COVID-19 Fear in Eastern Europe: Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale.

COVID-19 is a major source of fear, stress, and anxiety as well as a major factor impacting the health and wellbeing of people worldwide. The present study builds on the recently developed "Fear of COVID-19 Scale" (Ahorsu et al., In International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8, 2020). The sample comprised of 850 participants, male and female young adults from Russia and Belarus. The majority of survey participants are university students and graduates. Females, students, and others from Russia report higher levels of COVID-19-related fear than those from Belarus. Respondents from Russia and Belarus report less fear than people from Iran who were surveyed earlier. The scale used for the present survey evidenced a good Cronbach's Alpha measure of internal consistency or reliability (0.809). Clearly, further research is needed across locations and over time about the nature and extent of fear caused by COVID 19. Overall, the FCV-19S appears to be a valuable and brief instrument that may provide useful information for intervention and policy purposes to migrate fear and problem behavior linked to infectious disease outbreaks.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Health and Well-Being: Foreign Medical Students in Eastern Europe

Approximately 350,000 foreign students, mostly from India, study medicine in Eastern Europe (EE). However, there is a dearth of information about the COVID-19 impact on this population who study at universities in Eastern Europe (e.g., Russia, Ukraine and Belarus). The aim of this study was to examine the pandemic impact on such students and to generate useful information that may be applied to their health, well-being and learning experience. A cross-sectional survey of Indian students at a Russian medical university was conducted. The data collection instrument included questions about background characteristics, fear of COVID-19, burnout, mental distress, eating behavior, substance use, resilience and adherence to World Health Organization prevention recommendations. Male and female students were compared to determine the COVID-19 impact based on gender status. A total of 497 students participated in this study. Among the survey participants, 92.3% reported being vaccinated. No significant difference was found among male and female respondents regarding fear and burnout associated with COVID-19. Approximately 40% of the students reported a deterioration in psycho-emotional well-being due to COVID-19, and such students had higher levels of COVID-19-related fear, burnout, substance use and lower resilience. Nearly half of the respondents reported unhealthy eating behavior (49.7%) and weight gain (46.3%) associated with COVID-19. In addition, students who adhered to prevention measures of mask wearing and social distancing had less COVID-19 fear and burnout, as well as more resilience. This study promotes an understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on the psycho-emotional conditions of male and female medical students from India studying abroad.

COVID 19 Fear Impact among Russian “Helping Profession” Students

Background: Little is known about the COVID-19 impact on Russian medical, psychology and social work students’ psycho-emotional well-being, substance use and resilience. Methods: More than 2000 helping profession students, 75.4% female, participated in an online survey about COVID-19 impact at a peak time of infection (October/November 2020). The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) were used for study purposes. Furthermore, the influence of COVID-19 on student psycho-emotional well-being and substance use (i.e., tobacco and alcohol) was examined. Results: Medical, female and religious students reported higher fear values. Social work students reported more current substance use, including binge drinking (five or more drinks on one particular occasion). Students who reported COVID-19 associated with their psycho-emotional well-being had higher fear values. Regarding resilience, no association was found based on the student study area. However, male and non-religious students reported more resilience. Students who reported substance use and psycho-emotional problems had lower resilience values. Conclusion: COVID-19 fear and substance use differs among Russian students based on background characteristics. including gender, religiosity and study area. The FCV-19S and the BRS were found to be reliable instruments for research of COVID-19-related psycho-emotional problems, substance use and resilience. Study findings have implications for “front line” helping profession students in terms of education, training and intervention, in support of promoting their ability to address difficult conditions resulting from the pandemic and other disaster conditions in the future.

Fear of Сoronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and Basic Personality Beliefs

The article presents data on the experience of fear about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), depending on the severity of personality basic beliefs. Authors interviewed 950 people aged 12 to 74 years (average age is 35 years). The study was conducted in March 2020 online. The intensity of fear about the coronavirus was studied using the COVID-19 fear scale developed by a team of scientists from Hong Kong, Iran, the United Kingdom and Sweden. The scale was tested for reliability and validity in the Iranian, Russian and Belarusian samples (Ahorsu D.K. et al., 2020;Reznik A. et al., 2020). The personality basic beliefs were diagnosed using the Scale of Basic Beliefs developed by R. Janoff-Bulman (translation and adaptation by O.A. Kravtsova) (Soldatova G.U. et al., 2008). Revealed that more than a third of the subjects have a high level of fear about the coronavirus. Showed that the low intensity of fear about the COVID-19 disease is associated with the severity of personality basic beliefs. Concluded that the personality basic beliefs in goodness and justice of the world around, the values and importance of own “Self” can act as psychological resources for coping a tough situation in life, the specificity of which is due to the fear about the coronavirus disease. Исследуется переживание страха перед коронавирусным заболеванием (COVID-19) в зависимости от выраженности базисных убеждений личности. Обследованы 950 человек в возрасте от 12 и до 74 лет (средний возраст - 35 лет). Исследование проводилось в марте 2020 года, в онлайн-формате. Использовались Шкала страха COVID-19 D.K. Ahorsu и др., 2020 (перевод и адаптация А.Д. Резник и др., 2020) и Шкала базисных убеждений Р. Янов-Бульман (перевод и адаптация О.А. Кравцовой). Выявлено, что больше трети испытуемых имеют высокий уровень переживания страха перед коронавирусной инфекцией. Выраженность базисных убеждений личности сопровождается низким уровнем переживания страха перед COVID-19. Делается вывод о том, что базисные убеждения личности, в первую очередь, убеждение в ценности и значимости собственного «Я», выступают в качестве психологического ресурса преодоления жизненной ситуации, специфика которой обусловлена переживанием страха перед коронавирусным заболеванием. В то же время у респондентов мужского пола обнаружена высокая степень выраженности убеждения относительно собственной ценности, сопряженная как с низким, так и с высоким уровнем страха, что свидетельствует о нелинейной связи между переживанием страха и базисными убеждениями личности и требует дальнейшего ее изучения.