Worry and fear during the COVID‐19 epidemic normalization: Analyzing prevalence and risk factors among 182,991 high school students in China

Abstract

It is worth paying attention to the level of worry and fear of students during the normalization of the epidemic. We conducted the cross‐sectional study that included 182,991 high school students using an online survey to assess worry and fear levels and its influencing factors in three cities in Henan Province, China, from May 21 to May 27, 2021. Worry and fear levels were measured using a five‐item Likert‐type scale. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors. Approximately 65.42% of students reported being high worry about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) epidemic, and about 41.44% of students reported being high fear about the COVID‐19 epidemic. In addition, compared with female, male had lower odds of suffering from a high worry, and compared with senior high school students, junior high school students were more likely to suffer from a high worry. Students lived in rural had highest odds increased likelihood of high worry. Similar results in fear levels. During the normalization period of the COVID‐19 epidemic, many students have high levels of worry and fear. This study has implications for potential influencers of worry and fear levels in follow‐up work.