Perceived risk and parental coronavirus anxiety in healthcare workers: a moderated mediation role of coronavirus fear and mental well-being

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to examine the associations between perceived coronavirus risk, coronavirus fear, mental well-being and parental coronavirus anxiety, as well as the mediating role of coronavirus fear and moderating role of mental well-being.

The sample comprised 189 healthcare workers (M = 33.06 ± 6.92), who were treating patients with COVID-19 in a pandemic hospital in Turkey. Ninety-one participants were males and 98 females. Participants completed measures of perceived coronavirus risk, coronavirus fear, mental well-being and parental coronavirus anxiety.

Parental Coronavirus Anxiety Scale had a one-factor structure, with satisfactory reliability. Main findings showed that coronavirus fear mediated the relationship between coronavirus risk and parental coronavirus anxiety. Mental well-being moderated the effect of coronavirus risk on parental coronavirus anxiety. The mediation effect of coronavirus fear was moderated by mental well-being.

These findings explain why and when mental well-being-based interventions could be effective in reducing perceived coronavirus risk, fear and parental coronavirus anxiety about their children.

KEYWORDS:

• Coronavirus risk
• coronavirus fear
• mental well-being
• parental coronavirus anxiety
• healthcare workers

Acknowledgments

Authors would like to thank all participants who involved in this study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.