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Researchers at University of Tsukuba have found that contracting COVID-19 significantly affects fear levels. Mild cases tend to alleviate fear, whereas severe cases tend to increase it. Over time, fear generally decreases. Factors such as age, sex, and a history of respiratory disease also influence fear levels.

Tsukuba, Japan—The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected people's health and lives, as well as their mental health and behavior, because of their fear of acquiring infection. Fear has attracted attention as an important psychological factor during the pandemic because it also affects preventive behaviors and vaccination rates. It has been associated with sex, age, and the presence or absence of underlying diseases. However, its relationship with COVID-19 infection experience in individuals and their families remains unclear.

In this study, researchers analyzed the effect of personal and cohabiting family members' experience with COVID-19 infection on their sense of fear, using data from a nationwide longitudinal Internet survey in Japan (thrice from 2020 to 2022). Not only the presence or absence of an infection experience but also symptom severity made a difference in their perception of fear. Specifically, a mild infection experience tended to alleviate fear, whereas a severe infection experience tended to worsen it. Fear was also found to be associated with sex, age, and respiratory disease history. Nevertheless, fear showed a decreasing trend over time throughout the study period.

The study results suggest that in providing mental health support during a pandemic such as the COVID-19, individuals experiencing severe symptoms need support to alleviate fear, and those with mild symptoms need education to instill infection prevention behaviors.

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This study was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grants (grant numbers 17H03589; 19K10671; 19K10446; 18H03107; 18H03062; 19H03860; 21H04856), the JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (grant number 19K19439), Research Support Program to Apply the Wisdom of the University to tackle COVID-19 Related Emergency Problems, University of Tsukuba, and Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant (grant numbers 19FA1005; 19FG2001; 19FA1012) and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED; grant number 2033648).

Original Paper

Title of original paper:

Exploring the relationship between personal and cohabiting family members' COVID-19 infection experiences and fear of COVID-19: A longitudinal study based on the Japan COVID-19 and Society Internet Survey (JACSIS)

Journal:

BMJ Open

DOI:

10.1136/bmjopen-2024-087595

Correspondence

Professor TACHIKAWA Hirokazu
Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba

Related Link

Institute of Medicine