Not all worries were created equal: the case of COVID-19 anxiety

• Published in: Public health (London) Vol. 185; pp. 243 - 245
• Main Authors: Maaravi, Y., Heller, B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2020; Elsevier Science Ltd; The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Anxiety; Anxiety - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - psychology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Family - psychology; Female; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Men; Mental health; Optimism bias; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - psychology; Policy making; Prominence effect; Psychological Theory; Psychology; Sex Distribution; Short Communication; Social psychology; Socioeconomic Factors; STAI; Strangers; Surveys and Questionnaires; Trait anxiety; United Kingdom - epidemiology; Women; United Kingdom; COVID-19; Optimism bias; Prominence effect; Anxiety; STAI
• ISSN: 0033-3506; 1476-5616
• DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2020.06.032

The objective of this study was to investigate possible differences in COVID-19–related anxiety based on previous theories in social psychology. Cross-sectional online questionnaire delivered via the crowdworking platform. Four-hundred and seven (120 men and 287 women) adults (aged >18 years) from the United Kingdom answered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory ‘in light of the COVID-19 situation’, followed by three health and three financial anxiety items. Our findings imply that women are more anxious than men, people are more anxious about others than about themselves, their anxiety about relatives is higher than about strangers, and anxiety about health is higher than about financial issues. We suggest that these preliminary findings should be further investigated to help policymakers improve both their treatment of pandemic-related anxiety and their messages. •Women score higher on COVID-19–related anxiety than men.•COVID-19–related health concerns are greater than financial concerns.•People are more concerned about other's health and financial status than their own.•People are more concerned about the health and financial status of close relatives than that of strangers.