The Effectiveness of Covid-19 Disease Prevention Training on Corona Disease Anxiety in Students

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor in Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences & Psychology, Farhangian University, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: COVID-19, an acute respiratory disease, was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The emergence of mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic was not entirely unexpected. There have been reports of increases in stress symptoms, confusion, anger, anxiety, and depression. The literature regarding interventions or guidelines for managing the mental health impacts of the virus is limited. Therefore, purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of Covid-19 disease prevention training on reduction of corona disease anxiety in Farhangian University students.
Materials and Methods: The present study was an empirical design with a pretest and posttest design. The statistical population of this study included students in Farhangian University in Shiraz who were selected by available sampling method 30 subjects (in two groups of 15 experimental and control group). The instrument used in this study was the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS). Data were analyzed using covariance analysis.
Results: Findings of this study showed that after the educational intervention, the mean anxiety scores of corona disease and its components (physical and psychological symptoms) in the experimental group decreased significantly compared to the control group in the posttest.
Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that a combination of training protocols to increase awareness of the coronavirus and how it spreads, teaching mindfulness techniques and correcting defective thinking has significantly reduced corona disease anxiety.

Keywords


References
1. Statement on the second meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus. World Health Organization. 2020. Jan 30, [2020-04-17]. https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/30-01-2020-statement-on-the-second-meeting-of-the-international-
2. Wu Z, McGoogan JM. Characteristics of and Important Lessons from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China: Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention external icon .JAMA. Published online. 2020, .Doi:10.1001/jama.2020.2648.
3. Dong X, Wang L, Tao Y, Suo XLi Y, Liu, F, Zhao Y, Zhang Q. Psychometric
properties of the Anxiety Inventory for Respiratory Disease in patients with COPD in China. International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. 2017, 12:49-58. https://doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S117626.
4. Valero-Moreno S, Lacomba-Trejo L, Casaña-Granell S. Psychometric properties of the questionnaire on threat perception of chronic illnesses in pediatric patients. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem. 2020, 28:e3242 Doi: 10.1590/1518-8345.3144.3242.
5. Fischhoff B. Speaking of Psychology: Coronavirus Anxiety. In: https://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of psychology/coronavirus-anxiety.-Health Commission of Hubei Province. Update on epidemic
situation of novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia in Hubei province. Feb 4, 2020.
6. Wiggert N, Wilhelm FH, Nakajima M, al'Absi M. Chronic smoking, trait anxiety, and the physiological Coronavirus Disease 2019. JAMA Network Open. 2020;3(3):e203976-e. Doi.:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3976.
7. Bajema KL, Oster AM, McGovern OL. Persons Evaluated for 2019 Novel Coronavirus —United States, MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: February 7, 2020.
8. Shahyad Sh, Mohammadi MT. Psychological effects of the development of Covid disease 19 On the mental health status of people in the community: A review study. Journal of Military Medicine, 2020, 22 (2), 184-192.
9. Al-Rabiaah A, Temsah MH, Al-Eyadhy AA, Hasan GM, Al-Zamil F, Al-Subaie S, et al. Middle East respiratory syndrome- corona virus (MERS-CoV) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Infection and Public Health. 2020, (In Press).
10. Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, Tan Y, Xu L, Ho CS, et al. Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020,17(5), 1729. Doi: .3390/ijerph17051729.
11. Fardin MA. COVID-19 and anxiety: A review of psychological impacts of infectious disease outbreaks. Archives of Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2020, 15, e102779.
12. Cao W, Fang Z, Hou G, Han M, Xu X, Dong J et al. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Research. 112934. 2020.
13. Fakari FR, Simbar M. Coronavirus Pandemic and Worries during
Pregnancy; a Letter to Editor. Archives of Academic Emergency Medicine, 2020. 8(1), 21.
14. Guo Y, Cao Q, Hong Z, Tan Y, Chen S, Jin H, Tan K, Wang D, Yan Y. The origin, transmission and clinical therapies on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak - an update on the status. Mil Med Res. 2020 Mar 13;7(1):11. Doi: 10.1186/s40779-020-00240-0.
15. Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N, Rubin GJ. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. Lancet. 2020 Mar;395(10227):912–920. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30460-8. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
16. Rajkumar RP. COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature. Asian J Psychiatry. 2020 Aug;52:102066. Doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102066. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/32302935. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar].
17. Rajkumar RP. COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature. Asian J Psychiatry. 2020. Doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102066. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/32302935. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar].
18. Biabangard A. Research methods in psychology and educational sciences, Tehran, 2008. [Persian].
19. Ballinger B, Yalom I. Group therapy in practice. (In Bongar B and Beutler L. E(Eds).Comprehensive text book of psychotherapy. New York: Oxford University Press.1995.
20. Kabat-Zinn J. Full catastrophe living: using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness New York: Delacorte; 1990.
21. Jang Won Hong, 2020. New Corona Virus Prevention Guidelines (Covid 19), Translation by a group of translators.
22. Alipour A, Ghadami A, Alipour Z, Abdollahzadeh H. Preliminary validation of the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS) in the Iranian sample. Quarterly Journal of Health Psychology, 2020, 8(32), 163-175. [In Persian, 1398].
23. Jiang T, Tang J, Wu ZQ, Sun Y, Tan JW, Yang LJ. The combined utilization of Chlorhexidine and Voriconazole or Natamycin to combat Fusarium infections. BMC Microbiol. 2020, 20:275. 10.1186/s12866-020-01960-y, PMID: [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
24. Gordon J.G. Asmundson, Steven Taylor. Corona phobia: Fear and the 2019-nCoV outbreak, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, Volume 70, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102196
25. Bao Y, Sun Y, Meng S, Shi J, Lu L. 2019-nCoV epidemic: address mental health care to empower society. Lancet (London, England). 2020; 395(10224):e37-e8. Doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30309-3.
26. Ali N, Nitschke JP, Cooperman C, Pruessner JC. Suppressing the
endocrine and autonomic stress systems does not impact the emotional stress experience after psychosocial stress. Psycho neuro endocrinology. 2017. Doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.01.015.
27. Asmundson GJ, Taylor S. How health anxiety influences responses to viral outbreaks like COVID- 19: What all decision-makers, health authorities, and health care professionals need to know. Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 2020; 71. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102211.
28. Stahl B, Goldstein E. A mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook: New Harbinger Publications; 2010 (Persian).
29. Sass SM, Early LM, Long L, Burke A, Gwinn D, Miller P. A brief mindfulness intervention reduces depression, increases nonjudgment, and speeds processing of emotional and neutral stimuli. Mental Health & Prevention