Page 81 - IJPS-9-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Social contact and coronavirus anxiety

the frontline hospital nurses in India and to examine the higher CA level than the general public, a finding in line
CA within the context of sociodemographic characteristics with the general belief that the nurses would experience
(age and gender) and whether SCC19 intervenes in the higher level of CA than other individuals. This can be
relationship between age, gender, and CA. While CA is explained by the frontline nursing professionals working
one of the most studied subjects during the COVID-19 closely with the infected patients during the COVID-19
pandemic, elucidating factors that contribute to CA may pandemic.
add value in understanding how people respond to large- Further, the present study indicated that SCC19
scale, devasting pandemics. Hence, we extended our significantly exacerbated the CA among the study samples.
research to examine the extent of CA and its predictors It is not surprising that the anxiety level increased when
during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. During the one learns that someone he/she is close with had been
pandemic, the people in India were worried that someone infected with COVID-19. However, the anxiety among
that were close with had been infected with COVID-19, the females increased significantly as compared to the
and it was probably one of the most discussed topics then. males when SCC19 was considered as an intervening
Hence, in addition to the demographic impact on CA, we factor. SCC19 greatly enhanced the effect of age on CA; for
specifically focused on the SCC19 as an intervening factor instance, older people were more susceptible to higher level
to predict CA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the of CA as compared to younger ones if they knew someone
first study examining the effect of SCC19 on CA when they were close with had been infected with COVID-19.
interaction with age and gender is considered. Our full factorial three-way interaction analysis indicated a

Our findings that the hospital nurses exhibited high level statistically significant interaction among gender, age, and
of risk perception (M = 2.49, SD = 1.03) are congruent with SCC19. For men, the impact of SCC19 on CA was common
the claim made by Kamberi et al. (2021), who predicted among the oldest age group (41 years or above), whereas
higher level of risk perception among healthcare workers. the escalating impact of SCC19 on CA was discernible
While we did not observe any significant differences in the throughout all age groups for women.
risk perception between hospital nurses and general public Some of the limitations of this study are described in
(M = 2.45, SD = 0.83), we found that the overall sample the following: the cross-sectional nature of this study
(n = 776), when both the hospital nurses and general public prevented us from examining the level of anxiety over a
were combined, manifested high level of risk perception period of time as the pandemic progresses and inspecting
(M = 2.46, SD = 0.89). Our study observed that high level the consequences of several measures undertaken to
of risk perception (β = 0.268, p < 0.001) is associated with contain the pandemic. This study also limited us from
high level of CA, a finding similar to the observations drawing causal relationship between the predictor
made by Malesza & Kaczmarek (2021) in a Polish sample, variables and CA. Besides, the survey was administered
in which the respondents demonstrated high level of risk at a single point in time during the pandemic; therefore,
perception capable of predicting high level of CA.
stability of the responses over time is unknown. To address
Several studies examining the demographic impact this limitation, a longitudinal study may be conducted
on CA have indicated mixed results. While Verma & to provide more valuable information to understand
Mishra (2020) observed males demonstrating higher level the direction of causality for these variables and other
of anxiety in a study on the COVID-19 impact in India, intervening factors impacting the level of anxiety over
Lee (2020) did not observe any significant correlations the span of the pandemic. Furthermore, a similar and
between gender and anxiety but reported that young adults corresponding study in other countries with similar and
had a higher level of CA than older adults. Interestingly, dissimilar cultures may cast new light on understanding
Nikčević & Spada (2020) reported no correlation between anxiety during the pandemic. Our results showed that
age and gender in the context of CA but observed a anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly
positive association between high-risk perception and CA. related to SCC19 and high level of anxiety is associated
Our study results concur with the findings of Malesza and with high level of risk perception. Nevertheless, risk
Kaczmarek (2021) that higher CA level was more prevalent perception is also associated with compliance to preventive
among the female participants as compared to the male measures which may change during the pandemic period
participants. These observations, however, contradict the (Wheaton et al., 2012). It is unknown how this factor could
earlier findings (Lee, 2020; Nikčević & Spada, 2020; Verma affect anxiety level over time as the risk perception changes
& Mishra, 2020). We also observed that age could predict over time based on the corrective and preventive measures.
CA level; for example, the level of CA increases with the Time may also heal perceived pain as people tend to accept
age. On the other hand, nursing professionals exhibited and adjust to the new circumstances. Hence, a longitudinal

Volume 9 Issue 3 (2023) 75 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.1211