Zhao Wenqian, Ding Ningning, Hu Haiyan, Tian Wenwen, He Jiankang, Du Mingxuan, Zhao Chengjia, Zhang Guohua
Cixi Biomedical Research Institute, Wenzhou Medical University, Ningbo, 315302, People's Republic of China.
Department of Psychology, School of Mental Health, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035, People's Republic of China.
Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2024 Dec 5;17:4157-4170. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S493345. eCollection 2024.
After the lifting of epidemic control measures in China at the end of 2022, the number of COVID-19 infections has increased dramatically. Such an upsurge may intensify people's health anxiety and raise concerns about the risk of reinfection. While numerous studies have shown the correlation between them during the COVID-19, research on their underlying mechanism remains limited.
This study aims to test the relationship and mechanism between health anxiety and perceived risk of reinfection among COVID-19 infected people from different occupational backgrounds.
A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 24th to 28th, 2022, after the epidemic control measures were lifted. A total of 1122 Chinese individuals were infected with COVID-19 (67.91% females, = 28.13) completed measures of health anxiety, perceived risk of reinfection, fear of COVID-19, online health information seeking (OHIS), and COVID-19 information fear of missing out (FOMO). Data were analyzed using multiple-mediation model and multi-group analysis.
Health anxiety, perceived risk of reinfection, fear of COVID-19, OHIS and COVID-19 information FOMO were positively and significantly related to each other ( ranged from 0.25 to 0.77, all < 0.001). Fear of COVID-19 ( = 0.27, < 0.01), OHIS ( = 0.10, < 0.001), and COVID-19 information FOMO ( = -0.05, < 0.01) fully mediated the relationship between health anxiety and perceived risk of reinfection, the path of chaining mediation is also significant. Discrepancies in mediation models surfaced across the three types of work groups.
Findings suggest fear of COVID-19, OHIS and COVID-19 information FOMO may play significant mediating roles in explaining the relationship between health anxiety and perceived risk of reinfection. Interventions to reduce the perceived risk of reinfection should aim to improve the quality of online health information and individuals' online health literacy and reduce fear of COVID-19 during and after the pandemic.
2022年底中国疫情防控措施放开后，新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）感染人数急剧增加。这种激增可能会加剧人们的健康焦虑，并引发对再次感染风险的担忧。虽然众多研究表明在COVID-19疫情期间它们之间存在相关性，但对其潜在机制的研究仍然有限。
本研究旨在检验不同职业背景的COVID-19感染者的健康焦虑与感知再感染风险之间的关系及机制。
在疫情防控措施放开后的2022年12月24日至28日进行了一项横断面研究。共有1122名感染COVID-19的中国个体（67.91%为女性，平均年龄=28.13岁）完成了健康焦虑、感知再感染风险、对COVID-19的恐惧、在线健康信息搜索（OHIS）以及COVID-19信息错失恐惧（FOMO）的测量。数据采用多重中介模型和多组分析进行分析。
健康焦虑、感知再感染风险、对COVID-19的恐惧、OHIS和COVID-19信息FOMO之间呈显著正相关（相关系数范围为0.25至0.77，均P<0.001）。对COVID-19的恐惧（β=0.27，P<0.01）、OHIS（β=0.10，P<0.001）和COVID-19信息FOMO（β=-0.05，P<0.01）完全中介了健康焦虑与感知再感染风险之间的关系，链式中介路径也显著。三种工作群体的中介模型存在差异。
研究结果表明，对COVID-19的恐惧、OHIS和COVID-19信息FOMO在解释健康焦虑与感知再感染风险之间的关系时可能起重要中介作用。降低感知再感染风险的干预措施应旨在提高在线健康信息的质量和个体的在线健康素养，并在疫情期间及之后减轻对COVID-19的恐惧。
