THE EFFECTS OF HOPE ON ANXIETY AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING AS MEDIATED BY COGNITIVE REAPPRAISAL AND EXPERIENTIAL AVOIDANCE IN A COMMUNITY SAMPLE EXPOSED TO HURRICANE HARVEY

Date

2022-12-15

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Abstract

Positive thinking factors such as hope are protective in the face of difficult life events, including natural disasters (Glass, Flory, Hankin, Kloos, & Turecki, 2009). Association studies support the correlation between higher hope, lower anxiety, and higher subjective well-being although little is known about how hope effects position change (SWB; Alarcon, Bowling, & Khazon, 2013). Cognitive and behavioral coping strategies such as higher cognitive reappraisal and lower experiential avoidance have been proposed as two such mechanisms (Gallagher et al., 2017; Kashdan, Barrios, Forsyth, & Steger, 2006; Long et al., 2020). The present study used latent growth curve modeling to test whether the relationship between hope and mental health, as represented by lower anxiety and higher subjective well-being, is mediated by higher cognitive reappraisal and lower experiential avoidance within a sample exposed to Hurricane Harvey. Data collection took place in three waves beginning one year after Hurricane Harvey and continuing for 15 months (n = 258). The longitudinal study variables of anxiety (standardized mean gain scores wave 1 to wave 2 = -.04; wave 2 to wave 3 = -.10), positive affect (W1-W2 = -.12; W2-W3 = .04), negative affect (W1-W2 = .06; W2-W3 = .03), and satisfaction with life (W1-W2 = .01; W2-W3 = .01) showed little change over time that limited the ability to measure how change in mediators related to change in outcomes. Therefore, intercept only models were conducted and revealed the following. First, hope was strongly associated with lower anxiety (β = -.51), lower negative affect (β = -.39), higher positive affect (β = .71), and higher satisfaction with life (β = .71). Second, cognitive reappraisal was associated with lower anxiety (β = -.22), lower negative affect (β = -.26), higher positive affect (β = .58), and higher satisfaction with life (β = .46). On the other hand, experiential avoidance was associated with higher anxiety (β = .63), higher negative affect (β = .67), lower positive affect (β = -.35), and lower satisfaction with life (β = -.35). Finally, hope had indirect effects on higher positive affect through cognitive reappraisal (ab = .05) and hope had indirect effects on lower anxiety (ab = -.13) and negative affect (ab = -.14) through experiential avoidance. The study supports the research that hope leads to lower mental illness and higher mental well-being over time, even following a major stressor. Further, it provides a unique contribution that indicates that the association between hope and a positive indicator of mental health is mediated by cognitive reappraisal whereas the association between hope and two negative indicators of mental health is mediated by experiential avoidance.

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Keywords

Hope, Anxiety, Subjective well-being, Cognitive reappraisal, Experiential avoidance

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