The Relationship Between Fear of COVID-19 and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

Abstract

Abstract. The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant effects on public health. Previous studies showed that the fear of COVID-19 was positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and stress. This study aims to compile and meta-analyze the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and depression, anxiety, and stress among the general population. The studies published between March 2020 and June 2021 were scanned from various databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science [ISI], and SCOPUS). As a result of the literature search, 746 studies were reached, 88 studies were found suitable, and 21 met the inclusion criteria. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA Version 3.0) and metafor package in R were used for analyses. A strong relationship was observed between the fear of COVID-19 and anxiety ( r = .55, p < .001); there were moderate relationships between the fear of COVID-19 and depression ( r = .34, p < .001) and stress ( r = .44, p < .001). All these relationships were significant. The results showed that the relationships between the fear of COVID-19 and depression, anxiety, and stress had a high level of heterogeneity. Meta-regression analyses revealed that the average of the sample age was a significant predictor of the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety. However, other covariates (female proportion and culture) were not statistically significant for the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety. None of these covariates was significant predictors of the relationship between fear of COVID-19 with depression and stress. Although the current meta-analysis has some limitations, the results revealed that the fear of COVID-19 is associated with mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and stress.

Gender and COVID-19 related fear and anxiety: A meta-analysis

“…The limited information about COVID-19, especially in the early stages of the pandemic, is one of the factors that cause increased COVID-19 related fear and anxiety. Meta-analysis studies on this issue showed that COVID-19 related anxiety and fear have a negative effect on people ( Erbiçer et al, 2021 ; Lasheras et al, 2020 ; Santabárbara et al, 2021a , Santabárbara et al, 2021b ; Wang et al, 2021 ). It is seen that COVID-19 anxiety and fear are positively correlated with depression, addiction, PTSD, insomnia, mood swing, and stress ( Dubey et al, 2020 ; Kira et al, 2020 ; Özdin and Bayrak Özdin, 2020 ; Şahin et al, 2020 ), while negatively correlated with resilience, life satisfaction, and well-being ( Alyami et al, 2021 ; Karataş and Tagay, 2021 ; Özmen et al, 2021 ; Satici et al, 2020 ).…”

Employees' fear at work, job crafting, and work engagement on a daily basis: The case for fear of COVID‐19

“…Significant segments of the population have reported high levels of contagion concerns about one's self or family or friends becoming infected (Parlapani et al, 2020 ; Şimşir et al, 2021 ). As Ahorsu et al ( 2020 , p. 2) note, “… fear [of COVID‐19] may amplify the damage of the disease itself.” There is evidence that fear of COVID‐19 is related to anxiety and stress (Ahorsu et al, 2020 ; Erbiçer et al, 2022 ), emotion suppression and somatic complaints (Trougakos et al, 2020 ), and lower job satisfaction and turnover intentions (Labrague & de Los Santos, 2021 ). Despite these findings, there is limited research on how employees who are physically present at their workplace during the pandemic to perform important tasks for society and the economy respond and cope with the fear of COVID‐19 and maintain their motivation, energy, and enthusiasm for their work (Liu et al, 2021 ; van Zoonen & Ter Hoeven, 2021 ).…”

Workplace Factors, Burnout Signs, and Clinical Mental Health Symptoms among Mental Health Workers in Lombardy and Quebec during the First Wave of COVID-19

“…We find a direct effect on increasing mental health symptoms, but also a more complex path, in which the fear of contagion increases burnout. This makes us speculate that, on a psychological level, the fear of contagion can have an impact on individual well-being with different mechanisms: (1) it increases the perception of vulnerability and uncertainty, reducing the perception of individual control at work, a well-known factor that increases burnout [ 47 ]; (2) it creates a psychophysiological activation of threat that may trigger anxious and depressive mechanisms [ 48 ]. Moreover, it must be noted that, since fear of COVID 19 has a stronger association with burnout than with Gad7 and PHQ9 scores, it could be considered a source of work-related psychological strain and adjustment rather than a mechanism of pathological anxiety.…”