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Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19): Predictors in an online study conducted in March 2020
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Abstract
Fear is an adaptive response in the presence of danger. However, when threat is uncertain and continuous, as in the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, fear can become chronic and burdensome. To identify predictors of fear of the coronavirus, we conducted an online survey (N = 439) three days after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic (i.e., between March 14 and 17, 2020). Fear of the coronavirus was assessed with the newly developed Fear of the Coronavirus Questionnaire (FCQ) consisting of eight questions pertaining to different dimensions of fear (e.g., subjective worry, safety behaviors, preferential attention), and an open-ended question. The predictors included psychological vulnerability factors (i.e., intolerance of uncertainty, worry, and health anxiety), media exposure, and personal relevance (i.e., personal health, risk for loved ones, and risk control). We found four predictors for the FCQ in a simultaneous regression analysis: health anxiety, regular media use, social media use, and risks for loved ones (R2 = .37). Furthermore, 16 different topics of concern were identified based participants’ open-ended responses, including the health of loved ones, health care systems overload, and economic consequences. We discuss the relevance of our findings for managing people’s fear of the coronavirus.
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“In addition, individual differences exist in the level of COVID-19 related concerns and therefore in the vulnerability to the psychosocial effects of the pandemic (Mertens, Gerritsen, et al., 2020; Taylor et al., 2021; Vos et al., 2021).”
From The association between facets of mindfulness and COVID-19 related distress: A cross-sectional study (2023) · cites this paper as Mertens, Gerritsen, et al., 2020
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“Children with chronic illnesses appear especially vulnerable to IU’s adverse effects (Mertens et al., 2020).”
From Intolerance of Uncertainty and Health-Related Anxiety in Youth amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Understanding and Weathering the Continuing Storm (2022) · cites this paper as Mertens et al., 2020
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“A potential risk factor for the mental health consequences of COVID-19 could be enhanced fear related to the virus (Mertens, Gerritsen, et al., 2020; Taylor et al., 2020b).”
From The association between facets of mindfulness and COVID-19 related distress: A cross-sectional study (2023) · cites this paper as Mertens, Gerritsen, et al., 2020
In the citing paper
“Most of these studies also detected a link between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety (Mertens et al., 2020) and, to a lesser extent, depression, using both the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; Ahorsu et al., 2020; Alyami et al., 2020) and the Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21).”
From Fear of COVID-19, Stress, and Anxiety in University Undergraduate Students: A Predictive Model for Depression (2020) · cites this paper as Mertens et al., 2020
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Fear of COVID-19 Effects on University Student’s Health Behaviours: The FRESH Study
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“Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, national polls indicate sharp increases in fear and worries related to the coronavirus (Mertens et al. 2020; Asmundson and Taylor 2020).”
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“The answers to the FCQ were summed up to create a scale ranging from 8 to 40 [Mertens et al., 2020].”
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“…behind the association between fear appeal and compulsive buying is that fear is a maladaptive emotion when the threat is uncertain and continuous (Mertens et al., 2020) as there are no visible signs of controlling or curing COVID-19 (Addo et al., 2020); Huang and Guo meanwhile, compulsive buying…”
BackgroundPeople’s Experience of Information Overload and Its Impact on Infodemic Harms
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“Multiple stressors contributed to heightened incidence of anxiety and depression during this time, including; limited access to medical care, severe shortages of resources, economic uncertainty and concerns about contracting the virus [2, 3].”
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Family Strength During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia
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Çeli̇k, E., Biçener, E., Bayın, Ü., & Uğur, E. (2022) · Anales de Psicología · doi:10.6018/analesps.469511 · Cited by 8
“…with the results of various studies (Bakioğlu et al., 2020; Elhai et al., 2020; Ercengiz et al., 2020; Hashemi et al., 2020; Jungmann & Witthöft, 2020; Mertens et al., 2020; anales de psicología / annals of psychology, 2022, vol. 38, nº 1 (january) Satıcı et al., 2020a; Satıcı et al., 2020b).”
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“Measures were identical to the ones employed in Study 1, specifically, for transgression relevance, morality, performance, and moral decoupling (Bhattacharjee et al., 2013); intention (Putrevu & Lord, 1994); fear of infection (Mertens et al., 2020; Taylor et al., 2020); and moral delegation.”
MethodRace, ethnicity, psychological factors, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic
Yuan, Y., Melde, C., Zhang, N., & Pagidipati, P. (2022) · Psychology Health & Medicine · doi:10.1080/13548506.2022.2084123 · Cited by 7
“, self-identified as black and white), American Indian or Alaska Native, Middle Eastern or North African, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and some other race or ethnicity We included other controls based on previous research (Giordani et al., 2020; Mertens et al., 2020; Yıldırım et al., 2021), including: ag…”
MethodMahmood, Q. K., Sohail, M. M., Qureshi, W. A., Zakar, R., Wrona, K. J., & Fischer, F. (2022) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-022-00869-7 · Cited by 9
“The results of the current study are also congruent with findings of an onlinebased survey conducted that found anxiety related to health issues and media use as predictors of fear of COVID-19 [63].”
ResultGray, E., Evans, A., & Reimondos, A. (2022) · Australian Population Studies · doi:10.37970/aps.v6i1.101 · Cited by 7
“…would be mediated by individual factors such as level of media consumption, personal characteristics, including traits such as intolerance of uncertainty (Mertens et al. 2020), but also by contextual factors including the response of the different state and national governments to the pandemic.”
BackgroundInfluentialFırat, M., Vardar‐Yağlı, N., Sağlam, M., Yıldırım, T., & Erdem, Y. (2022) · Psychology Health & Medicine · doi:10.1080/13548506.2022.2119481 · Cited by 8
“This relationship was reported previously (Broche-Pérez et al., 2021; Mertens et al., 2020).”
MethodDomosławska-Żylińska, K., Krysińska-Pisarek, M., & Włodarczyk, D. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20075407 · Cited by 7
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“However, the FCV-19S is a strong and valid instrument for assessing fear across different languages [30,31] including several European Mean fear score = 17.78 (SD 9.56, range 7-49) High fear (>17.8) n = 143 (42”
InfluentialTan, C. Y., Ng, J. Y., Lin, M., & Yong, M. H. (2023) · Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology · doi:10.1177/18344909231208906 · Cited by 8
“Other factors such as SI and FSI may also in fl uence anxiety (Mertens et al., 2020) and managing both may mediate the effect on anxiety.”
BackgroundDIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECT OF INTOLERANCE OF UNCERTAINTY ON DISTRESS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Blanuša, J., Barzut, V., & Knežević, J. (1970) · Primenjena psihologija · doi:10.19090/pp.20.4.473-487 · Cited by 7
Escala de Medo da COVID-19 – Validação e adaptação para o Período Perinatal
Barros, M. N. D. S., Aguiar, M. M., Carvalho, F., Macedo, A., & Pereira, A. T. (2021) · Journal of Human Growth and Development · doi:10.36311/jhgd.v31.11546 · Cited by 7
Fearing fear itself: Crowdsourced longitudinal data on Covid-19-related fear in Sweden
Tishelman, C., Rosenberg, J. H., Hadders, A., & Eriksson, L. E. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0253371 · Cited by 7
“taking precautions against infection, following the news) [24].”
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Recio-Vivas, A. M., Font‐Jiménez, I., Domínguez, J. M. M., Eraso, Á. G. B., Díaz-Pérez, D., Lorenzo‐Allegue, L., & Peña-Otero, D. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19020834 · Cited by 7
Rana, N., Kalal, N., & Sharma, S. K. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.867606 · Cited by 7
“COVID-19 Psychology” among Older Adults: As a Grief Process
Durak, M., & Şenol-Durak, E. (2020) · Journal of Aging and Long-Term Care · doi:10.51819/jaltc.2020.901148 · Cited by 7
Predicting COVID: Understanding audience responses to predictive journalism via online comments
Allaham, M., & Diakopoulos, N. (2022) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/14614448221135632 · Cited by 6
“Media exposure, health anxiety, and risk for loved ones were predictors of fear of the coronavirus (Chu et al., 2022; Mertens et al., 2020).”
Perceptive Risk Clusters of European Citizens and NPI Compliance in Face of the COVID-19 PandemicsPreprint
Bughin, J., Cincera, M., Reykowska, D., Żyszkiewicz, M., & Ohme, R. K. (2020) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3749926 · Cited by 7
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Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the “COVID Stress Scales” in GreekPreprint
Galanis, P., Vraka, I. S., Katsiroumpa, A., Konstantakopoulou, O., Siskou, O. C., Zogaki, E., & Καϊτελίδου, Δ. (2022) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2022.02.28.22271615 · Cited by 7
Marchetti, D., Fontanesi, L., Camisasca, E., Colasanti, M., Covelli, V., Di Giandomenico, S., Miragoli, S., & Verrocchio, M. C. (2023) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs13020141 · Cited by 6
“Furthermore, intolerance of uncertainty appeared to be associated with higher levels of fear of COVID-19 [20].”
Sedefoglu, D., Ohly, S., Schmitt, A., & Göritz, A. S. (2024) · Frontiers in Organizational Psychology · doi:10.3389/forgp.2024.1359541 · Cited by 12
The social evolution of COVID-19: pandemics as total social facts
González, J. J. L., & Vilas, E. F. (2024) · Frontiers in Sociology · doi:10.3389/fsoc.2024.1397826 · Cited by 8
Kakietek, J. J., Eberwein, J. D., Kerr, A., & Stacey, N. (2024) · BMJ Public Health · doi:10.1136/bmjph-2024-001027 · Cited by 7
A State of the Art on Emotions in the Context of Public Policymaking
Stempel, K. E. (2025) · Statistics Politics and Policy · doi:10.1515/spp-2025-0021 · Cited by 6
Starčević, V., Schimmenti, A., & Billieux, J. (2020) · PubMed Central · doi:10.36131/cnfioritieditore20200407 · Cited by 6
Цвет как инструмент управления эмоциями в публикациях о пандемии COVID-19 в русскоязычных онлайн-СМИ
Griber, Y. A., & Евгеньевна, С. Е. (2020) · Monitoring obŝestvennogo mneniâ: èkonomičeskie i socialʹnye peremeny · doi:10.14515/monitoring.2020.6.1745 · Cited by 8
Dörttepe, Z. Ü., HOŞGÖR, H., & SAĞCAN, H. (2021) · International Journal of Academic Value Studies (Javstudies JAVS) · doi:10.29228/javs.49250 · Cited by 6
Turan, F. D. (2021) · Ordu Üniversitesi Hemşirelik Çalışmaları Dergisi · doi:10.38108/ouhcd.911750 · Cited by 6
Liu, W., Shao, W., & Wang, Q. (2021) · Risk Management and Healthcare Policy · doi:10.2147/rmhp.s320241 · Cited by 6
Does test anxiety and gender have an impact on OSCE Performance among medical students?
Arain, F. R. (2021) · World Family Medicine Journal/Middle East Journal of Family Medicine · doi:10.5742/mewfm.2021.94165 · Cited by 6
Pandemi Sürecinde Annelerin Koronavirüs Hastalığı Korkusu ve Anne-Çocuk İletişimi
Kurt, Ş. H. (2021) · Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry · doi:10.18863/pgy.971643 · Cited by 8
Walker, K. K., & Zimet, G. D. (2022) · Journal of Family Communication · doi:10.1080/15267431.2022.2082431 · Cited by 6
Hoseinzadeh, E., Ebadi, A., Nia, H. S., Froelicher, E. S., & Rahmatpour, P. (2022) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.845015 · Cited by 6
“For example, a study of 44,000 participants in Belgium, conducted at the beginning of April 2020, reported that 20% of people had anxiety and 16% of them had a depressive disorder (11).”
BackgroundWieczorek, L. L., Bleckmann, E., Brandt, N. D., & Wagner, J. (2022) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-022-03313-6 · Cited by 7
“Worldwide, governments imposed restrictions on movement and social contacts (Brooks et al., 2020; Ritchie et al., 2020), and people were confronted with the fear of infection, disease, and death (Mertens et al., 2020).”
Caycho‐Rodríguez, T., Vilca, L. W., Carbajal-León, C., Reyes-Bossio, M. A., Delgado-Campusano, M., Gallegos, M., Esteban, R. F. C., & Noé-Grijalva, M. (2022) · Electronic Journal of General Medicine · doi:10.29333/ejgm/12388 · Cited by 6
Salman, M., Mustafa, Z. U., Javaid, A. W., Shehzadi, N., Mallhi, T. H., Khan, Y. H., Masood, F., & Hussain, K. (2022) · Salud Mental · doi:10.17711/sm.0185-3325.2022.032 · Cited by 6
“If it is not well-calibrated to the actual danger (intense fear or insufficient fear), it can be counterproductive ( Mertens, Gerritsen, Duijndam, Salemink, & Engelhard, 2020 ).”
Camargo, C. R. D. (2022) · Police Practice and Research · doi:10.1080/15614263.2022.2125389 · Cited by 6
“…to family members (particularly those who they lived with) triggered negative feelings of doom and when not calibrated to the actual threat (due to the largely unknown nature of the virus at the time of interview) can be ‘deleterious’ (Mertens et al., 2020) and detrimental to officer well-being.”
BackgroundPsychological and Behavioral Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Adolescents in Turkey
Coban, A., & Kaptan, N. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph192316207 · Cited by 5
“found in their study that the fear of COVID-19 and anxiety about health are related to receiving information from social media [42].”
BackgroundCOVID-19-Associated Acute Psychotic Disorder—Longitudinal Case Report and Brief Review of Literature
Puiu, M. G., Dionisie, V., Dobrin, A. I., & Manea, M. (2023) · Medicina · doi:10.3390/medicina59020408 · Cited by 6
Navas-Martín, M. Á., & Cuerdo-Vilches, T. (2023) · Architecture · doi:10.3390/architecture3010008 · Cited by 6
“Instead, the situation of fear and concern was common to all patients [18,82,83].”
BackgroundHammad, S. S., Alzhrani, M. D., & Almulla, H. A. (2023) · International Journal of Nursing Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.ijnss.2023.03.008 · Cited by 8
Metadata
- Authors
- Mertens, G., Gerritsen, L., Duijndam, S., Salemink, E., & Engelhard, I. M.
- Affiliations
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Tilburg University (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Mertens, Gaëtan
- Venue
- Journal of Anxiety Disorders
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-08
- Volume
- 74
- Pages
- 102258
- ISSN
- 0887-6185 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7286280
- OpenAlex
- W3020284447
- Cited by
- 1,264
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 120 · 2023: 209 · 2022: 350 · 2021: 410 · 2020: 100
- FWCI
- 106.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Anxiety Disorders (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research portal (Tilburg University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Communication › Communication and COVID-19 Impact
- Keywords
- fear of COVID-19, COVID-19 pandemic, predictors of fear, health anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, worry, media exposure, social media use, personal relevance, safety behavior, economic impact
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Anxiety, Fear, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Pneumonia, Viral, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stress, Psychological, Coronavirus Infections, Internet, Uncertainty, Young Adult, Pandemics, Social Media
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