Effects of Fear of COVID-19 on Mental Well-Being and Quality of Life among Saudi Adults: A Path Analysis

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been very disruptive, and thus is likely to result in substantial challenges to mental health. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effects of fear of COVID-19 on the mental well-being and quality of life among Saudi adult population and to evaluate the impact of perceived social support. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study used an anonymous online survey, where participants were administered the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, European Health Interview Survey-Quality of Life and Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey. A path analysis was used to investigate the proposed theoretical domain structure linking fear of COVID-19 with perceived social support, mental well-being and quality of life. Results: A total of 1029 Saudi adults with a mean age of 33.7 years (SD 11.5) responded to the survey. Descriptive analysis showed that this sample was fearful of COVID-19, anxious and depressed but, at the same time, reported high quality of life and perceived social support scores. Path analysis indicated that increased fear of COVID-19 was directly associated with diminished mental well-being, which in turn was associated with lower quality of life. The beneficial effects of perceived social support were stronger on quality of life than on mental well-being. No direct link was found between fear of COVID-19 and quality of life. Conclusion: These findings emphasize the importance of having effective social systems in place to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental well-being and quality of life.

Levels and predictors of fear and health anxiety during the current outbreak of COVID-19 in immunocompromised and chronic disease patients in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional correlational study

“…In this cross-sectional correlational study of 1,030 immunocompromised and chronic disease patients, the majority of participants experienced a certain level of fear of acquiring the infection, 21.44% were identified as anxiety cases, and 19.4% were considered borderline anxiety cases during the outbreak of COVID-19 in SA. Also, it is clear that the participants show considerable levels of fear and health anxiety as a group, and the levels reported in this study are above the cut-off points identified for each of these variables in the previous studies (using the same scales; FCV-19S and HADS-A) in healthy adult populations [ 28 , 29 ]. In general, women and older patients with chronic diseases who were receiving immunosuppressants were more likely to have high levels of fear and health anxiety.…”

Perception of Iraqi youth towards social and psychological impact of COVID-19

“…More than half of the respondents reported some impairment of social activities, and many of them reported “severely impaired” leisure activities; this could be attributed in part to the panic of being in contact with the “probably” infected persons in overcrowded places, and, on the other hand, to the lockdown that was imposed by the health and political authorities for more than 3 months. These findings are consistent with what was reported in some other studies [ 5 , 14 , 15 ].…”

Relationship of fear of COVID-19 and pregnancy-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The sample size was determined by using the G-power software. According to the results of a study performed by Alyami et al, (2021) on the fear of COVID-19 and with considering standard deviation (SD)= 5.67, d (percision)= 0.07 around the mean (m= 16.73), effect size d= 0.21, α=0.05, and power= 95%, the sample size was calculated 248 persons; in J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Journal Pre-proof this study 250 participants were investigated.…”