationship between perceived social support with Corona anxiety. Couns Cult Psycother. 2020;11(43):33-62. doi:22054/ qccpc.2020.52626.2428
  14. Couyoumdjian A, Ottaviani C, Petrocchi N, Trincas R, Tenore K, Buonanno C, Mancini F. Reducing the meta-emotional problem decreases physiological fear response during exposure in phobics. Front Psychol. 2016;7:1105. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01105
  15. Amirfakhraei A, Masoumifard M, Esmaeilishad B, DashtBozorgi Z, Darvish Baseri L. Prediction of corona virus anxiety based on health concern, psychological hardiness, and positive meta-emotion in diabetic patients. J Diabetes Nurs. 2020;8(2):1072-83.
  16. Liew GC, Kuan G, Chin NS, Hashim HA. Mental toughness in sport. Ger J Exerc Sport Res. 2019;49(4):381-94. doi:10.1007/s12662-019-00603-3
  17. Shaw L, Hansen H, St Clair-Thompson H. Mental toughness is a mediator of the relationship between positive childhood experiences and wellbeing. Eur J Dev Psychol. 2023;20(1): 130-46. doi:10.1080/17405629.2022.2058485
  18. Qi W, Shi J, Cui L. Family contagion of mental toughness and its influence on youth mental well-being: Family cohesion as a moderator. Pers Individ Differ. 2023;202: 111963. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2022.111963
  19. Haghighi M, Gerber M. Does mental toughness buffer the relationship between perceived stress, depression, burnout, anxiety, and sleep?. Int J Stress Manag. 2019;26(3):297-305. doi:10.1037/str0000106
  20. Mojtahedi D, Dagnall N, Denovan A, Clough P, Hull S, Canning D, et al. The relationship between mental toughness, job loss, and mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. Front Psychiatry. 2021;11:1668. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.607246
  21. Shaw L, Hansen H, St Clair-Thompson H. Mental toughness is a mediator of the relationship between positive childhood experiences and wellbeing. Eur J Dev Psychol. 2023;20(1): 130-46. doi:10.1080/17405629.2022.2058485
  22. Jin L, Wang CD. International students’ attachment and psychological well-being: the mediation role of mental toughness. Couns Psychol Q. 2018;31(1):59-78. doi:10.108 0/09515070.2016.1211510
  23. Benjamin LJ, John WC. Examining the moderation and mediation effects of mental toughness on perceived stress and anxiety amongst athletes and non-athletes. Asian J Sport Exerc Psychol. 2021;1(2-3):89-97. doi:10.1016/j.ajsep. 2021.09.001
  24. Tanhaye Reshvanloo F, Torkamani M, Mirshahi S, Hajibakloo N, Kareshki H. Validity and Reliability Assessment of the Persian Version of the Co-Rumination Questionnaire. J Clin Psychol. 2021;13(1):79-87. doi:220 75/JCP.2021.20312.1874
  25. Felton JW, Cole DA, Havewala M, Kurdziel G, Brown V. Talking together, thinking alone: Relations among co-rumination, peer relationships, and rumination. J Youth Adolesc. 2019;48:731-43. doi:10.1007/s10964-018-0937-z
  26. Tudder A, Wilkinson M, Gresham AM, Peters BJ. The intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of a new experimental manipulation of co-rumination. Emotion. 2023; 23(4):1190-1201. doi:10.1037/emo0001151
  27. Stone LB, Uhrlass DJ, Gibb BE. Co-rumination and lifetime history of depressive disorders in children. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2010;39(4):597-602. doi:10.1080/ 15374416.2010.486323
  28. Balsamo M, Murdock KK, Carlucci L. Psychological factors in adherence to COVID-19 public health restrictions in Italy: A path model testing depressed mood, anxiety, and co-rumination via cellphone. Plos One. 2022;17(12):e0278628. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0278628
  29. Strickland MG, Anastasio P. Co-rumination may mitigate depressive and anxious symptoms for those high in social interaction anxiety. J Soc Clin Psychol. 2021;40(5):381-403. doi:10.1521/jscp.2021.40.5.403
  30. Stone LB, Veksler AE. Stop talking about it already! Co-ruminating and social media focused on COVID-19 was associated with heightened state anxiety, depressive symptoms, and perceived changes in health anxiety during Spring 2020. BMC Psychol. 2022;10(1):22. doi:10.1186/ s40359-022-00734-7
  31. Segall Cernik R. The relationship between co-rumination and different forms of normative anxiety in Quebec youth. [Thesis of PhD] The University of Montreal; Canada: 2021. doi:1866/26166
  32. Ghaffari M, Salami Chaharborj M. The relationships between sense of coherence and self-compassion to job stress with the mediating role of affective control. J Res Psychopathol. 2020;1(1):40-7. doi:22098/JRP.2020.1031
  33. Mehtari Arani M, Rajabiyan Dehzireh M, Bashirnejad Dastjerdi H, Hoseini SM. The Relationship between Mental Health and Social Discipline and Individual Abilities in Performing the Organizational Missions of Law Enforcement Force Staff. Mil Psychol. 2021;12(46):117-36.
  34. Salkovskis PM, Rimes KA, Warwick HM, Clark D. The Health Anxiety Inventory: development and validation of scales for the measurement of health anxiety and hypochondriasis. Psychol Med. 2002;32(5):843-53. doi:10.1017/S0033291702005822
  35. Nargesi F, Izadi F, Kariminejad K, Rezaii Sharif A. The investigation of the reliability and validity of Persian version of Health anxiety questionnaire in students of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences. J Educ Meas. 2017;7(27): 147-60. doi:10.22054/jem.2017.19621.1495
  36. Mitmansgruber H, Beck TN, Höfer S, Schüßler G. When you don’t like what you feel: Experiential avoidance, mindfulness and meta-emotion in emotion regulation. Pers Individ Differ. 2009;46(4):448-53. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.11.013
  37. Rezaei NM, Parsai I, Nejati IS, Nik Amal M, Razini SM. Psychometric properties of students' overexcitement scale. Psychol Res Q. 2014;6(23):111-124.
  38. Clough P, Earle K, Sewell D. Mental toughness: The concept and its measurement. Solut Sport Psychol. 2002;1:32-45.
  39. Abedanzadeh R, Parsaei S, Purkargar E. Relationship between mental toughness and psychological well-being in students: the intermediate role of physical activity. Sports Psychol. 2017;2(2):13-24.
  40. Davidson CL, Grant DM, Byrd-Craven J, Mills AC, Judah MR, Lechner WV. Psychometric properties of the co-rumination questionnaire. Pers Individ Differ. 2014;70:171-5. doi:10.10 16/j.paid.2014.07.002
  41. Tanhaye Reshvanloo F, Torkamani M, Mirshahi S, Hajibakloo N, Kareshki H. Validity and Reliability Assessment of the Persian Version of the Co-Rumination Questionnaire. J Clin Psychol. 2021;13(1):79-87. doi:10.220 75/JCP.2021.20312.1874
Hospital Practices and Research
Volume 8, Issue 2 - Serial Number 30
Spring 2023
Pages 245-252

Home

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Reviewers

Contact Us