Fear of Covid-19 and Depression: Mediating Role of Anxiety and Stress Among University Students

Abstract

Fear of CIVID-19 and psychological health issues are most common in general population, health professionals and students after emerging the COVID-19 infection. The literature review elaborated the correlation among fear of COVID-19, stress, depression and anxiety among students at different levels.The current study was conducted with two objectives. First aim was to assess the relationships among fear of COVID-19, stress, anxiety and depression among university students. The second objective was to measure the mediating role of anxiety and stress between the relationship of fear of COVID-19 and depression.Total 500 Government and private university students were selected through convenient sampling technique to obtain the online data. Fear of COVID-19 Scale and Depression, Anxiety & Stress Scale were used as measuring tool to collect data. The results depicted that fear of COVID-19, stress, depression and anxiety had statistically significant positive relationships with each other. Mediation analysis also indicated the anxiety and stress as mediators with significant value (FCV with depression= p≥.05) and direct effect (-, +) in the presence of the mediators (anxiety and stress).The current study indicated the dire need of counseling services for students in order to reduce the fear of COVID-19 and symptoms of psychological disturbance.