Fear of COVID-19: the mediation role between the COVID-19 diagnosis and KAP in Spanish university students
Abstract Background Although health public services recommend prevention strategies for COVID-19 some of these recommendations have not been taken seriously by young people. Understanding why some people comply with these recommendations and others do not seem to be crucial in helping public health...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-10-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16777-3 |
| _version_ | 1797555880412053504 |
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| author | Ana Cancela Mar González-Noriega Ana Visiers |
| author_facet | Ana Cancela Mar González-Noriega Ana Visiers |
| author_sort | Ana Cancela |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Although health public services recommend prevention strategies for COVID-19 some of these recommendations have not been taken seriously by young people. Understanding why some people comply with these recommendations and others do not seem to be crucial in helping public health services to predict behavior and compliance with rules, especially for young people. Previous studies suggest that knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) are useful to assess compliance with the preventive measures and public health policies. Being afraid has also been found to correlate with more engagement with preventive measures. This study aims to assess the KAP and fear of COVID-19 of Spanish university students and to understand the relation between diagnosis, KAP and the level of fear. Method Participants of this cross-sectional study were 598 college students (69.4% women) from different Spanish Universities. Data were collected for a month using an online questionnaire through Sphinx iQ2. Results Levels of KAP among Spanish students were satisfactory and results suggest the presence of fear among them. More importantly, fear of COVID-19 mediated the impact of the diagnosis on the KAP. Conclusions Feeling fear seems to be the mechanism underlying the relationship between diagnosis and KAP. Diagnosis is associated with KAP when the diagnosis it is accompanied by measures of fear. KAP, diagnosis, or perceived fear of COVID must be taken together in consideration for health interventions and public health campaigns design. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:54:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3eeafc00e92f4b4a926fabad478966a7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:54:46Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-3eeafc00e92f4b4a926fabad478966a72023-11-20T11:11:28ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582023-10-0123111110.1186/s12889-023-16777-3Fear of COVID-19: the mediation role between the COVID-19 diagnosis and KAP in Spanish university studentsAna Cancela0Mar González-Noriega1Ana Visiers2Departamento de Psicología, Universidad VillanuevaDepartamento de Psicología, Universidad VillanuevaUniversidad Europea del AtlánticoAbstract Background Although health public services recommend prevention strategies for COVID-19 some of these recommendations have not been taken seriously by young people. Understanding why some people comply with these recommendations and others do not seem to be crucial in helping public health services to predict behavior and compliance with rules, especially for young people. Previous studies suggest that knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) are useful to assess compliance with the preventive measures and public health policies. Being afraid has also been found to correlate with more engagement with preventive measures. This study aims to assess the KAP and fear of COVID-19 of Spanish university students and to understand the relation between diagnosis, KAP and the level of fear. Method Participants of this cross-sectional study were 598 college students (69.4% women) from different Spanish Universities. Data were collected for a month using an online questionnaire through Sphinx iQ2. Results Levels of KAP among Spanish students were satisfactory and results suggest the presence of fear among them. More importantly, fear of COVID-19 mediated the impact of the diagnosis on the KAP. Conclusions Feeling fear seems to be the mechanism underlying the relationship between diagnosis and KAP. Diagnosis is associated with KAP when the diagnosis it is accompanied by measures of fear. KAP, diagnosis, or perceived fear of COVID must be taken together in consideration for health interventions and public health campaigns design.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16777-3Knowledge, Attitudes and PracticesFear of COVID-19Diagnosis of COVID-19SpainUniversity students |
| spellingShingle | Ana Cancela Mar González-Noriega Ana Visiers Fear of COVID-19: the mediation role between the COVID-19 diagnosis and KAP in Spanish university students BMC Public Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Fear of COVID-19 Diagnosis of COVID-19 Spain University students |
| title | Fear of COVID-19: the mediation role between the COVID-19 diagnosis and KAP in Spanish university students |
| title_full | Fear of COVID-19: the mediation role between the COVID-19 diagnosis and KAP in Spanish university students |
| title_fullStr | Fear of COVID-19: the mediation role between the COVID-19 diagnosis and KAP in Spanish university students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fear of COVID-19: the mediation role between the COVID-19 diagnosis and KAP in Spanish university students |
| title_short | Fear of COVID-19: the mediation role between the COVID-19 diagnosis and KAP in Spanish university students |
| title_sort | fear of covid 19 the mediation role between the covid 19 diagnosis and kap in spanish university students |
| topic | Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Fear of COVID-19 Diagnosis of COVID-19 Spain University students |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16777-3 |
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