Role of positive mental health in reducing fears related to COVID-19 and general anxiety disorder in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has posed multiple challenges to healthcare systems. Evidence suggests that mental well-being is badly affected due to compliance with preventative measures in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to explore the role of positive mental health (subjective sense of wellbeing) to cope with fears related to COVID-19 and general anxiety disorder in the Pashtun community in Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 501 respondents from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa participating in an online-based study. We performed correlational analysis, hierarchical linear regression and structural equational modeling (SEM) to analyze the role of mental health in reducing fears and general anxiety disorder. RESULTS: The results of the SEM show that positive mental health has direct effects in reducing the fear related to COVID-19 (ß = - 0.244, p < 0.001) and general anxiety (ß = - 0.210, p < 0.001). Fears of COVID-19 has a direct effect on increasing general anxiety (ß = 0.480). In addition, positive mental health also has an indirect effect (ß = - 0.117, p < 0.001) on general anxiety (R2 = 0.32, p < 0.001) through reducing fear of coronavirus. CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, there is a need to develop community health policies emphasizing on promotive and preventive mental health strategies for people practicing social/physical distancing.

Dataset on the fear, preventive behaviour and anxiety disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has raised numerous challenges to the present world. Due to the rapid spread of coronavirus, the high death toll, and enforcement of lock-down, people around the globe have faced fearful situations. Researches have also shown that a massive increase in psychological and mental health disorders is reported during the ongoing pandemic. The present cross-sectional data reflects the condition of the coronavirus fear, mental health, preventive behaviour, and anxiety disorder among the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. At the time of data collection, the condition of lockdown and mobility restrictions were imposed by the provincial government due to which manual/physical collection of data was not possible. An online survey was designed using Google form facility to gather data from the respondents. After getting confirmation from pilot testing, the survey link was distributed through various online platforms including social media. Besides utilizing personal contact points in the KPK, social applications like Facebook, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn were also used for the dissemination of the survey. A total number of 501 respondents have furnished their responses and the survey was completed in a short period of time and the data were analyzed using SPSS. This data may be of great interest to researchers, policymakers, research organizations, social and mental health practitioners who wish to explore other dimensions of fear and anxiety among the masses caused by an ongoing pandemic (COVID-19).

The Psychometric Validation of FCV19S in Urdu and Socio-Demographic Association with Fear in the People of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Province in Pakistan.

This study rests on two important considerations: the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan and also the marginalization of the people of the KPK province, which would make them more vulnerable in fearing COVID-19. We aim to translate and validate FCV-19S into the Urdu language and to identify the socio-demographic associations with fear in the people of the KPK. Using an online Google survey, we were able to sample 501 respondents from the KPK. The Cronbach alpha α value for the Urdu FCV-19S displayed good internal reliability at .846. The unidimensional structure of the FCV-19S in Urdu was confirmed, and all of the items were found to be statistically significant, ranging from 0.59 to 0.80. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis show that fit indices are all within an acceptable limit. The FCV-19S was also significantly and positively correlated with preventive behavior (r = .328, p < .01) and general anxiety (r = .458, p < .01). The results of independent sample t tests show that women (t = 4.086, p < 0.001), married people (t = - 2.709, p < .001), and unemployed people (t = - 3.199, p < 0.001) of the KPK experienced great fear of COVID-19. We conclude that that the Urdu version of the FCV-19S is a valid and reliable tool and must be used by healthcare practitioners, government bodies, and researchers, to identify the prevalence of fear and to subsequently plan improved social and health policies to reduce anxiety in the public.