Social contact with COVID-19 as a factor influencing corona anxiety in India

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is probably the worst in history, in terms of its impact on mental health. In this context, a number of possible moderators of mental health have been studied, but research on whether direct social contact with COVID-19 influences what has been referred to as “corona anxiety” is largely absent, especially in developing countries. This study attempted to examine the impact of demographics, risk perception, and social contact with COVID-19 on the levels of corona anxiety in India, based on a sample of 776 participants from both the general public (n = 550) and hospital nursing staff (n = 226), comprising 373 male (48.1%) and 403 female (51.9%) participants. Overall, nurses were found to exhibit higher level of corona anxiety than the general public. High-risk perception (β = 0.268, p < 0.001) was found to be positively associated with corona anxiety. Female participants (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) were found to exhibit higher level of corona anxiety compared to their male counterparts. Regression analyses indicated that social contact with COVID-19 significantly aggravated corona anxiety across the study sample. Older people showed higher level of corona anxiety compared to younger people. For men, the impact of social contact with COVID-19 on corona anxiety was mostly prevalent among the individuals in the oldest age group (41 years or older), whereas for women, the escalating impact of social contact with COVID-19 on corona anxiety was discernible throughout all age groups.