EXAMINATION OF COVID-19 FEAR IN TERMS OF ITS DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS

Year 2021, , 273 - 283, 29.12.2021

Sevim Çimke , Dilek Yıldırım Gürkan , Derya Esenkaya

https://doi.org/10.33457/ijhsrp.944100

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study is to determine the fear of coronavirus and affecting factors.
Method: It was conducted as a descriptive study. Data on participants were collected using an online questionnaire spread throughout the social media, e-mail and whatsapp groups. Socio-demographic questionnaire form, COVID-19 Fear Scale and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were used to collect data. Number, percentage, mean, t test, one way anova and pearson correlation analysis were used to evaluate the research data. The research was completed with 727 people.
Result: A statistically significant relation was found between the COVID-19 fear with age, gender, marital status, having children, having a chronic disease, working status and being health personnel, watching coronavirus news and always talk about coronavirus at home settings.
Conclusıon Accordingly, it is recommended to determine the fear of coronavirus in the society, to identify high-risk individuals by performing community screenings and to provide psychological support. It is very important to diversify and implement protective intervention programs in order to reduce some of the psychological consequences of fear and fear.

Keywords

COVID-19, Fear, Affecting factors, Pandemic

References

• 1. Anderson, R.M., Heesterbeek, H., Klinkenberg, D., Hollingsworth, T.D., “How will country-based mitigation measures influence the course of the COVID19 epidemic?”, The Lancet, 395(10228), 931- 934, 2020.
• 2. Harper, C.A., Satchell, L.P., Fido, D., Latzman, R.D., “Functional fear predicts public health compliance in the COVID-19 pandemic”, International Journal of Mental Health Addiction, 4, 1-14, 2020.
• 3. Pakpour, A.H., Griffiths, M.D., “The fear of COVID-19 and its role in preventive behaviors”, Journal of Concurrent Disorders, 2(1), 58–63, 2020.
• 4. Taylor, S., Landry, C., Paluszek, M., Fergus, T.A., Mckay, D., Asmundson, G.J.G., “Development and initial validation of the COVID-19 stress scales”, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 72, 1-7, 2020.
• 5. Mamun, M.A., Griffiths, M.D., “First COVID-19 suicide case in Bangladesh due to fear of COVID-19 and xenophobia: Possible suicide prevention strategies”, Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51:102073, 2020.
• 6. Metin, A., Çetinkaya, A., “According to Cognitive Model Possible Effects of Coronavirus Pandemic on Human Psychology”, Journal of Current Researches on Social Sciences, 10(1), 231-244, 2020.
• 7. Téblick, A., Peeters, B., Langouche, L., Van den Berghe, G., “Adrenal function and dysfunction in critically ill patients”, Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 15(7), 417-427,2020.
• 8. Tan, T., Khoo, B., Mills, E.G., Phylactou, M., Patel, B., Eng, P.C., & Comninos, A.N., “Association between high serum total cortisol concentrations and mortality from COVID-19”, The Lancet. Diabetes & Endocrinology, 8(8), 659-660, 2020.
• 9. Segerstrom, S.C., Miller, G.E., “Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry”, Psychol Bull., 130(4), 601-630, 2004.
• 10. Ahorsu, D.K., Lin, C.Y., Imani, V., Saffari, M., Griffiths, M.D., Pakpour, A.H., “The Fear of COVID19 Scale: development and initial validation”, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1, 2020.
• 11. Haktanir, A,. Seki, T., Dilmaç, B., “Adaptation and evaluation of Turkish version of the fear of COVID-19 scale”, Death Studies, 1-9, 2020.
• 12. Satici, B., Gocet-Tekin, E., Deniz, M.E., Satici, S.A., “Adaptation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Its association with psychological distress and life satisfaction in Turkey”, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1, 2020.
• 13. Lu, Y., Beletsky, A., Chahla, J., Patel, B.H., Verma, N.N., Cole, B.J., Forsythe, B., “How can we define clinically important improvement in pain scores after biceps tenodesis?”, Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 30(2), 430-438, 2021.
• 14. Huang, Z., Kohler, I.V., Kämpfen, F., “A single-item visual analogue scale (VAS) measure for assessing depression among college students”, Community Mental Health Journal, 56(2), 355-367, 2020.
• 15. Mizuno, M., Fukunaga, A., Washio, K,. Imamura, S., Oda, Y., Nishigori, C., “A visual analogue scale for itch and pain in 23 cases of cholinergic urticaria”, Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 34(9), e493-e495, 2020.
• 16. Gazal, G., Tola, A.W., Fareed, W.M., Alnazzawi, A.A., & Zafar, M.S., “A randomized control trial comparing the visual and verbal communication methods for reducing fear and anxiety during tooth extraction”, The Saudi Dental Journal, 28(2), 80-85, 2016.
• 17. Scheffer, A.C., Schuurmans, M.J., VanDijk, N., Van Der Hooft, T., De Rooij, S.E., “Reliability and validity of the visual analogue scale for fear of falling in older persons”, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 58(11), 2228-2230, 2010.
• 18. Duman, A., Öğün, Ö.C., Şahin, T.K., Sarkılar, G., Ökesli, S., “Preoperative evaluation of factors affecting fear and anxiety”, Selçuk Tıp Dergisi, 19(1), 21-26, 2003.
• 19. Ayan, M., Taş, U., Söğüt, E., Arıcı, S., Karaman, S., Esen, M., Demirtürk, F., “Comparing efficiencies of diclofenac sodium and paracetamol in patients with primary dysmenorrhea pain by using Visual Analog Scale”, Pain, 25(2), 78-82, 2013.
• 20. Reznik, A., Gritsenko, V., Konstantinov, V., Khamenka, N., Isralowitz, R., “COVID-19 fear in Eastern Europe: Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale”, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1-6, 2020.
• 21. Labrague, L.J., De los Santos, J., “Fear of COVID-19, psychological distress, work. satisfaction and turnover intention among front line nurses”, Research Square, 1-9, 2020.
• 22. Mertens, G., Gerritsen, L., Duijndam, S., Salemink, E., Engelhard, I.M. “Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19)”, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 74, 102258, 2020.
• 23. Bakioğlu, F., Korkmaz, O., & Ercan, H., “Fear of COVID-19 and Positivity: Mediating Role of Intolerance of Uncertainty, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress”, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1-14, 2020.
• 24. Doshi, D., Karunakar, P., Sukhabogi, J.R., Prasanna, J.S., Mahajan, S.V., “Assessing Coronavirus Fear in Indian Population Using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale”, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1-9, 2020.
• 25. Gritsenko, V., Skugarevsky, O., Konstantinov, V., Khamenka, N., Marinova, T., Reznik, A., & Isralowitz, R., “COVID 19 Fear, Stress, Anxiety, and Substance Use Among Russian and Belarusian University Students”, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1-7, 2020.
• 26. Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., Ho, C.S., Ho, R.C., “Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China”, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(5), 1729, 2020.
• 27. Lim, G.Y., Tam, W.W., Lu, Y., Ho, C.S., Zhang, M.W., & Ho, R.C., “Prevalence of depression in the community from 30 countries between 1994 and 2014”, Scientific reports, 8(1), 1-10, 2018.
• 28. Overfield, T., “Biological variation in health and illness: Race, age, and sex. Boca Raton”, CRC Press, 2018.
• 29. Labrague, L.J., De los Santos, J.A.A. “COVID‐19 anxiety among front‐line nurses: Predictive role of organisational support, personal resilience and social support”, Journal of Nursing Management, 28(7), 1653-1661, 2020.
• 30. Holman, E.A., Garfin, D.R., Silver, R.C., “Media’s role in broadcasting acute stress following the Boston Marathon bombings”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(1), 93-98, 2014.
• 31. Van den Bulck, J., Custers, K., “Television exposure is related to fear of avian flu, an ecological study across 23 member states of the European Union”, The European Journal of Public Health, 19(4), 370-374, 2009.
• 32. Masuyama, A., Shinkawa, H., “Development and validation of the Japanese version Fear of COVID-19 Scale among adolescents”, PsyArXiv, 2020.