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Published on: September 16, 2015
Perceived Stress as a Mediator Between Intolerance of Uncertainty and Psychotic-Like Experiences Among College
Chunping Chen1, Bingna Xu2, Dongfang Wang3
1College of Education, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China.
Background:
Whilst the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and psychotic symptoms has been established, the relationship between IU and psychotic-like experiences (PLEs)-subthreshold experiences similar to the positive symptoms of psychosis-remains underexplored. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the longitudinal relationship between IU and PLEs and by exploring the mediating role of perceived stress between them in a non-clinical population of college students.
Methods:
A total of 7892 Chinese college students participated in three web-based surveys conducted during October 17-29, 2023 (Time 1, T1), April 15-24, 2024 (Time 2, T2), and October 16-29, 2024 (Time 3, T3). All participants completed measures of sample characteristics, IU, perceived stress and PLEs.
Results:
T1 IU had a significant positive effect on T2 perceived stress (βa = 0.058, p < 0.001). T2 perceived stress positively predicted T3 PLEs (βb = 0.187, p < 0.001), whilst the direct effect of T1 IU on T3 PLEs was not significant (βc' = -0.011, p = 0.345). T2 perceived stress fully mediates the longitudinal relationship between T1 IU and T3 PLEs amongst college students (βa × b = 0.011, 95% CI = 0.007 to 0.015).
Conclusion:
IU could indirectly influence college students' PLEs by heightening perceived stress. These findings highlight that screening and reducing IU, as well as addressing and intervening in distress associated with perceived stress, may lead to significant benefits in alleviating PLEs.
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