Background and aims: Concerns about death can have a negative impact on health-related quality of life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people experienced death anxiety, highlighting the importance of identifying factors that contribute to this anxiety during this time. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a model of death anxiety based on personality traits and cognitive emotion regulation, with anxiety about contracting the coronavirus as playing a mediating role.
Methods: This correlational research utilized the path analysis method and included all citizens of Qom province in 2021. A sample of 400 people was selected using the available sampling method. Data was collected using Costa and McCree's five-factor personality trait questionnaire (1985), Granfsky and Kraich's cognitive-emotional regulation scale (2002), Alipour et al.'s anxiety due to coronavirus scale (2018), and Templer's Death Anxiety scale (1970). Data analysis was conducted using the Pearson correlation test and path analysis.
Results: The path analysis test results indicated that the research model had a good fit. Personality traits and cognitive regulation of emotion were able to explain 14% of the variance in anxiety associated with coronavirus. Furthermore, personality traits, cognitive regulation, anxiety about the coronavirus, and excitement were able to explain 36% of the variance in death anxiety.
Conclusion: These results demonstrate that anxiety about contracting the coronavirus mediates the relationship between personality traits, cognitive regulation, and death anxiety.