The relationship between the fear of COVID-19, intention of repurchasing a vacation and subjective vitality variables

COVID-19 has prompted tourists to look for vacation options where they can feel safer. Hence, repurchasing behaviour gains importance regarding vacationing. Another widely accepted effect of COVID-19 is on people's psychological outcomes, such as decreased subjective vitality. Therefore, this study aims to reveal the interrelationships among tourists' fear of COVID-19, intention to repurchase a vacation and subjective vitality. Based on data from 654 tourists from all over Turkey and using the AMOS-SEM and PROCESS macro, the findings show (i) a positive relationship between the intention to repurchase a vacation and subjective vitality, (ii) negative associations between the fear of COVID-19 and repurchase intention, and fear of COVID-19 and subjective vitality. However, the results provide no significant evidence regarding the mediator role of the intention to repurchase. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Gender and COVID-19 related fear and anxiety: A meta-analysis.

Studies conducted during the pandemic revealed strong associations between gender and COVID-19 related fear and anxiety. Females perceive coronavirus as a greater threat to personal health and population than males. The aim of the current meta-analysis is to estimate gender difference in COVID-19 related fear and anxiety. The second purpose of this study is to clarify the role of potential moderators in COVID-19 fear and anxiety. For these reasons, studies published between March 2020 and October 2021 were searched in various databases (Web of Science, SCOPUS, PubMed, and Google Scholar). In total, 315 studies met the inclusion criteria, and 60 studies for COVID-19 related fear and 23 studies for COVID-19 related anxiety were included in the current study. Cohen's d effect size values were calculated based on these individual studies showing the difference between males and females in terms of COVID-19 related fear and anxiety. Results revealed that gender has a moderate and statistically significant effect on COVID-19 related fear (ES = 0.307) and anxiety (ES = 0.316) in favor of females. Moderator analyses showed that continent variable was a statistically significant moderator of gender difference in COVID-19 related fear and anxiety. The highest effect size of gender differences in COVID-related fear and anxiety were obtained from the studies conducted in Europe. However, other moderators (the average age of sample, culture, timing, and population) were not statistically significant. Although this meta-analysis has a few limitations, the findings showed that COVID-19 outbreak negatively affected females more.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale for Chinese University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: fear of COVID-19 is widespread among the population, especially among college students because of their increased exposure to the media information overload of the COVID-19 outbreak. The Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S) is a relatively short instrument used to evaluate fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the validity and reliability of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale have not been fully investigated in Chinese university student groups. OBJECTIVES: this study assessed the cross-cultural adaptability and reliability of the FCV-19S for Chinese university students. METHODS: a Chinese version of Fear of COVID-19 Scale (C-FCV-19S) was generated using the translation-backward translation method. Psychometric properties of the C-FCV-19S, including internal consistency, split-half reliability, construct reliability, convergent validity, and diagnostic accuracy, were evaluated. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-7) scales were also used to evaluate participants for depression and anxiety. RESULTS: the C-FCV-19S has acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.872) and satisfactory split-half reliability (correlation coefficient: 0.799). Using the exploratory factor analysis (EFA), we examined the construct reliability (KMO = 0.920). The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed that the bifactor model of scale (including general factor, factor1: the awareness of COVID-19 and physiological arousal, factor 2: fear-related thinking) had a good fit index (χ2/df =6.18, RMSEA= 0.067, SRMR = 0.028, GFI = 0.986, TLI = 0.970 and CFI= 0.988). Using depression-positive and anxiety-positive scores as reference criteria, we found that the areas under the curve were 0.70 and 0.68, respectively, and that the optimal cutoff scores of the C-FCV-19S was 17.5 (sensitivity: 66.3% and 58.7%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: the validity and reliability of C-FCV-19S are satisfactory, and the optimal cutoff point was 17.5. The C-FCV-19S can be applied adopted in Chinese university students.

Relationships between the Fear of COVID-19 Scale and regional brain atrophy in mild cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have reported that the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) influenced cognitive function in the elderly. However, the effect of COVID-19-related fear on brain atrophy has not been evaluated. In this study, we evaluated the relation between brain atrophy and the effect of COVID-19-related fear by analysing changes in brain volume over time using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: Participants were 25 Japanese patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or subjective cognitive decline (SCD), who underwent 1.5-tesla MRI scan twice, once before and once after the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19, and the Fear of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Scale (FCV-19S) assessment during that period. We computed regional brain atrophy per day between the 1st and 2nd scan, and evaluated the relation between the FCV-19S scores and regional shrinkage. RESULTS: There was significant positive correlation between the total FCV-19S score and volume reduction per day in the right posterior cingulate cortex. Regarding the subscales of FCV-19S, we found significant positive correlation between factor 2 of the FCV-19S and shrinkage of the right posterior cingulate cortex. CONCLUSIONS: There was positive correlation between the FCV-19S score and regional brain atrophy per day. Although it is already known that the psychological effects surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic cause cognitive function decline, our results further suggest that anxiety and fear related to COVID-19 cause regional brain atrophy.

Examination of the Japanese version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale among Adults Using Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory12

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has impaired every aspect of life, especially causing much psychological damage?for instance, increasing the risk of suicide. Intense fear and anxiety are considered to play a central role in mental health problems. This study examined the psychological properties of the Japanese version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) using classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT). Five hundred fifty participants aged 18?69?years and from across Japan completed questionnaires, including the Japanese FCV-19S, the Japanese Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-15 (DASS-15), and the Japanese version of the Kessler 6 (K6). CTT showed that each item of the Japanese FCV-19S had no ceiling and floor effect and was close to the normal distribution, and IRT revealed that each item had an appropriate parameter of discrimination and difficulty. Finally, the Japanese FCV-19S was shown to have an acceptable reliability and moderate good concurrent validity. Consequently, the Japanese FCV-19S has robust psychometric properties and can be useful for early detection of adults impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mediator role of the fear of COVID-19 in the relationship between psychological resilience and life satisfaction.

COVID-19, which has recently affected the world, has caused serious adversities in many areas as well as on the mental health of individuals. People have had a serious fearful mood due to situations such as catching COVID-19, having health problems after catching the disease, and worrying about infecting someone else. This negative mood is discussed in the literature through the concept of the fear of COVID-19. Accordingly, the mediator role of the fear of COVID-19 in the relationship between psychological resilience and life satisfaction was examined in this study. This study was conducted with 430 Turkish university students, 279 women and 151 men, who are between the ages of 18 and 30. The data of the study were collected with the psychological resilience, the fear of COVID-19 and life satisfaction scales. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that psychological resilience is a negative predictor of the fear of COVID-19 and a positive predictor of life satisfaction, and that the fear of COVID-19 is a negative predictor of life satisfaction. It was also concluded that the fear of COVID-19 mediates the relationship between psychological resilience and life satisfaction. The results are discussed in relation to the relevant literature, and suggestions are made for practitioners and researchers.

Investigation of COVID-19 Fear, Well-Being and Life Satisfaction in Turkish Society.

This study aims to examine the relationship between the fear of COVID-19, well-being, and life satisfaction perceptions of people aged 18 and over living in Turkey. Another aim of the study is to reveal whether the participants' COVID-19 fear, well-being, and life satisfaction perceptions change according to various socio-demographic characteristics. In the study, data was collected from 3111 people through a questionnaire created via Google Form on the internet. The data collection process was carried out on April 11-16, 2020. The results obtained from the study showed that COVID-19 fear status and life satisfaction levels of the participants were moderate while the well-being levels were low. According to the result of the regression analysis, it was determined that the fear of COVID-19 explained 11.3% of the total variance on well-being and 1.3% of the total variance on life satisfaction; and well-being explained 19.4% of the total variance on life satisfaction. Furthermore, it was determined that the scores of the participants regarding the fear of COVID-19 showed statistically significant differences according to age, gender, education level, working status, having any chronic diseases, regular drug use, and income level.