Increasingly Certain About Uncertainty: Intolerance of Uncertainty Fuels Preservice Teachers’ Smartphone Dependence Through Rumination and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: The study aimed to explore the relationship among intolerance of uncertainty (IU), rumination, anxiety, and smartphone dependence (SPD) of the preservice teachers and its internal mechanism of action in China.Methods: Two studies used IU, rumination, anxiety, and SPD questionnaires to survey Chinese preservice teachers; both studies used AMOS 24.0 and SPSS 25.0 for data processing, as well as macro program Model 6 for the mediating mechanism. Study 1 gathered data from 553 preservice teachers in northwest China who were forcibly sequestered in a university due to anti-epidemic policy during the COVID-19 crisis through a paper-and-pencil survey. Study 2 collected data from different regions and expanded the number of subjects through a secure website from 1610 preservice teachers in western China to replicate and strengthen Study 1.Results: (1) IU correlated positively with rumination and anxiety. Rumination was positively correlated with anxiety. IU, rumination, and anxiety showed a significant positive correlation with SPD. (2) IU affected SPD through the three indirect effects of independent mediators of rumination, anxiety, and the chain mediation of rumination→ anxiety.Conclusion: Preservice teachers' SPD is indirectly predicted by IU through the independent mediator of rumination and anxiety, and also weakly through the chain mediation of rumination and anxiety. Our findings explore patterns of the psychological processes in IU and SPD, enrich the theoretical foundations involved, and help educators understand the impact of current anti-epidemic policies on Chinese preservice teachers.