Validation of the fear of the COVID-19 scale in Nigeria: Implications for public health practice.

OBJECTIVE: The fear of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected a wide range of health-related attitudes and behaviours worldwide. However, within an African population, it is not clear how the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic may be particularly important for formulating public health policies and their consequent implementation. As a first step, it is important to validate a psychometrically sound instrument to assess the fear of the COVID-19 pandemic using an African population. This study presents a preliminary validation of the fear of the COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) using a sub-Saharan African population from Nigeria. METHODS: Three hundred and eighty-nine people responded from a total of 1000 invitees. The participants were requested to fill a web-based (Google forms) FCV-19S questionnaire. The responses, together with their socio-demographic data, were analysed using descriptive statistics and a confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: The age of the participants ranged between 21 and 30 years (mean 25.84 years). The study participants comprised 220 males (56.6%) and 169 females (43.4%). The factor loadings of all seven items of the FCV-19S questionnaire reached statistical significance and, therefore, were retained. The confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the two-factor structure of the FCV-19S questionnaire was a better fit for the Nigerian subpopulation under consideration. Cronbach's alphas for both subscales were acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: The FCV-19S is a valid, suitable, and effective tool for the African population. Additionally, the implications of its use for public health practice in Africa are essential.

Exploring the Complex Pathways between the Fear of COVID-19 and Preventive Health Behavior among Nigerians: Mediation and Moderation Analyses.

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.

COVID-19 Knowledge, Risk Perception, and Precautionary Behavior Among Nigerians: A Moderated Mediation Approach.

The novel coronavirus has not only brought along disruptions to daily socio-economic activities, but sickness and deaths due to its high contagion. With no widely acceptable pharmaceutical cure, the best form of prevention may be precautionary measures which will guide against infections and curb the spread of the disease. This study explored the relationship between COVID-19 knowledge, risk perception, and precautionary behavior among Nigerians. The study also sought to determine whether this relationship differed for men and women. A web-based cross-sectional design approach was used to recruit 1,554 participants (mean age = 27.43, SD = 9.75; 42.7% females) from all geopolitical zones in Nigeria, through social media platforms using a snowball sampling technique. Participants responded to web-based survey forms comprising demographic questions and adapted versions of the Ebola knowledge scale, SARS risk perception scale, and precautionary behavior scale. Moderated mediation analysis of the data showed that risk perception mediated the association between COVID-19 knowledge and precautionary behavior and this indirect effect was in turn moderated by gender. Results indicate that having adequate knowledge of COVID-19 was linked to higher involvement in precautionary behavior through risk perception for females but not for males. It was also noted that awareness campaigns and psychological intervention strategies on COVID-19 related activities may be particularly important for males more than females. Drawing from the health belief model, we recommend that COVID-19 awareness campaigns should target raising more awareness of the risks associated with the infection to make individuals engage more in precautionary behaviors.

Survey data of COVID-19-related Knowledge, Risk Perceptions and Precautionary Behavior among Nigerians.

In response to the global call for strategic information to understand the novel coronavirus, the dataset presented in this paper is an examination of COVID-19-related knowledge, risk perceptions and precautionary health behavior among Nigerians. The data were generated during the COVID-19 lockdown in the country through a survey distributed via an online questionnaire, assessing socio-demographic information (7 items), knowledge (5 items), information sources (1 item), risk perception (9 items), expected end of lockdown (1 item), and COVID-19 precautionary health behavior (10 items), from 28th March to 4th April, 2020, gathering a total of 1,357 responses. A combination of purposive and snowball techniques helped to select the respondents via Whatsapp and Facebook from 180 cities/towns in the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The entire dataset is stored in a Microsoft Excel Worksheet (xls) and the questionnaire is attached as a supplementary file. The data will assist in curbing the Coronavirus pandemic by offering evidence for strategic and targeted interventions as well as health policy formulations and implementation.

Associations between schizotypal traits and antisocial behaviours in a sub-Saharan sample.

Schizophrenic symptoms have often been associated with antisocial behaviours (ASBs). Most studies have focused on violence. The association between schizophrenia and violence is often confounded by socio demographic characteristics of patients. Overemphasis on diagnosis, rather than traits, and the traditional focus on violence may have obscured associations between psychotic features and antisocial behaviour. In this study, an analogue sample (n = 604, females = 54.4%, mean age = 21.46, SD = 5.89) completed self-report measures of schizotypy and antisocial behaviours. The aim was to identify the strength of associations between different schizotypal traits/symptoms (unusual experiences, cognitive disorganisation, impulsivity & introvertive anhedonia) and different forms of antisocial behaviour (rule breaking, physical aggression & social aggression). Differential patterns of association between genders were also considered. Traits akin to positive symptoms were more strongly associated with antisocial behaviours. Impulsive non-conformity was associated with rule breaking, physical aggression and social aggression for both males and females whilst unusual experiences traits were associated with physical and social aggression in both males and females but had only a weak (gender-nonspecific) association with rule breaking. Finally, cognitive disorganisation was not associated with any class of ASB for males but was associated with physical and social aggression in females. These specific associations could inform the development of more targeted treatment approaches for specific types of ASBs in males and females.