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Relationship between fear of COVID-19 and individual factors – a preliminary study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

C. Cabaços ,
A.T. Pereira ,
A. Araujo ,
R. Sousa  and
A. Macedo
C. Cabaços*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, University of Coimbra, coimbra, Portugal
A.T. Pereira
Affiliation:
Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, University of Coimbra, coimbra, Portugal
A. Araujo
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, University of Coimbra, coimbra, Portugal
R. Sousa
Affiliation:
Usf Coimbra Centro, USF Coimbra Centro, Coimbra, Portugal
A. Macedo
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Faculty Of Medicine, University of Coimbra, coimbra, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Fear associated to infectious diseases is directly related with their transmission rate, morbidity and mortality. High levels of fear associated with COVID-19 can affect people’s ability to act and think rationally. In a time of pandemics, it is essential to understand individual factors that might be associated to higher vulnerability to stress and fear.

Objectives

To analyse: a)correlations between Fear of Covid-19 and clinical and sociodemographic characteristics; b)the mediator role of repetitive negative thinking on the relationship between personality traits and Fear of Covid-19.

Methods

234 adults (75.6% women; mean age=29.53±12.51) completed an on-line survey with the Portuguese version of the Fear of Covid-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and other questionnaires to evaluate clinical and sociodemographic characteristics (years of education, perceived physical and mental health and infection by Covid-19), Personality (NEO-FFI-20) and Repetitive negative thinking (PTQ-15). SPSS and Process Macro (Hays, 2020) were used.

Results

FCV-19 mean scores were significantly higher in women and significantly correlated with years of education (r=-.14) (p<.05). History of previous/current Covid-19 infection did not significantly distinguish FCV-19 scores and they did not correlate with perceived health. FCV-19 correlated significantly with neuroticism and PTQ total and dimensional scores (r>.20, p<.01). Both Repetitive thinking and Cognitive interference were mediators of the relationship between neuroticism and fear of COVID, even after controlling for gender and education.

Conclusions

This study provides preliminary evidence on individual factors that might be associated to the emotional response to the Covid-19 pandemics, aiming to facilitate public health initiatives to ease people’s fears in a near future.

Keywords

COVID-19Fear of COVID-19PersonalityRepetitive negative thinking
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S259
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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