The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns negatively impacted the mental health of populations. This impact is not equally distributed and increases existing mental health inequalities. Indeed, government restrictions and the economic consequences of the pandemic affect more the less educated and less wealthy people. However, psychological processes implicated in this increase of mental health inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic remain unexplored. The present study (N=591) tested the role of financial insecurity and attentional control in the relation between socioeconomic status and mental health, along with the influence of trait anxiety. Based on Structural Equation Modelling, findings showed a mediation effect of financial insecurity, but not of attentional control, in the relationship between socioeconomic status and mental health. In addition, exploratory analyses suggested that financial insecurity also mediated the effect of attentional control on mental health. Results of the present research point at the importance of understanding psychological processes implicated in the effect of economic crises on mental health inequalities.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 爆发期间的心理健康不平等：财务不安全感和注意力控制的作用。

COVID-19 大流行和随后的封锁对人们的心理健康产生了负面影响。这种影响分布不均，并加剧了现有的心理健康不平等。事实上，政府的限制和大流行的经济后果对受教育程度较低和较不富裕的人影响更大。然而，与 COVID-19 大流行期间心理健康不平等加剧有关的心理过程仍未得到探索。本研究 (N=591) 测试了经济不安全感和注意力控制在社会经济地位和心理健康之间的关系中的作用，以及特质焦虑的影响。基于结构方程模型，研究结果显示了经济不安全感在社会经济地位和心理健康之间的中介作用，而不是注意力控制。此外，探索性分析表明，经济不安全感也介导了注意力控制对心理健康的影响。本研究的结果指出了理解经济危机对心理健康不平等影响的心理过程的重要性。