Psychometric properties of the Mexican version of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale: The IUS-12M / Propiedades psicométricas de la versión mexicana de la Escala de Intolerancia a la Incertidumbre: La IUS-12M

ABSTRACT Background: The Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale short version (IUS-12) has proven to be a robust self-report measure to assess intolerance of uncertainty. While previous psychometric analyses of the IUS-12 have established a stable two-factor structure corresponding to the prospective and inhibitory factors of intolerance of uncertainty, recent studies suggest that the bifactor model may better explain its factor structure. Objective: The aim of the current study was to culturally adapt and validate the IUS-12 in a Mexican population. Method: The aim of the current study was to culturally adapt and validate the IUS-12 in a Mexican population. Result: Confirmatory factor analyses supported a bifactor model and a good internal consistency. Invariance testing indicated partial invariance across women and men. Convergent validity tests showed that the IUS-12 was related to measures of worry, as well as depression and anxiety. Conclusion: These findings provide evidence for the reliability and validity of the adapted version of the IUS-12 in Mexico.

RESUMEN Introducción: La Escala de Intolerancia a la Incertidumbre versión corta (IUS-12) ha demostrado ser una medida robusta de autoinforme para evaluar la intolerancia a la incertidumbre. A pesar de que los análisis psicométricos anteriores de la IUS-12 han establecido una estructura de dos factores correlacionados que corresponde a los factores prospectivo e inhibitorio de la intolerancia a la incertidumbre, estudios recientes sugieren que el modelo bifactorial puede explicar mejor su estructura factorial. Objetivo: El objetivo del estudio actual fue adaptar culturalmente y validar la IUS-12 para su uso en la población mexicana. Método: El estudio se llevó a cabo con una muestra comunitaria no probabilística por conveniencia de 405 adultos con edades comprendidas entre los 18 y 70 años. Resultados: Los análisis factoriales confirmatorios respaldaron un modelo bifactor y una buena consistencia interna. Las pruebas de invarianza indicaron invarianza parcial entre mujeres y hombres. Las pruebas de validez convergente mostraron que la IUS-12 estaba relacionada con medidas de preocupación, así como con depresión y ansiedad. Conclusión: Estos hallazgos proporcionan evidencia de la fiabilidad y validez de la versión adaptada de la IUS-12 en México.

COVID-19 pandemic and tourism: The impact of health risk perception and intolerance of uncertainty on travel intentions.

Understanding tourist behavior during and after major tourism crises is essential to help destinations recover. The COVID-19 pandemic - a period of uncertainty and risk - makes it relevant to assess factors that influence travel intentions. There has been little research on tourist behavior during health crises and, in particular, on perceived health risk and uncertainty effects on travel intentions. This study was carried out at the beginning of the pandemic in Brazil and aims to investigate the role of health risk perception and intolerance of uncertainty on travel intentions for 2020 and 2021. We applied an online survey to 1150 Brazilian participants from April to May 2020. Our findings indicate that perceived COVID-19 severity, perceived probability of infection, and expected duration of the pandemic are significant predictors of travel intentions for both years. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of crisis-resistant tourists' characteristics and provides insights for destinations' recovery.

COVID-19 as an undesirable political issue: Conspiracy beliefs and intolerance of uncertainty predict adhesion to prevention measures.

Conspiracy theories thrive in moments of crises because they provide straightforward answers that assist individuals in coping with threats. The COVID-19 outbreak is such a crisis and is boosted by the political turmoil related to the politicization of the pandemic in some countries. To assess the role of political partisanship, intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and conspiracy beliefs in our two criterion variables (support for COVID-19 prevention measures and compliance with social distancing), we applied an online questionnaire to 662 participants. Our results indicate direct effects of political partisanship on support for COVID-19 prevention measures and non-compliance with social distancing while IU has not directly affected any of them. We have also found a significant effect of political partisanship on conspiracy theory dimensions involving personal wellbeing (PW) and control of information (CI) but not government malfeasance (GM) ones. Moreover, beliefs in CI theories predicted non-compliance with social distancing. Intolerance of uncertainty, on its turn, predicted the three dimensions of conspiracy beliefs. As to interaction effects, belief in GM, PW, and CI conspiracy theories moderated the effect of political partisanship on support for COVID-19 prevention measures whereas only belief in GM and PW theories moderated the effect of IU on past non-compliance with social distancing. Overall, our results suggest the relevance of diminishing politicization around the virus, providing basic scientific knowledge to the general population, and assisting individuals in coping with uncertainty. Besides, these findings provide insights into developing information campaigns to instruct the population to cope with the pandemic, producing behavioral change at societal and individual levels.

Intolerance of COVID-19-related uncertainty and depressive and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic: A longitudinal study in Argentina.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is a novel, unprecedented situation that has created considerable uncertainty due in part to the unpredictability of the future situation. Intolerance of Uncertainty is the inability to withstand negative uncertain situations, and predisposes people to overestimate threats and to develop psychopathological symptoms. The aim of this study was to longitudinally analyze the relationship between intolerance of COVID-19-related uncertainty and anxiety and depression symptoms. A non-probabilistic online snowball sampling method was used. For the study, 1230 Argentine adults (216 men; 1005 women; 9 other genders; mean age = 41.62; SD = 13.81) were recruited to complete three open-access surveys at three different time points: (1) between May 6 and June 1, 2020, (2) between August 8 and 13, 2020, and (3) between April 17 and 23, 2021. The results suggest that anxiety and depressive symptoms increase over time, and that intolerance of uncertainty is a predictor of this variability even up to eleven months after the initial assessment. Gender- and age- related effects were also observed (women and young people reported more psychopathological symptoms). The findings suggest the importance of intolerance of uncertainty for mental health and the importance of this type of study for understanding the psychological impact of the pandemic.

Intolerance of uncertainty and mental health in Brazil during the Covid-19 pandemic / Intolerância a incerteza e saúde mental no Brasil durante a pandemia de Covid-19

Abstract The first Brazilian diagnosed with COVID-19 was identified on February 25th, resulting in a series of governmental actions to prepare the population for the effects of the pandemic. Nevertheless, geographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the country, and the strategies adopted may have contributed to generating a widespread feeling of uncertainty in the population; uncertainty about the disease, how to prevent it, its severity, and its impact on political and economic issues. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and common mental health disorders. Participants were contacted via social media messages and encouraged to fill out an online questionnaire with socioeconomic questions, a short measure of intolerance of uncertainty (IUS-12), and a measure of mental health indicator (DASS-21). With a sample of 924 participants from Sergipe, Brazil, three binomial logistic regressions were performed, one for each DASS-21 outcome, categorized by a median. The women in the sample showed a higher probability of having stress, anxiety and depression scores above the median. Over the entire sample, both subscales of IUS-12 were significantly and positively related to all three DASS-21 subscales. These findings are discussed in the context of mental health during a pandemic, and future directions for research are also presented.

Resumo O primeiro brasileiro diagnosticado com COVID-19 foi identificado dia 25 de fevereiro, resultando em uma série de ações governamentais para preparar a população para os efeitos da pandemia. No entanto, características geográficas e socioeconômicas do país, e as estratégias adotadas, podem ter contribuído para a criação de uma sensação generalizada de incerteza na população; incerteza a respeito da doença, como preveni-la, sua gravidade, e seu impacto em questões políticas e econômicas. Este estudo foi elaborado para investigar a relação entre Intolerância à Incerteza e transtornos mentais comuns. Os participantes foram contactados por mensagens em redes sociais e convidados a preencher um questionário online com questões socioeconômicas, um instrumento breve de Intolerância a Incerteza (IUS-12) e um indicador de saúde mental (DASS-12). Com uma amostra de 924 participantes de Sergipe, Brasil, três regressões logísticas binomiais foram realizadas, uma para cada desfecho do DASS21, categorizados pela mediana. As mulheres da amostra apresentaram maior probabilidade de escores estresse, ansiedade e depressão acima da mediana. Em toda a amostra, ambas subescalas da IUS-12 foram significativa e positivamente relacionadas às três subescalas da DASS-12. Estes achados são discutidos no contexto de saúde mental durante uma pandemia, e futuras direções de pesquisa também são apresentadas.

Psychometric properties of the Brazilian Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale - Short Version (IUS-12)

Abstract Introduction The Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale - Short Version (IUS-12) is a measure of trait intolerance of uncertainty. Objective The purpose of the present study was to conduct a cross-cultural adaptation of the IUS-12 for use in Brazil and to investigate the scale's psychometric properties. Methods The research was conducted via an online research platform with a sample (n = 704; 80.1% female and 19.9% male) from different states in all five regions of Brazil. Participants were adults between 18 and 59 years of age (mean = 26.74; standard deviation = 8.36) who completed the Brazilian version of the IUS-12 online along with other anxiety-related measures. Results Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the original two-dimensional structure fit the sample well. The total score for the scale had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha [α] = 0.88), as did both subscales (i.e. Prospective IU α = 0.79; Inhibitory IU α = 0.86). Conclusions The results demonstrated strong positive correlations with measures of anxiety-related constructs, contributing to the transdiagnostic understanding of IU. The IUS-12 appears to be a useful tool for assessment of IU and its availability has several implications of theoretical importance and practical utility for understanding of psychopathology and uncertainty.

El malestar emocional como síntoma de estrés postraumático / Emotional distress as a symptom of post-traumatic stress

El trastorno por estrés postraumático (TEPT) tiene una importante prevalencia en la población, por lo que conocer los mecanismos psicológicos para la vulnerabilidad y el mantenimiento del trastorno es claramente relevante. Entre dichos mecanismos, se ha postulado el constructo de malestar emocional como transdiagnóstico a diversos trastornos mentales. El objetivo del presente estudio fue poner a prueba un modelo hipotético que analizaba la asociación entre tres variables pertenecientes a dicho constructo (evitación experiencial, tolerancia al malestar e intolerancia a la incertidumbre inhibitoria) y el TEPT. Participaron 328 estudiantes universitarios (74.7% mujeres y 25.3% hombres, con una media de edad de 21 años) que habían experimentado al menos un acontecimiento traumático de acuerdo con los criterios del DSM-5, quienes completaron una batería de cuestionarios. Se efectuó un análisis de ecuaciones estructurales cuyos resultados apoyaron parcialmente el modelo hipotético. La evitación experiencial mostró asociarse positiva y significativamente con la tolerancia al malestar, la intolerancia a la incertidumbre inhibitoria y los síntomas del TEPT. La tolerancia al malestar también se vinculó de forma positiva y significativa con dichos síntomas. Sin embargo, la intolerancia a la incertidumbre inhibitoria no mostró relación con esta sintomatología. En apoyo a la evidencia empírica precedente, los hallazgos de este estudio inciden en el papel de la evitación experiencial y la tolerancia al malestar como variables moderadoras de la sintomatología postraumática. Asimismo, apuntan hacia la necesidad de considerar estas variables en las intervenciones psicológicas para el tratamiento del TEPT

Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD has an important prevalence in the population, so knowing the psychological mechanisms of vulnerability and maintenance of this disorder is clearly relevant. Among those mechanisms, the emotional distress construct has been postulated as a trans-diagnostic tool related to different mental disorders. The objective of the present study was to test a hypothetical model for the analysis of the association between three variables of this construct (experiential avoidance, distress tolerance, and inhibitory uncertainty intolerance) and PTSD. The subjects of study amounted to 328 university students (74.7% women and 25.3% men, with a median age of 21) who had experienced at least one traumatic event according to the DSM-5 criteria. They were made to complete a set of questionnaires. A structural equation analysis was carried out, with results partially coincident with the hypothetical model. Exponential avoidance showed a positive and significant association with distress tolerance, inhibitory uncertainty intolerance and PTSD symptoms. Distress tolerance was also associated with these symptoms in a positive and significant way. However, inhibitory uncertainty intolerance was not associated with this symptomatology. Following the preexisting empirical evidence, the findings of this study have an impact on the role of experiential avoidance and distress tolerance, as variables that moderate post-traumatic symptomatology. Furthermore, the findings point to the need to consider these variables in psychological interventions for the treatment of PTSD

Adaptación para Buenos Aires de la Escala de Intolerancia a la Incertidumbre / Adaptation to Buenos Aires of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale

Este artículo informa la adaptación lingüística y el análisis de las propiedades psicométricas de la Escala de Intolerancia a la Incertidumbre (EII) en población de Buenos Aires. La EII evalúa la intolerancia a la incertidumbre (II) que es uno de los componentes principales del trastorno de ansiedad generalizada (TAG) según el modelo teórico de Dugas. La intolerancia a la incertidumbre se define como una disposición característica que resulta de un conjunto de pensamientos negativos sobre la incertidumbre. La Escala de Intolerancia a la Incertidumbre (EII) está compuesta por 27 ítemes que se responden con un formato tipo Likert de cinco opciones de respuesta. Se analizaron los datos obtenidos de una muestra de 320 participantes, residentes de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires y el Gran Buenos Aires (República Argentina). Se obtuvieron correlaciones significativas con medidas criterio de preocupación (r = .44; p = .000) y ansiedad como estado (r = .36; p = .000) y como rasgo (r = .58; p = .000). Se estudió la estructura de la escala con el análisis de componentes principales y se obtuvieron dos factores que explican el 41.07% de la variancia total. Con respecto a la fiabilidad, los resultados indican una excelente consistencia interna de los ítemes igual a .93 y una estabilidad test-retest luego de cinco semanas, igual a .47. No se registraron diferencias significativas en las puntuaciones de la escala según la edad y el sexo. En su conjunto, los resultados obtenidos en la investigación realizada son concordantes con los hallazgos de investigaciones anteriores. Dado que la II constituye un factor de vulnerabilidad para el TAG, es de utilidad contar con un cuestionario adaptado a la población local.

The purpose of this paper is to report as regards the linguistic and cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS, for its acronyms in English) in the adult population of Buenos Aires (Republica Argentina). The IUS assesses the intolerance of uncertainty (IU), which is one of the principal components of the generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) according to the theoretical model of Dugas. IU has been defined as a dispositional characteristic that results from a set of negative beliefs about uncertainty and it has been proposed as a cognitive vulnerability factor for worry and GAD. Furthermore it may be defined more specifically as the excessive tendency of an individual to consider it unacceptable that a negative event may occur, however small the probability of its occurrence. In general, intolerance of uncertainty may be conceptualized as the way an individual perceives information in uncertain situations and responds to said information with a set of emotional, cognitive and behavioral responses. The IUS is composed of 27 items related to the idea that uncertainty is unacceptable, leads to frustration and the inability to take action and it reflected badly on a person. Participants rate items on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1: not at all characteristic of me to 5: entirely characteristic of me. Higher scores on the IUS indicate greater intolerance of uncertainty. The original French version of the IUS was developed in 1994 to assess emotional, cognitive, and behavioral reactions to ambiguous situations, implications of being uncertain, and attempts to control the future. In 2002, the IUS was translated from French to English. Similar to the original French measure, the English translation had shown excellent internal consistency and temporal stability. It has demonstrated convergent, criterial, and discriminant validity. On this study, the IUS translated into Spanish by three independent translators. The content validity was assessed through the use of three independent judges who had broad knowledge of anxiety disorder. The preliminary version was tested with a sample of 90 participants. The research was a descriptive and correlational study, with a transversal design The participants completed the following questionnaires: the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Data obtained from a sample of 320 participants (168 females and 152 males) of the Ciudad and Provincia de Buenos Aires has been analyzed. Data analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) - Version 22 software. In relation to the evidence of validity, significant correlations were obtained with worry (r = .44; p = .000) and anxiety as a state (r = .36; p = .000) and trait (r = .58; p = .000). The exploratory data analysis regarding the factor structure of the scale and dimensions of the construct indicated two factors that explain 41.07 % of the total variance. On the one hand, concerning the consistency of this scale, the results show an excellent internal consistency (.93) and a fairly strong test-retest reliability over a five-week period of .47. On the other hand, significant differences were not registered in the punctuations of the scale according to age and sex, and these findings are consistent with previous research. As a whole, the results obtained from the present investigation are consistent with the findings of previous investigations. Given that the IU constitutes a factor of vulnerability for the TAG, it is useful to rely on a questionnaire adapted to the local population. To conclude, the present study has demonstrated the sound psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the IUS.