The moderating effect of psychological distress in the association between temperaments and dark future among young adults.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study is to evaluate the moderating effect of psychological distress variables, depression, anxiety and stress on the relationship between affective temperaments and future anxiety, assessed with the Dark Future scale. METHODS: Lebanese adults from all districts/governorates of Lebanon participated in this cross-sectional study. The data was collected through a questionnaire including: a section about sociodemographic characteristics, the Dark Future scale (DFS), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-8) and the Affective Temperament Scale (TEMPS-M). RESULTS: The interaction irritable temperament by psychological distress (p = .007) was significantly associated with dark future; at low levels of psychological distress, more irritable temperament (Beta = 0.16) was significantly associated with more dark future. The interaction anxious temperament by psychological distress (p = .010) was significantly associated with dark future; at low (Beta = 0.34), moderate (Beta = 0.25) and high (Beta = 0.15) levels of psychological distress, more anxious temperament was significantly associated with more dark future. CONCLUSION: The nature of the associations among depression, anxiety and stress, specific temperaments and anxiety towards the future in a sample of Lebanese individuals was clarified. This is especially significant as Lebanese people live in circumstances that promote psychological distress and future anxiety such as dramatic economic and political crises, instability and lack of security in different aspects of life.

Psychometric properties of the Arabic translation of the Dark Future Scale questionnaire in a non-clinical sample of Arabic-speaking young adults.

BACKGROUND: Through the years, studying negative behaviors of the worldwide population seized the spotlight from many researchers who focused on building scales in order the measure the level of worries, fear and even depression of such stressed individuals. By definition, "Future anxiety" (FA) is fueled by negative thoughts leading to intense fear of unknown future events. The Dark Future scale (DFS) measures the level of anxiety experienced towards the future. Our aim was to examine the psychometric properties of a novel Arabic translation of the DFS. METHODS: A sample of 684 Arabic-speaking young adults (65.6% women) filled the DFS, TEMPS-M (temperaments) and DASS-8 (psychological distress). RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) supported a unidimensional model of the DFS score, with all 5 items retained. This scale had good reliability. Moreover, concurrent validity demonstrated significant associations between DFS scores and psychological distress, depressive, cyclothymic, irritable and anxious temperament. Scores achieved scalar invariance across gender, with women having greater exposure to anxiety about the future. CONCLUSION: Overall, these findings led to the conclusion that the Arabic DFS is a psychometrically valid tool for the assessment of FA. The DFS is a brief, reliable and easy to apply scale that would help researchers in psychology and psychiatry in assessing anxiety about future.

Nature-friendly hands: The relationship between nursing students' climate change anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and anxiety about the future.

AIM/OBJECTIVE: This study examined the relationship between climate change anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and future anxiety levels of nursing students. BACKGROUND: The effects of climate change, an important global problem, on people's emotional and intellectual states are becoming increasingly important. It is important to understand to what extent prospective health professionals, such as nursing students, are affected by such environmental concerns and the possible impact of this level on their professional behaviors to develop an environmentally focused approach to health services. DESIGN: This study was conducted using a descriptive and correlational design. METHODS: Students enrolled in the Nursing Undergraduate Program of a university in Turkey in the 2023-2024 academic year participated in the study. The participants were administered a personal information form, climate change anxiety scale, intolerance of uncertainty scale, and future anxiety scale in university students. The data were evaluated using advanced statistical analyses, and relationships were examined. RESULTS: As a result of these analyses, it was determined that there was a significant relationship between future anxiety and climate change anxiety in university students (R = 0.234, p = .000). In addition, there was a substantial relationship between climate change anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty (R = 0.562, p = .000). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate significant and linear relationships between nursing students' emotional and cognitive states associated with environmental factors such as climate change, uncertainty, and future anxiety. Developing support and interventions in nursing education is crucial to help students cope with these issues and function more effectively in their future professional lives.

University students' experience of the Beirut port explosion: associations with subjective well-being and subjective symptoms of mental strain.

BACKGROUND: On 4 August 2020, an explosion shook Beirut, killing more than 200 people and leaving thousands injured or homeless. AIMS: This study examined mental health of university students through a cross-sectional online survey between December 2020 and January 2021. METHODS: The questionnaire consisted of the WHO-5, sense of coherence (SoC), future anxiety, self-developed subjective symptoms of mental strain (SSMS), and items assessing proximity to explosion, extent of injury and house damage. Gender, study level and social status were used as sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Of 1042 participants, 30.8% were at 0-7 km from explosion; 38.1% reported physical injuries; and 12.4% saw their home damaged. Two third (60.3%) reported ≥3 SSMS, and 73.4% reported low well-being. Students with low well-being were more often female and master students (p < 0.001). Females were more often affected by ≥3 SSMS (p < 0.001). Regression analysis with low well-being as dependent variable revealed significant associations with study level (OR: 2.30-2.94), future anxiety (OR: 2.72-4.34) and SoC (OR: 1.81-5.61). For ≥3 SSMS, females (OR: 3.09), moderate/very close distance (OR: 2.13-4.98), injury/death of family member or friend (OR: 2.07-2.06), house damage (OR: 1.72) future anxiety (OR: 1.97-3.11) and SoC (1.79-2.88) were significant predictors. DISCUSSION: Preventive mental health strategies that strengthen SoC and outlook on future could protect against SSMS and low well-being following major trauma.

Why people were less compliant with public health regulations during the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak: The role of trust in governmental organizations, future anxiety, fatigue, and Covid-19 risk perception.

Trust in governmental organizations is a crucial factor in terms of encouraging people to conform to public health regulations, such as those recommended to slow down the spread of SARS-CoV-2. However, trust in governmental organizations tends to decline over time, reducing the compliance with public health regulations. This study aimed at exploring, first, the role of future anxiety and fatigue as serial mediators of the relationship between trust in governmental organizations and protective behaviors, and, secondly, the role of Covid-19 risk perception as a moderator between fatigue and protective behaviors. A total of 948 Italian participants (302 males and 646 females), ranged from 18 to 80 years (M = 27.20, SD = 11.01), answered an online survey during the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak. A moderated serial mediation model was performed using a structural equation modeling. The results indicate that: (1) a higher trust in Italian governmental organizations was associated with a greater compliance in terms of adopting protective behaviors; (2) a lower trust in Italian governmental organizations increased anxiety about the future which, in turn, raised levels of fatigue, leading, finally, to a reduction in the levels of protective behaviors; and (3) as the perceived risk related to Covid-19 increased, the effect of fatigue on protective behaviors decreased. The findings of the current study may provide indications for public health policy on how to increase compliance with the recommended behaviors to be adopted in order to decrease the spread of the SARS-CoV-2.

[School Children's COVID-Related Future Anxiety over the Course of 8Months of the Pandemic]. / Coronabezogene Zukunftsangst bei Grundschulkindern im Verlauf von 8 Monaten der Pandemie.

To explore the long-term effects of the COVID-19-pandemic on children, N = 140 8- to 10- year-olds were asked about their COVID-related future anxiety (CRFA) in their classrooms during months 6, 9, and 14 of the pandemic which started inMarch 2020 in Germany. Future anxiety was defined as a "state of apprehension, uncertainty, fear, worry, or anxiety about unfavorable changes in a more distant personal future" which was related to the effects of the COVID- 19-pandemic. In this survey, 13%to 19%of children reported experiencing CRFA "often" on at least one of the four items of the newly developed CRFA scale. Experiencing CRFA "often" was reported by 16% of the children at two and by 8 % of the children at three measurement points, among them more girls and more children from homes with poor educational backgrounds. Analyses uncovered large interindividual differences: For 45 % of the children CRFA decreased between months 6 and 9 of the pandemic, whereas for 43 % it increased. Children of parents with low educational backgrounds weremore likely to report frequent CRFA at all three measurement time points, even after controlling for gender and incidence of COVID-19-in Germany.This confirms predictions that contagion risk and controllability influence future anxiety. The descriptive results additionally support earlier findings that many children already experience future anxiety about macro-level events. The results on chronic CRFA underscore the urgency to examine the long-time effects of CRFA with greater care.This is of paramount importance considering the macro-level challenges of the future.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on subjective mental well-being: The interplay of perceived threat, future anxiety and resilience.

The COVID-19 pandemic has potentially a serious impact on many people's mental well-being. This study analyses the influence of the perceived threat of COVID-19 on subjective mental well-being with an online survey (n = 711). Findings confirmed the hypothesized model that provides a process explanation for this effect through the mediating influence of the activation of future anxiety. In addition, results confirmed that this influence via future anxiety is moderated by resilience, a personality trait that enables individuals to cope better with stressful or traumatic events. Individuals with higher levels of resilience compared to those with lower levels registered a lower impact of perceived Covid threat on future anxiety and, in turn, on subjective well-being. This study contributes theoretically to a better understanding of the factors that determine the impact of traumatic events such as a pandemic on people's mental health. The implications of this study indicate interventions that may be carried out to minimize the pandemic's negative psychological consequences.

Reliability and Validity of a Turkish Version of the 5-Item Future Anxiety Scale.

Objective: The aim of this study was to adapt the short version of the Future Anxiety (FA) Scale (FAS) into Turkish and to assess its validity and reliability. Methods: This study comprised 3 stages. The first stage of the study assessed the scale's linguistic validity. The second stage assessed the scale's factor structure, criterion validity, and reliability. The third stage assessed the scale's structural validity, and cross-checked its validity and reliability. In addition, a test-retest was conducted with a 2-week interval to assess the reliability of the scale. Results: The FAS adapted into Turkish has a 5-item and 1-factor structure, consistent with the short version of the FAS. The Turkish version of the FAS was found to be a valid and reliable measurement tool. Conclusion: The 5-item version of the FAS was translated and adapted into Turkish. The Turkish version of the FAS will be useful for Turkish researchers who want to conduct quantitative research on FA.

How Is the Fear of War Impacting Italian Young Adults' Mental Health? The Mediating Role of Future Anxiety and Intolerance of Uncertainty.

The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is affecting mental health even in communities that are not directly involved in the war; added to this is the escalating conflict in the Middle East and its dangerous spread, which brings the war back to the center of the contemporary social and economic horizon. The present study aims to explore the psychological impact of war in a sample of 310 Italian young adults (18-30 years; M = 22.0; SD = 2.6) while exploring the relationship between Fear of War and psychological distress and evaluating the mediating effects of Future Anxiety and Intolerance of Uncertainty in this relation. Findings highlighted how Fear of War positively and significantly affects Stress, Anxiety, and Depression, and, at the same time, how it fuels both Future Anxiety and Intolerance of Uncertainty. These constructs, in addition to positively affecting the mental health outcomes considered, mediate the relationship between Fear of War and youth psychological distress with a significant indirect effect observed in all three mediation models performed. Finally, significantly higher levels of psychological distress, Fear of War, and Future Anxiety are reported in women than in men. The findings are discussed with reference to the recent literature on the psychological impact of war and on contemporary youth psychological distress, indicating the importance of educational policies and targeted interventions aimed at supporting this target in coping with multiple contemporary collective stressors.

Intolerance of uncertainty and internet addiction among college students in China post-pandemic era: the mediating role of future anxiety.

Due to the repeated changes in the COVID-19 pandemic, we live in an era of various uncertainties that raise future anxiety and behavioral addiction problems. According to the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), the present study attempted to explore the impact of COVID-19 intolerance of uncertainty (COVID-19 IU) on internet addiction (IA) among college students and the mediating role of future anxiety (FA) by constructing a mediating model. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 679 Chinese college students and PROCESS 3.5 was utilized to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that the COVID-19 IU was significantly positively correlated with IA and FA, and FA was significantly positively correlated with IA. COVID-19 IU had a significant positive predictive effect on IA; FA played a complementary partial mediating role between COVID-19 IU and IA. The results supported the PMT, which not only enriched our understanding of FA under uncertain life circumstances, but also deepened our understanding of the potential mechanisms of the effects of IA. Finally, discussions and suggestions were presented based on the results.

Serial Mediation Models of Future Anxiety and Italian Young Adults Psychological Distress: The Role of Intolerance of Uncertainty and Non-Pathological Worry.

Previous research has already examined the relationship between Future Anxiety, a construct recently introduced in Italy, and mental health in young adults, although possible mediating variables in this relationship have so far never been investigated. The present study attempts to fill this gap by exploring the incidence of Future Anxiety on psychological distress (i.e., Stress, Anxiety and Depression) in a group of 302 young Italian adults (18-30 years; M = 21.9; SD = 2.6; 49.0% males; 51.0% females), presenting and evaluating the simultaneous mediating effect of Intolerance of Uncertainty and Non-Pathological Worry. Findings highlighted how Future Anxiety had a positive and significant direct effect on Stress and Depression, but not on Anxiety. In the three serial mediation models proposed, Intolerance of Uncertainty and Non-Pathological Worry mediated the relationship between Future Anxiety and mental health outcomes. The results also confirmed the hypothesized serial mediation effect by highlighting how young adults with greater Future Anxiety experienced more Intolerance of Uncertainty, which positively affected Non-Pathological Worry levels and, in turn, exacerbated psychological distress. Finally, results indicated that female participants experienced more Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in relation to Future Anxiety compared to males. Starting from the review of main references on this subject, the results discussed provide new insights for understanding youth psychological distress. Finally, practical implications for the design of supportive interventions for this study's target group are proposed.

The Indirect Effect of Future Anxiety on the Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Depression in a Convenience Sample of Adults: Revisiting Social Cognitive Theory.

Background/Objectives: Depression and anxiety are prevalent disorders, particularly during emerging adulthood. Uncertainty about the future, exacerbated by unstable times, can lead to heightened future anxiety in this group. This study aimed to examine the complex associations of depression symptoms, future anxiety, and self-efficacy in adults from Poland. Additionally, we investigated age and gender differences in depression symptoms, future anxiety, and self-efficacy. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey study was performed in 2023 in Poland using snowball sampling. A convenience sample of 284 adults participated in this study, ranging in age between 18 and 65 years old (M = 32.18, SD = 11.87), including 95 men (33.45%) and 189 (66.55%) women, and also 157 (55.63%) emerging adults (18-28 years old) and 126 (44.37%) middle-aged adults (29-65 years old). The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Dark Future Scale (DFS-5), and Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) were used to measure depression, future anxiety, and self-efficacy, respectively. Results: A 2-way ANOVA showed that both emerging adults and women scored significantly higher in depression symptoms and future anxiety than middle-aged adults and men, respectively. Furthermore, women scored lower in self-efficacy than men. Analyses revealed that there was a positive correlation between depression and future anxiety. Self-efficacy was negatively correlated with depression and future anxiety. Self-efficacy and future anxiety accounted for 48% of depression variance, controlling for age and gender. Future anxiety was found to be a partial mediator of the relationship between self-efficacy and depression. Conclusions: This study significantly advances the understanding of mental health in adults, grounded in social cognitive theories, revealing that low self-efficacy heightens future anxiety, thereby exacerbating depression symptoms in the Polish adult population, independent of age and gender. Emerging adults and women need psychological support to reduce depression and future anxiety. Women, in particular, should be the main focus of interventions to boost self-efficacy. Implementing targeted preventive measures and support systems can mitigate the challenges faced by emerging adults and women.

Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Dark Future Scale.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Dark Future Scale that measures future anxiety. Methods: The sample consisted of 478 university students aged 18-25 and used convenience sampling. They completed an online survey about sociodemographics, tobacco use, and life satisfaction, Dark Future Scale and Trait Anxiety Inventory-2 Trait Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach alpha values were used to test scale's structural validity and reliability. For convergent validity, we correlated the Turkish version of the Dark Future Scale with trait anxiety and examined the mean differences in smoking status and its association with life satisfaction. Results: Majority of the participants were female (73.6%), with a mean age of 21.5 (SD = 1.67). Majority (53.6%) were regular tobacco users. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis revealed a 1-factor solution to be most optimal (χ 2 = 17.091, df = 4, P = .002, χ2/df = 4.3, and root-mean-square error = 0.083, comparative fit index = 0.988, general fit index = 0.986, The Adjusted Goodness of Fit (AGFI) = 0.986, normalized fit index = 0.985). The alpha value for the scale reliability was 0.86. Turkish version of the Dark Future Scale was also significantly and positively correlated with trait anxiety (r(478) = .67, P <.01). Exploration of the association between smoking status and Turkish version of the Dark Future Scale showed that the mean score was significantly higher among smokers (M = 19.1, SD = 6.65) than nonsmokers (M = 17.7, SD = 7.69). Lastly, higher future anxiety was associated with lower life satisfaction (r(478) = -0.42, P < .01). Conclusion: Turkish version of the Dark Future Scale is a reliable and valid scale to measure future anxiety. A brief and easy to apply, reliable, and valid future anxiety measure may be useful for many researchers in psychology and psychiatry.

What predicts the alleviation of Covid-related future anxiety in schoolchildren 6 to 9 months into the pandemic?

Introduction: Although the first COVID-19-related lockdown in the Spring of 2020 has contributed to an increase in mental health problems in many children worldwide, less is known about the longer-term effects of the pandemic on their (future) anxiety. This article examines resilience factors against children's Covid-relatedfut ure anxiety (CRFA). Methods: N = 140 children (48,6% female) in 3rd and 4th grade classrooms in Northern Germany were asked to self-report about their CRFA, their anxiety, and the social climate in their classrooms in September (T1) and December 2020 (T2). Results: Results indicate that 18.6% of the children experienced CRFA "often" in at least one item of the CRFA scale at T1. CRFA was more pronounced in girls and in children from immigrant families. Changes in children's CRFA between T1 and T2 were predicted by changes in their anxiety and changes in classroom climate. Children in classrooms with increasing levels of peer support tended to have decreasing levels of CRFA, whereas their agemates' CRFA in less supportive classrooms tended to increase over time. Discussion: These results suggest that peer and teacher social support may bolster children's resilience against future anxiety in challenging times. Implications for teachers and schools are discussed.

Smartphone Addiction Among University Students' During the Post-COVID-19 Era: The Role of Emotional Intelligence and Future Anxiety.

OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-related psychological symptoms can lead to smartphone addiction (SPA) risk and other behavioral disorders, thus impacting individuals' mental health and well-being. The present study aims to propose a mediation model to investigate the association between emotional intelligence (EI) and SPA, and the mediating role of future anxiety (FA) during the post-COVID-19 era. METHODS: An online questionnaire including the Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Dark Future Scale, and the Smartphone Addiction Scale among university students from China, was conducted between September 14 and November 22, 2022. Finally, 1,154 valid questionnaires were collected. The reliability and confirmatory factor analysis results showed that all three scales had good reliability and validity. RESULTS: Structural Equation Model demonstrated that EI significantly and negatively influenced SPA (ß=0.211, p<0.001), university students' FA significantly and positively effected SPA (ß=0.315, p<0.001), EI significantly predicted SPA in university students, and FA partially mediated the association between EI and SPA. The mediation effect of FA was 0.110, which accounted for 34.27% of the total effect. Bootstrap results furthermore tested the rigor of the mediating effect. CONCLUSION: These findings broaden our understanding regarding the relationship between EI and SPA and the mediating role of FA, providing new sights for educators on how to reduce the risk of SPA when confronting the ongoing and possible future pandemics.

Covid-Related Stress in the Financial, Relational and Health Domains. Which Longitudinal Effects on Present and Future Perception?

While pre-covid literature about stress has indicated the importance of studying domain-specific stress, studies conducted during the pandemic have investigated covid-related stress as a monodimensional construct. The current study aimed to assess the impact that covid-related stress in three domains (financial, relational, health) had on individuals' psychological well-being and future anxiety. Furthermore, we aimed to assess whether the relationship among variables changed during the different phases of the pandemic as well as whether age moderated those relationships. Data were collected from 4185 Italian participants (55.4% female) aged 18-90 years (M = 46.10; SD = 13.47) at three waves: April 2020 (time 1), July 2020 (time 2), May 2021 (time 3). A cross-lagged panel model was run in Mplus. Results indicated that the financial domain is the life domain within which people are most worried during the pandemic, as it had the strongest impact on both psychological well-being and future anxiety. Having high levels of psychological well-being at time t served as a protective factor, as it was negatively related to any kinds of stress as well as to future anxiety at time t+1. These relationships among variables were stable over the course of the pandemic. Finally, we found significant age differences in the mean level for all variables under investigation, where young adults were the group with the highest level of stress and future anxiety as well as the lowest level of psychological well-being. Despite these differences in the variables' level, the relationships between variables were invariant across age groups. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Fear of COVID-19, Resilience, and Future Anxiety: Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Dark Future Scale.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many disruptions to individuals' everyday lives and caused wide-ranging, drastic effects on their well-being, mental health, and physical health. This study sought to validate the Dark Future Scale (DFS) and examine its reliability and validity in Turkish. The present study also examined the relationship between fear of COVID-19, dark future anxiety, and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. Four hundred and eighty-nine Turkish athletes (mean age = 23.08 ± 6.64) completed measures on fear, anxiety, resilience, and demographic information. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the DFS had a one-factor solution with good reliability. Fear of COVID-19 significantly predicted resilience and future anxiety. Furthermore, resilience significantly predicted anxiety and mediated the effect of fear of COVID-19 on future anxiety. The findings have important implications for improving mental health and developing the resiliency of athletes during public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 lockdown stress and problematic social networking sites use among quarantined college students in China: A chain mediation model based on the stressor-strain-outcome framework.

The COVID-19 pandemic has coincided with a global increase in problematic social networking sites use (PSNSU). By drawing on transactional stress theory and applying the stressor-strain-outcome (SSO) framework, we proposed and verified a chain mediation model to explore the mediating roles of fear of missing out (FoMO) and future anxiety (FA) in the relationship between COVID-19 lockdown stress (CL stress) and PSNSU. Our sample of 670 quarantined college students in China responded to a COVID-19 student stress questionnaire, a social network addiction scale, a fear of missing out scale, and a dark future scale. The results revealed that (1) CL stress significantly positively predicted PSNSU, (2) both FoMO and FA mediated the relationship between CL stress and PSNSU, (3) FoMO significantly positively predicted FA, and (4) a full chain mediation was observed between CL stress and PSNSU.

Time perspective, future anxiety, and hope for success in individuals awaiting bariatric surgery.

BACKGROUND: The paper focuses on the problems of temporal functioning of obese individuals and of individuals prepared for bariatric treatment. The experience of time heavily weighs on many areas of human functioning, everyday activity, planning and achieving goals, engaging in pro-health behaviours, and in consequence on the quality of life and on physical health. Contingent on numerous factors, obesity may be related to focusing on particular aspects of time perspective. The aim of the study was to determine the specificity of particular temporal dispositions in individuals prepared for bariatric surgery, and thus to devise suitable post-op psychological interventions. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: The study sample comprised 28 individuals (60.7% women, mean age M = 43.82 years, SD = 10.01, mean BMI M = 44.83 kg/m2, SD = 6.51) awaiting bariatric surgery. The data were collected individually with the following pen-and-paper questionnaires: the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, the Dark Future Scale, and the Polish adaptation of Snyder's Adult Hope Scale, which is named the Hope for Success Questionnaire. RESULTS: The results showed the prevalence of present hedonistic time perspective in the obese. With regard to future anxiety or the hope for success, no significant deviations from the general population were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that this group is in need of temporal psychotherapy aimed at balancing the time perspective. The results may also be interpreted through the lens of contextual determinants connected with task orientation preceding the surgery.

The Relationship between Future Anxiety Due to COVID-19 and Vigilance: The Role of Message Fatigue and Autonomy Satisfaction.

How does future anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic relate to people's willingness to remain vigilant and adhere to preventive measures? We examined the mediating role of message fatigue and the moderating role of autonomy satisfaction in the relationship between future anxiety due to COVID-19 and willingness to remain vigilant. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with adults residing in the United States in June 2021 when numerous U.S. states re-opened following the CDC's relaxed guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals. Our data showed that message fatigue mediated the relationship between future anxiety due to the pandemic and willingness to remain vigilant. The data further revealed that autonomy satisfaction significantly moderated the mediation. Namely, the role of message fatigue in the indirect relationship between future anxiety and willingness to remain vigilant was significant only among people low to moderate in autonomy satisfaction; its role in the indirect path was not significant for those high in autonomy satisfaction. Notably, independent of the mechanism involving message fatigue, future anxiety was directly and positively associated with willingness to remain vigilant regardless of the levels of autonomy satisfaction. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of psychological and behavioral responses to the current pandemic and policy directions.