Perceived Risk, Fear of Covid-19, and Resilience on Mental Health of Malaysian Emerging Adults during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affects one’s physical and mental state. Past studies reported higher levels of anxiety, distress, and depression, especially among emerging adults, indicating the need of studying how COVID-19 affects one mentally. Hence, this study looked to investigate the predictive effect of perceived risk, fear of COVID-19, and resilience on mental health among Malaysian emerging adults. 182 emerging adults were recruited in the cross-sectional study through an online survey using the purposive sampling method. Results showed that resilience significantly and positively predicted mental health while perceived risk and fear of COVID-19 were insignificant predictors of mental health. Overall, practitioners and policymakers are encouraged to focus on resilience-based interventions to improve our emerging adults' mental health. This is because emerging adults with strong mental health can serve as a strong impetus for national development.

Exploring the associations between resilience and psychological well-being among South Africans during COVID-19

“…According to the findings of a study which investigated resiliency and mental health, conducted on adults in Malaysia, it was discovered that resiliency significantly and favorably predicted positive mental health ( Liew et al, 2021 ). Osimo et al (2021) found that people living in Italy with higher levels of resilience had a positive response to the stressors connected to the pandemic ( Osimo et al, 2021 ).…”

Perceived COVID-19 Threat, Psychological Distress, and Increases in Alcohol and Cannabis Use at the Onset of the Pandemic in Racially Diverse Emerging Adults

“…Others were affected by unemployment either directly or indirectly, resulting from either losing their employment or having a caregiver who lost their employment (Sumetsky et al, 2022). Fears elicited by a constant threat of COVID-19 to self and loved ones (Liew et al, 2021), as well as lockdowns and an intolerance of uncertainty (Glowacz & Schmits, 2020) prompted psychological distress. Psychological distress is often accompanied by increases in alcohol (Graupensperger et al, 2021; White et al, 2020) and cannabis use for emerging adults (Roberts et al, 2021).…”