IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i23p16239-d993265.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gender Difference in Fear and Anxiety about and Perceived Susceptibility to COVID-19 in the Third Wave of Pandemic among the Japanese General Population: A Nationwide Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Rio Sasaki

    (Department of Public Health, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake 470-1192, Japan)

  • Atsuhiko Ota

    (Department of Public Health, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake 470-1192, Japan)

  • Hiroshi Yatsuya

    (Department of Public Health and Health Systems, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya 466-8550, Japan)

  • Takahiro Tabuchi

    (Cancer Control Center, Osaka International Cancer Institute, Osaka 541-8567, Japan)

Abstract

Existing research suggested gender differences in fear and anxiety about and perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 and previous infectious disease pandemics. We analyzed whether women felt fear and anxiety about and perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 more frequently than men in Japan. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using internet survey data collected during the third wave of the pandemic in Japan. The subjects were enrolled from the Japanese general population: 11,957 men and 11,559 women. Fear and anxiety specifically related to COVID-19 were evaluated with the Japanese version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FoCS). The question “How likely do you think you will be infected with COVID-19?” was used to assess the perceived susceptibility to COVID-19. Women had higher mean (standard deviation) FoCS scores [18.6 (5.6) vs. 17.5 (5.9), d = 0.190] and reported the median or higher FoCS score (57.4% vs. 51.4%, φ = 0.060) and perceived susceptibility (13.6% vs. 11.5%, φ = 0.032) more frequently than men. The odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) adjusted for age, having a spouse, comorbidities, watching commercial TV stations’ news programs, employment status, and household income were 1.24 (1.17–1.32) and 1.27 (1.16–1.38), respectively. We observed that women were more anxious and fearful about and perceived the susceptibility to infectious diseases more frequently than men even one year after the pandemic occurred in Japan, although the effect size was small.

Suggested Citation

  • Rio Sasaki & Atsuhiko Ota & Hiroshi Yatsuya & Takahiro Tabuchi, 2022. "Gender Difference in Fear and Anxiety about and Perceived Susceptibility to COVID-19 in the Third Wave of Pandemic among the Japanese General Population: A Nationwide Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:23:p:16239-:d:993265
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/16239/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/16239/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mami Wakabayashi & Yoshifumi Sugiyama & Midori Takada & Aya Kinjo & Hiroyasu Iso & Takahiro Tabuchi, 2022. "Loneliness and Increased Hazardous Alcohol Use: Data from a Nationwide Internet Survey with 1-Year Follow-Up," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-13, September.
    2. Massimiliano Scopelliti & Maria Giuseppina Pacilli & Antonio Aquino, 2021. "TV News and COVID-19: Media Influence on Healthy Behavior in Public Spaces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Koubun Wakashima & Keigo Asai & Daisuke Kobayashi & Kohei Koiwa & Saeko Kamoshida & Mayumi Sakuraba, 2020. "The Japanese version of the Fear of COVID-19 scale: Reliability, validity, and relation to coping behavior," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-14, November.
    4. Yi Ding & Jie Yang & Tingting Ji & Yongyu Guo, 2021. "Women Suffered More Emotional and Life Distress than Men during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Pathogen Disgust Sensitivity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-9, August.
    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. Masaaki Matsunaga & Yuanying Li & Yupeng He & Taro Kishi & Shinichi Tanihara & Nakao Iwata & Takahiro Tabuchi & Atsuhiko Ota, 2023. "Physical, Psychiatric, and Social Comorbidities of Individuals with Schizophrenia Living in the Community in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Valentina Sommovigo & Chiara Bernuzzi & Georgia Libera Finstad & Ilaria Setti & Paola Gabanelli & Gabriele Giorgi & Elena Fiabane, 2023. "How and When May Technostress Impact Workers’ Psycho-Physical Health and Work-Family Interface? A Study during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-23, January.

    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. Lu Wei & Tien-Tsung Lee, 2021. "Who Can I Trust in a Scary World? An Examination of the Objects of Trust, Information Sources and Social Distancing Intention Amid COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Yi Ding & Tingting Ji & Yongyu Guo, 2021. "Helping While Social Distancing: Pathogen Avoidance Motives Influence People’s Helping Intentions during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-10, November.
    3. José Magano & Diogo Guedes Vidal & Hélder Fernando Pedrosa e Sousa & Maria Alzira Pimenta Dinis & Ângela Leite, 2021. "Validation and Psychometric Properties of the Portuguese Version of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and Associations with Travel, Tourism and Hospitality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-12, January.
    4. Masaaki Matsunaga & Yuanying Li & Yupeng He & Taro Kishi & Shinichi Tanihara & Nakao Iwata & Takahiro Tabuchi & Atsuhiko Ota, 2023. "Physical, Psychiatric, and Social Comorbidities of Individuals with Schizophrenia Living in the Community in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-20, February.
    5. María Elena Gutiérrez-Hernández & Luisa Fernanda Fanjul Rodríguez & Alicia Díaz Megolla & Cristián Oyanadel & Wenceslao Peñate Castro, 2022. "Analysis of the Predictive Role of Self-Compassion on Emotional Distress during COVID-19 Lockdown," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-14, March.
    6. Preeda Sansakorn & Iqra Mushtaque & Muhammad Awais-E-Yazdan & Muhammad Khyzer Bin Dost, 2024. "The Relationship between Cyberchondria and Health Anxiety and the Moderating Role of Health Literacy among the Pakistani Public," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(9), pages 1-16, September.
    7. Heinlein, Bastian & De Domenico, Manlio, 2023. "Unraveling the role of adapting risk perception during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    8. Line I. Berge & Marie H. Gedde & Bettina S. Husebo & Ane Erdal & Camilla Kjellstadli & Ipsit V. Vahia, 2021. "Age and Emotional Distress during COVID-19: Findings from Two Waves of the Norwegian Citizen Panel," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-14, September.
    9. Lingyun Mi & Jiali Han & Ting Xu & Xuejiao Wang & Lijie Qiao & Tianwen Jia & Xiaoli Gan, 2023. "Evaluating Whether and How Public Health Event Information Frameworks Promote Pro-Environmental Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-20, February.
    10. Ruochen Yang, 2023. "Use and Experience of Tourism Green Spaces in Ishigaki City before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic Based on Web Review Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-24, June.
    11. Federica Galli & Tommaso Palombi & Luca Mallia & Andrea Chirico & Thomas Zandonai & Fabio Alivernini & Alessandra De Maria & Arnaldo Zelli & Fabio Lucidi, 2021. "Promoting Media Literacy Online: An Intervention on Performance and Appearance Enhancement Substances with Sport High School Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-8, May.
    12. Hiroshi Murayama & Ryo Okubo & Takahiro Tabuchi, 2021. "Increase in Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Association with Mental Health: Findings from the JACSIS 2020 Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-12, August.
    13. Yi Liu & Cong Liu, 2023. "Protective and Overprotective Behaviors against COVID-19 Outbreak: Media Impact and Mediating Roles of Institutional Trust and Anxiety," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-15, January.
    14. Jelena Tepavčević & Ivana Blešić & Marko D. Petrović & Svetlana Vukosav & Milan Bradić & Vuk Garača & Tamara Gajić & Dobrila Lukić, 2021. "Personality Traits That Affect Travel Intentions during Pandemic COVID-19: The Case Study of Serbia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-18, November.
    15. Huiyun Zhu & Kecheng Liu, 2021. "Capturing the Interplay between Risk Perception and Social Media Posting to Support Risk Response and Decision Making," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-14, May.
    16. Antonio Javier Lucas & Francisco Alonso & Mireia Faus & Arash Javadinejad, 2024. "The Role of News Media in Reducing Traffic Accidents," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, April.
    17. Chia-Yi Fang & Chia-Jung Hu & Yih-Jin Hu, 2022. "Factors Related to COVID-19-Preventive Behaviors among Flight Attendants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-9, August.
    18. Hiromitsu Miyata & Kaho Yamasaki & Noh ChaeEun & Haruyuki Ishikawa, 2023. "Relationship between COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Life Behavior, Dispositional Mindfulness, and Psychological Health: Evidence from a Sample of Japanese Working Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-17, May.
    19. María Elena Gutiérrez-Hernández & Luisa Fernanda Fanjul & Alicia Díaz-Megolla & Pablo Reyes-Hurtado & Jonay Francisco Herrera-Rodríguez & María del Pilar Enjuto-Castellanos & Wenceslao Peñate, 2021. "COVID-19 Lockdown and Mental Health in a Sample Population in Spain: The Role of Self-Compassion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-14, February.
    20. Begoña Espejo & Irene Checa, 2021. "The Fear of Covid-19 Scale (FCV-19S) in Spain: Adaptation and Confirmatory Evidence of Construct and Concurrent Validity," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(19), pages 1-11, 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:19:y:2022:i:23:p:16239-:d:993265. 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.