Abstract
ABSTRACT.Since COVID-19 currently has no proven cure but high morbidity and mortality, many people are living in fear of the virus along with other mental health challenges induced by the lockdowns and social distancing. Hence, this study aims to provide evidence on the co-occurrence and inter-relations between the fear of COVID-19, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and psychological distress in adherence to preventive health behavior among Nigerians. It also seeks to determine whether this process differs for men and women. The sample comprised 1,172 consenting young adults (mean age = 22.9 ± 6.6 years, 54.5% females) selected using a snowball sampling technique. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the mediation model of post-traumatic stress symptoms and psychological distress as parallel and serial mediators of the relationship between the fear of COVID-19 and preventive health behavior. The indirect effect of the fear of COVID-19 on preventive health behavior across gender was tested using moderation analysis. Results showed that post-traumatic stress symptoms and psychological distress serially and fully, in causal order, mediated the association between the fear of COVID-19 and preventive health behavior, and gender moderated the mediation effects. The research provides evidence that the fear of COVID-19 could trigger preventive health behavior through post-traumatic stress symptoms but reduces it through psychological distress, whereas the fear of COVID-19 has a slightly more positive impact on preventive health behavior among men.
Highlights
The outbreak of a novel coronavirus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), in Wuhan, China, in late December 2019 quickly became the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to significant physiological and mental health challenges in all parts of the world
Since COVID-19 currently has no proven cure but high morbidity and mortality, many people are living in fear of the virus along with other mental health challenges induced by the lockdowns and social distancing
Preventive health behavior was positively associated with the fear of COVID-19 (r 5 0.51, P, 0.01), and posttraumatic stress symptoms (r 5 0.56, P, 0.01), but negatively with psychological distress (r 5 20.11, P, 0.05)
Summary
The outbreak of a novel coronavirus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), in Wuhan, China, in late December 2019 quickly became the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to significant physiological and mental health challenges in all parts of the world. The COVID-19 pandemic confirmed that an infectious disease can travel from one continent to another in a matter of hours. Conspiracy theories and misinformation about the sources, transmission, prevention, and cure of COVID-19 as well as the psychosocial and economic effects of social distancing and lockdown exposed many in Nigeria (and elsewhere) to physical and mental health challenges.[2–5]. As efforts at establishing effective treatments and developing a vaccine for the disease are ongoing, preventive health behavior is currently the major means of curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus.[6]. The World Health Organization advises people to practice hygiene etiquette, to regularly wash or sanitize their hands, to wear face masks, to stay indoors, to avoid physical contact with other people, to self-isolate if having symptoms of COVID19 and visit a health center, and to regularly disinfect possibly contaminated objects or surfaces.[6,7] Many countries implemented lockdown and social distancing rules, conducted extensive testing and contract tracing, and quarantined
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