Follow-up to a randomized controlled trial of the effect of self-affirmation on anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Li, Shifeng; Xu, Qingying; Zhou, Aibao

A recent study showed that a brief intervention involving reflection on personal values (T1: 2 February 2020) can buffer the anxiety response one week later (T2: Feb. 9) during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The present study reported the results from a follow-up two weeks (T3: Feb. 16) and one-month later (T4: Mar. 1). Two hundred and twenty participants were recruited via convenience sampling and randomly assigned either to the value-affirmation condition or to a control condition, with 110 participants in each condition. The results revealed that similar to T2, participants who affirmed their values showed a lower anxiety response than those in the control group at T3, despite the pandemic continuing to increase rapidly during that time. Meanwhile, anxiety decreased in both groups at T4 as the pandemic eased. Findings suggest that self-affirmations can help reduce stress in the face of the COVID-19.