AUTHOR=Li Jie , Xia Ying , Cheng Xinying , Li Shijia 

TITLE=Fear of Uncertainty Makes You More Anxious? Effect of Intolerance of Uncertainty on College Students’ Social Anxiety: A Moderated Mediation Model

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565107

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565107

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Purpose: This study investigated the relationships among intolerance of uncertainty (IU), social anxiety (SA), rumination, and pessimistic explanatory style (PES) in a sample of college students. Methods: Questionnaires were completed by 533 college students. Results: Rumination partially mediated the relationship between IU and SA, and PES plays an important role in moderating the direct path (IU→SA) and the first part of the mediation process. When the PES is low, IU predicts SA less strongly but is related to rumination. Conversely, IU in individuals with a high PES predicts SA more directly. Conclusion: Rumination plays a mediating role between IU and SA, and the PES moderates the direct path and the first stage of the mediation model.