Abstract

This study aimed to explore the mediating role of avoidant coping and the moderated mediating effect of negative mood regulation expectancy(NMRE) on the dynamic between looming cognitive style(LCS) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms. Data from 398 university students who completed self-report questionnaires were analyzed. The influence of LCS was assessed using simple linear regression, whereas the mediating and moderating effects, along with the moderated mediating effect, were evaluated using the SPSS PROCESS Macro. The findings indicated that LCS significantly predicted higher levels of avoidant coping and exacerbated GAD symptoms. The relationship between LCS and GAD symptoms was mediated by avoidant coping, and the interaction between LCS and NMRE affected avoidant coping. Moreover, the mediated effect of avoidant coping, when moderated by NMRE, was significant. However, the moderating effect and the moderated mediating effect were not significant at low NMRE levels. The implications and limitations of the study were discussed.