Well-Being and COVID-19 Anxiety: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study in China

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic threatens human beings’ livelihoods and mental health, which lowers their well-being and gives rise to anxiety. This study examines whether there is a causal relationship between people’s well-being and COVID-19 anxiety. Method: 222 participants (54.50% female, Mage = 31.53, SD = 8.17) from 26 provinces of China completed measures of well-being and COVID-19 anxiety at three key nodes of the development of COVID-19 in China. Results: The results showed that people’s well-being and COVID-19 anxiety fluctuated with the peak, decline and trough stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the cross-lagged analysis showed that the participants’ well-being at Time 1 significantly predicted their COVID-19 anxiety at Time 2. However, well-being at Time 2 was not associated with the COVID-19 anxiety at Time 3. Furthermore, COVID-19 anxiety could not predict subsequent well-being. Conclusions: People’s well-being and COVID-19 anxiety fluctuated with the development of the COVID-19 pandemic and people’s well-being at the peak stage of the COVID-19 pandemic predicted their subsequent anxiety. The current findings contribute to clarifying the causal relationship between well-being and anxiety, as well as finding ways to alleviate people’s COVID-19 anxiety.