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thm, including those with incomplete data, and there was no need to »cor-
rect« the data (e.g., replace missing values with the arithmetic mean or re-
gression); the estimates of parameters and their standard errors are based
on all available data (Peugh & Enders, 2004). First, we conducted analy-
ses of the unconditional LGC models, where the latent factors (intercept
and slope; the parameters describing the growth curve) were created for
four observed repeated measures (mental well-being, COVID-19 anxiety),
allowing us to examine the intra-individual change over time. The values
assigned to the intercept were constrained to be equal (i.e., they were fixed
to 1) and values assigned to the factor loadings of the slope manifested in-
dicators that referred to the interpretation of time (i.e., each value repre-
sented one week). In the second step, conditional LGC models were exami-
ned by adding covariates into the model (emotional self-efficacy, practicing
mindfulness) at the subject level (estimating the effects of the covariates on
the latent growth parameters). A direct effect of the covariates enabled us
to examine whether the covariates explained (some of) the inter-individual
differences in the growth curves (Stoel et al., 2004). As all modification in-
dices were below the value of 10, no correlated errors were included betwe-
en the items in any of the models. Model fit was assessed with comparative
fit indices (CFI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and
standardised root mean square residual (SRMR), following a recommen-
dation from Hu and Bentler (1999) for a good fit: CFI > 0.95, RMSEA < 0.06
and the SRMR < 0.08. The following cut-off values were applied for adequ-
ate fit: CFI > 0.90, RMSEA < 0.08 and the SRMR < 0.08 (Hair et al., 1998).

2.5 Ethical Compliance Section
The authors have no funding to disclose. All procedures performed in stu-
dies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical
standards of the Educational Research Institute and with the 1964 Helsin-
ki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
The authors declare they have no conflict of interest. Informed consent was
obtained from all individuals included in the study.

3 Results

After reporting the descriptive statistics and correlations, the results of
the unconditional and conditional LGC models for mental well-being and
COVID-19 anxiety are presented.

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