Fear of COVID-19, anxiety, and social support among college students.

FEAR; MENTAL health; RESEARCH funding; UNIVERSITIES & colleges; UNDERGRADUATES; ANXIETY; LONGITUDINAL method; SURVEYS; SOCIAL support; PSYCHOLOGY of college students; COVID-19; COVID-19 pandemic; REGRESSION analysis

MIDWEST (U.S.); NEW England; SOUTHERN States; UNITED States

The present study prospectively examined the association between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety and whether social support moderated this association among college students. 1,539 students from 11 universities in the United States completed two online surveys, one prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and one during the pandemic. Hierarchical linear regressions assessed the impact of COVID-19 fears and social support on anxiety, after accounting for pre-pandemic anxiety and demographics. Results supported that adding fear of COVID-19 to the regression model resulted in a significant increase in variance explained over demographics and pre-pandemic anxiety. Social support did not moderate the association between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety. These data underscore the mental health impact of COVID-19 on students and the urgency with which campus-wide initiatives are needed to support students during this unprecedented time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of American College Health is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)