Rumination and Gender in the Relation Between Perceived Threat and State Anxiety During COVID-19

Objectives: Perception of and subsequent responses to counter threats by disease, such as COVID-19, are essential for engagement in self-protective behaviors. But, associated increases in anxiety that accompany the threat of disease may negatively impact well-being. Therefore, identifying variables that may modulate the association between perceived threat from COVID-19 and anxiety is important. We conducted a study to examine the moderating roles of two subtypes of rumination (brooding and reflection) in the association between perceived threat from COVID-19 and state anxiety. Additionally, as both COVID-19 outcomes and the tendency to ruminate differ across genders, we explored gender as a second moderator.

Methods: Participants (N = 300; Men = 144) were recruited online in April 2020 and completed measures of state anxiety, brooding and reflective rumination, and perceived threat from COVID-19.

Results: Moderation regression analyses revealed that perceived threat and brooding were independently associated with increased state anxiety. Reflective rumination and gender, however, significantly moderated the relation between perceived threat and state anxiety. For men, reflective rumination strengthened the association between threat and anxiety. For women, reflective rumination weakened this association; women with the highest scores in reflective rumination also reported high state anxiety at low, medium, and high perceived threat levels.

Conclusions: These findings illuminate gender differences in the relations between perceived threat, rumination, and experienced state anxiety during the pandemic.