IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i11p6125-d569836.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Moderating Role of Caregiving on Fear of COVID-19 and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms

Author

Listed:
  • José Luis Carballo

    (Center for Applied Psychology, Miguel Hernández University, Avenida Universidad s/n, 03202 Elche, Spain)

  • Ainhoa Coloma-Carmona

    (Center for Applied Psychology, Miguel Hernández University, Avenida Universidad s/n, 03202 Elche, Spain)

  • Sara Arteseros-Bañón

    (Center for Applied Psychology, Miguel Hernández University, Avenida Universidad s/n, 03202 Elche, Spain)

  • Virtudes Pérez-Jover

    (Center for Applied Psychology, Miguel Hernández University, Avenida Universidad s/n, 03202 Elche, Spain)

Abstract

Caregiving has been associated with increased levels of fear and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) during COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is a lack of studies that analyze when the relationship between fear and PTSS occur, using informal caregiving as a moderator variable. To explore this moderating role, we conducted a cross-sectional online study between November 2020 and January 2021. A total of 503 men and women from the Spanish general population completed the survey. Sociodemographic and Covid-19-related data, fear of COVID-19, PTSS symptoms, and current psychological history were assessed. Prevalence of informal caregiving in the sample was 16.5%. Increased levels of fear and PTSS were found in caregivers compared to non-caregivers. Female gender and high number of COVID-19 related risk factors was also associated with fear and PTSS severity. The moderation analyses showed an interaction effect between caregiving and fear of COVID-19 when predicting PTSS symptoms. Particularly, results showed that informal caregivers reported greater PTSS symptoms, when compared to non-caregivers with same levels of fear of COVID-19. This evidence suggests that being a caregiver could increase the fear’s impact on PTSS severity in the context of pandemics. Further studies with larger samples are needed to confirm these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • José Luis Carballo & Ainhoa Coloma-Carmona & Sara Arteseros-Bañón & Virtudes Pérez-Jover, 2021. "The Moderating Role of Caregiving on Fear of COVID-19 and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-11, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:6125-:d:569836
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/6125/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/6125/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Orhan Koçak & Ömer Erdem Koçak & Mustafa Z. Younis, 2021. "The Psychological Consequences of COVID-19 Fear and the Moderator Effects of Individuals’ Underlying Illness and Witnessing Infected Friends and Family," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-15, February.
    2. Tore Bonsaksen & Trond Heir & Inger Schou-Bredal & Øivind Ekeberg & Laila Skogstad & Tine K. Grimholt, 2020. "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Associated Factors during the Early Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Norway," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Giuseppe Forte & Francesca Favieri & Renata Tambelli & Maria Casagrande, 2020. "COVID-19 Pandemic in the Italian Population: Validation of a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire and Prevalence of PTSD Symptomatology," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-14, June.
    4. Gianluca Lo Coco & Ambra Gentile & Ksenija Bosnar & Ivana Milovanović & Antonino Bianco & Patrik Drid & Saša Pišot, 2021. "A Cross-Country Examination on the Fear of COVID-19 and the Sense of Loneliness during the First Wave of COVID-19 Outbreak," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-12, March.
    5. Sung S Park & Deborah S Carr, 2021. "Caregivers’ Mental Health and Somatic Symptoms During COVID-19," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(4), pages 235-240.
    6. Kum Fai Yuen & Xueqin Wang & Fei Ma & Kevin X. Li, 2020. "The Psychological Causes of Panic Buying Following a Health Crisis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-14, May.
    7. Ricardo Rodrigues & Cassandra Simmons & Andrea E. Schmidt & Nadia Steiber, 2021. "Care in times of COVID-19: the impact of the pandemic on informal caregiving in Austria," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 195-205, June.
    8. Selçuk Özdin & Şükriye Bayrak Özdin, 2020. "Levels and predictors of anxiety, depression and health anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic in Turkish society: The importance of gender," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(5), pages 504-511, August.
    9. Jyoti Savla & Karen A Roberto & Rosemary Blieszner & Brandy Renee McCann & Emily Hoyt & Aubrey L Knight & Deborah S Carr, 2021. "Dementia Caregiving During the “Stay-at-Home” Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(4), pages 241-245.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cara Bailey & Ping Guo & John MacArtney & Anne Finucane & Susan Swan & Richard Meade & Ellie Wagstaff, 2022. "The Experiences of Informal Carers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-18, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Martin Sanchez-Gomez & Gabriele Giorgi & Georgia Libera Finstad & Flavio Urbini & Giulia Foti & Nicola Mucci & Salvatore Zaffina & José M. León-Perez, 2021. "COVID-19 Pandemic as a Traumatic Event and Its Associations with Fear and Mental Health: A Cognitive-Activation Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-14, July.
    2. Costi, Chiara & Hollingsworth, Bruce & O'Sullivan, Vincent & Zucchelli, Eugenio, 2023. "Does caring for others affect our mental health? Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    3. Sofia Pappa & Nikolaos Athanasiou & Nikolaos Sakkas & Stavros Patrinos & Elpitha Sakka & Zafeiria Barmparessou & Stamatoula Tsikrika & Andreas Adraktas & Athanasia Pataka & Ilias Migdalis & Sofia Gida, 2021. "From Recession to Depression? Prevalence and Correlates of Depression, Anxiety, Traumatic Stress and Burnout in Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece: A Multi-Center, Cross-Section," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-16, March.
    4. Paul, Ananna & Shukla, Nagesh & Trianni, Andrea, 2023. "Modelling supply chain sustainability challenges in the food processing sector amid the COVID-19 outbreak," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    5. Ewa Małgorzata Szepietowska & Ewa Zawadzka & Sara Filipiak, 2022. "Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Sense of Gains and Losses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-19, March.
    6. Akfırat, Serap & Bayrak, Fatih & Üzümçeker, Emir & Ergiyen, Tolga & Yurtbakan, Taylan & Uysal, Mete Sefa, 2023. "The roles of social norms and leadership in health communication in the context of COVID-19," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    7. Natalie L. Edelman & T. Charles Witzel & Phil Samba & Will Nutland & Tom Nadarzynski, 2022. "Mental Well-Being and Sexual Intimacy among Men and Gender Diverse People Who Have Sex with Men during the First UK COVID-19 Lockdown: A Mixed-Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-13, June.
    8. Combs, Elizabeth K. & Crouse, Sean R. & Bell, Katherine D. & Truong, Dothang, 2024. "Willingness to Fly during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    9. Chiara Consiglio & Nicoletta Massa & Valentina Sommovigo & Luigi Fusco, 2023. "Techno-Stress Creators, Burnout and Psychological Health among Remote Workers during the Pandemic: The Moderating Role of E-Work Self-Efficacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(22), pages 1-23, November.
    10. Jo Daniels & Hannah Rettie, 2022. "The Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Second Wave on Shielders and Their Family Members," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-17, June.
    11. Carlos Fernandez-Llatas & Niels Martin & Owen Johnson & Marcos Sepulveda & Emmanuel Helm & Jorge Munoz-Gama, 2022. "Building Process-Oriented Data Science Solutions for Real-World Healthcare," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-5, July.
    12. Dana Alonzo & Marciana Popescu, 2022. "A qualitative examination of the mental health impact of Covid-19 in marginalized communities in Guatemala: The Covid Care Calls survey," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 68(7), pages 1435-1444, November.
    13. Abdurrahim Emhan & Safa Elkefi & Onur Asan, 2022. "Predictors of Healthcare Professionals’ Work Difficulty Perception during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Study of Work Environment in a Pandemic Hospital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-10, April.
    14. Irineu de Brito Junior & Hugo Tsugunobu Yoshida Yoshizaki & Flaviane Azevedo Saraiva & Nathan de Campos Bruno & Roberto Fray da Silva & Celso Mitsuo Hino & Larissa Limongi Aguiar & Isabella Marrey Fer, 2023. "Panic Buying Behavior Analysis according to Consumer Income and Product Type during COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-17, January.
    15. Amy K. Østertun Geirdal & Daicia Price & Mariyana Schoultz & Hilde Thygesen & Mary Ruffolo & Janni Leung & Tore Bonsaksen, 2021. "The Significance of Demographic Variables on Psychosocial Health from the Early Stage and Nine Months after the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak. A Cross-National Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-18, April.
    16. Marilena Mousoulidou & Michailina Siakalli & Andri Christodoulou & Marios Argyrides, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health: Evidence from Cyprus," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-13, April.
    17. Ali, Maged & Gomes, Lucas Moreira & Azab, Nahed & de Moraes Souza, João Gabriel & Sorour, M. Karim & Kimura, Herbert, 2023. "Panic buying and fake news in urban vs. rural England: A case study of twitter during COVID-19," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    18. Ahmed Yassin & Abdel-Hameed Al-Mistarehi & Khalid El-Salem & Reema A. Karasneh & Sayer Al-Azzam & Aref A. Qarqash & Aws G. Khasawneh & Anas M. Zein Alaabdin & Ola Soudah, 2022. "Prevalence Estimates and Risk Factors of Anxiety among Healthcare Workers in Jordan over One Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-20, February.
    19. Hongsoo Kim, 2023. "Older People’s Health and Long-Term Care During COVID-19," World Bank Publications - Reports 40702, The World Bank Group.
    20. Monira I. Aldhahi & Shahnaz Akil & Uzma Zaidi & Eman Mortada & Salwa Awad & Nisreen Al Awaji, 2021. "Effect of Resilience on Health-Related Quality of Life during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-16, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:6125-:d:569836. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.