Psychological Predictors of Anxious Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 epidemic can be associated with a variety of anxious responses and safety behaviors. The present research explored the psychological implications associated with COVID-19 during the outbreak in 2020 to date. Pakistani media has given particular attention to this outbreak in the region. METHODS: Three hundred and forty-seven undergraduate university students from Pakistan completed a battery of questionnaires focusing fear of COVID-19, associated safety behaviors, factual knowledge of COVID-19, and other psychological pointers hypothesized to be as predictors of anxious responses to COVID-19 threat and associated safety behaviors. RESULTS: The sample appeared to be fearful of COVID-19 and this fear was related to disgust sensitivity, anxiety sensitivity-related physical concerns, body vigilance, contamination cognitions, and general distress. Results suggested that the tendency of overestimating the severity of contamination and anxiety sensitivity towards physical concerns are significant predictors of COVID-19 related fear and consequent safety behaviors. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that people with a greater concern of contamination are likely to respond fearfully to COVID-19 and that people with higher fear of COVID-19 are likely to feel contamination concerns.