*2.5. Data Analysis*

All the analyses were conducted through SPSS version 24 (IBM, Chicago, IL, USA). The first step was to calculate descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations. In the preliminary analysis, data were checked for accuracy. It was found that there were no missing values in the data. A correlation was used to see the relationship among all the included variables. The Hayes's PROCESS macro was used to test our mediational model

since it is considered a more powerful and effective method than its alternatives [33]. Before testing the model, all variables were standardized. The parameters were estimated using the bootstrap method with 5000 samples and a 95% confidence interval (CI) using the percentile method bias corrected [31]. The parameters are significant if the CI does not include zero.

#### **3. Results**

*3.1. Descriptive Statistics*

Table 1 shows descriptive statistics, mean values, and standard deviations and a correlation matrix for the study variables.


**Table 1.** Descriptive statistics and zero-order correlation matrix.

\* Correlation is significant at *p* < 0.05 (two tiles). \*\* Correlation is significant at *p* < 0.01 (two tiles).

On average, participants reported medium–high scores in the perceived control over time scale (*M* = 3.32; SD = 0.70), low scores in the fear of COVID-19 scale (*M* = 1.76; SD = 0.69), and medium–low scores in SF-36 mental health (*M* = 2.74; SD = 0.84) and vitality subscales (*M* = 3.0; SD = 0.83). These results indicate that our sample can manage and control their time during the COVID-19 pandemic but are slightly scared by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Participants also revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has a medium impact on their mental health and vitality. A series of paired samples t-test indicated that there was a statistically significant difference, t(298) = −2.27, *p* < 0.01 on perceived control over time scores despite females (*M* = 3.39, SD = 0.70) obtaining higher scores than males (*M* = 3.31, SD = 0.60). Data also shows a statistically significant difference between COVID-19 scores, t(298) = −4.77, *p* < 0.01, with females (*M* = 1.88, SD = 0.70) reporting higher scores then males (*M* = 1.49, SD = 0.49) and depicting themselves as significantly more scared about SARS-CoV-2 infection. No significant differences between mental health and vitality scores in males and females were found.
