Department of Gender Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
Department of Sociology, University of Chakwal, Punjab, Pakistan.
BMC Psychol. 2022 Jun 27;10(1):163. doi: 10.1186/s40359-022-00869-7.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has posed multiple challenges to healthcare systems. Evidence suggests that mental well-being is badly affected due to compliance with preventative measures in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to explore the role of positive mental health (subjective sense of wellbeing) to cope with fears related to COVID-19 and general anxiety disorder in the Pashtun community in Pakistan.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 501 respondents from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa participating in an online-based study. We performed correlational analysis, hierarchical linear regression and structural equational modeling (SEM) to analyze the role of mental health in reducing fears and general anxiety disorder.
The results of the SEM show that positive mental health has direct effects in reducing the fear related to COVID-19 (β = - 0.244, p < 0.001) and general anxiety (β = - 0.210, p < 0.001). Fears of COVID-19 has a direct effect on increasing general anxiety (β = 0.480). In addition, positive mental health also has an indirect effect (β = - 0.117, p < 0.001) on general anxiety (R = 0.32, p < 0.001) through reducing fear of coronavirus.
Based on these findings, there is a need to develop community health policies emphasizing on promotive and preventive mental health strategies for people practicing social/physical distancing.
新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的爆发给医疗系统带来了多重挑战。有证据表明，由于遵守控制 COVID-19 大流行的预防措施，心理健康受到严重影响。本研究旨在探讨积极心理健康（主观幸福感）在应对与 COVID-19 相关的恐惧和普通人群中普遍焦虑障碍方面的作用。
在巴基斯坦开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省，对 501 名参与在线研究的受访者进行了横断面调查。我们进行了相关性分析、分层线性回归和结构方程建模（SEM）分析，以分析心理健康在减少恐惧和普通焦虑症方面的作用。
SEM 的结果表明，积极的心理健康对减少与 COVID-19 相关的恐惧（β=−0.244，p<0.001）和普通焦虑（β=−0.210，p<0.001）具有直接影响。对 COVID-19 的恐惧会直接增加一般焦虑（β=0.480）。此外，积极的心理健康也通过减少对冠状病毒的恐惧对普通焦虑产生间接影响（β=−0.117，p<0.001）（R=0.32，p<0.001）。
基于这些发现，需要制定社区卫生政策，强调促进和预防心理健康策略，为实施社交/身体距离的人提供帮助。
