IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i2p834-d723274.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fear and Attitude towards SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Infection in Spanish Population during the Period of Confinement

Author

Listed:
  • Ana María Recio-Vivas

    (Department of Nursing, Faculty of Biomedical and Health Science, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Madrid, Spain)

  • Isabel Font-Jiménez

    (Department of Nursing, Faculty of Biomedical and Health Science, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Madrid, Spain)

  • José Miguel Mansilla-Domínguez

    (Department of Nursing, Faculty of Biomedical and Health Science, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Madrid, Spain)

  • Angel Belzunegui-Eraso

    (Medical Anthropology Research Centre, Department of Quantitative Methods at the Faculty of Nursing, Rovira i Virgili University, 43002 Tarragona, Spain)

  • David Díaz-Pérez

    (Respiratory Nursing Department at SEPAR, Respiratory Nurse at the Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery Service of the Hospital Universitario Nuestra Señora de Candelaria (Tenerife), 38010 Santa Cruz, Spain)

  • Laura Lorenzo-Allegue

    (Department of Nursing, Faculty of Biomedical and Health Science, Universidad Europea de Madrid, 28670 Madrid, Spain)

  • David Peña-Otero

    (Respiratory Nursing Department at SEPAR, Nurse Member of the IDIVAL and IiSGM Research Institutes, 28007 Madrid, Spain
    Hospital de Sierrallana, Cantabrian Health Service, 39300 Torrelavega, Spain)

Abstract

In January 2020, the WHO classified SARS-CoV-2 infection as a public health emergency and it was declared a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The media warned about the danger of infection, fuelling the population’s fear of the new situation and increasing the perception of risk. This fear can cause behaviour that will determine the course of the pandemic and, therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyse the fear of infection from COVID-19 among the Spanish population during the state of emergency. A cross-sectional, descriptive observational study was conducted with 16,372 participants. Data on sociodemographic factors, health factors, risk perception and fear were collected through an online survey. Level of fear is associated with older age, a lower level of education, having a person infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the immediate surroundings and living with and belonging to the most socioeconomically vulnerable group of people. Risk perception is associated with increased preventive behaviour. This paper provides relevant information for the public health sector since it contributes first-hand knowledge of population data that is highly useful in terms of prevention. Understanding the experiences of people in this pandemic helps to create more effective future intervention strategies in terms of planning and management for crisis situations.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana María Recio-Vivas & Isabel Font-Jiménez & José Miguel Mansilla-Domínguez & Angel Belzunegui-Eraso & David Díaz-Pérez & Laura Lorenzo-Allegue & David Peña-Otero, 2022. "Fear and Attitude towards SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Infection in Spanish Population during the Period of Confinement," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-15, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:2:p:834-:d:723274
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/2/834/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/2/834/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sarah Dryhurst & Claudia R. Schneider & John Kerr & Alexandra L. J. Freeman & Gabriel Recchia & Anne Marthe van der Bles & David Spiegelhalter & Sander van der Linden, 2020. "Risk perceptions of COVID-19 around the world," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(7-8), pages 994-1006, August.
    2. Cuiyan Wang & Riyu Pan & Xiaoyang Wan & Yilin Tan & Linkang Xu & Cyrus S. Ho & Roger C. Ho, 2020. "Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-25, March.
    3. Giulia Motta Zanin & Eleonora Gentile & Alessandro Parisi & Danilo Spasiano, 2020. "A Preliminary Evaluation of the Public Risk Perception Related to the COVID-19 Health Emergency in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-20, April.
    4. Giulia Lausi & Alessandra Pizzo & Clarissa Cricenti & Michela Baldi & Rita Desiderio & Anna Maria Giannini & Emanuela Mari, 2021. "Intimate Partner Violence during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review of the Phenomenon from Victims’ and Help Professionals’ Perspectives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-17, June.
    5. Cristina Mazza & Eleonora Ricci & Silvia Biondi & Marco Colasanti & Stefano Ferracuti & Christian Napoli & Paolo Roma, 2020. "A Nationwide Survey of Psychological Distress among Italian People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-14, May.
    6. Wang, Wei & Rothschild, David & Goel, Sharad & Gelman, Andrew, 2015. "Forecasting elections with non-representative polls," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 980-991.
    7. Gianluca Lo Coco & Ambra Gentile & Ksenija Bosnar & Ivana Milovanović & Antonino Bianco & Patrik Drid & Saša Pišot, 2021. "A Cross-Country Examination on the Fear of COVID-19 and the Sense of Loneliness during the First Wave of COVID-19 Outbreak," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-12, March.
    8. Toan Luu Duc Huynh, 2020. "The COVID-19 risk perception: A survey on socioeconomics and media attention," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(1), pages 758-764.
    9. Liliana Cori & Olivia Curzio & Fulvio Adorni & Federica Prinelli & Marianna Noale & Caterina Trevisan & Loredana Fortunato & Andrea Giacomelli & Fabrizio Bianchi, 2021. "Fear of COVID-19 for Individuals and Family Members: Indications from the National Cross-Sectional Study of the EPICOVID19 Web-Based Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-20, March.
    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. Munongi, Lucia & Mawila, Daphney, 2023. "Risk factors of orphan and vulnerable children in a children’s home during the COVID-19 pandemic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).

    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. Hye-Ryoung Kim & Hwa-Mi Yang, 2022. "COVID-19 Fear, Health Behaviors, and Subjective Health Status of Call Center Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-9, July.
    2. J. Pierre Zila-Velasque & Pamela Grados-Espinoza & Naomi Coba-Villan & Jocelyn Quispe-Chamorro & Yesenia F. Taipe-Guillén & Estefany Pacheco & Laura Ccasa-Valero & Virgilio E. Failoc-Rojas & Cristian , 2022. "Mental Disorders and Level of Resilience in Eight High-Altitude Cities of Peru during the Second Pandemic Wave: A Multicenter Population-Based Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Wasiq Khan & Bilal M. Khan & Salwa Yasen & Ahmed Al-Dahiri & Dhiya Al-Jumeily & Khalil Dajani & Abir Hussain, 2022. "COVID-19 Vaccination and Mental Stress within Diverse Sociodemographic Groups," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-19, October.
    4. Ankica Kosic & Tamara Džamonja Ignjatović & Nebojša Petrović, 2021. "A Cross-Cultural Study of Distress during COVID-19 Pandemic: Some Protective and Risk Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-15, July.
    5. Sabrina Cipolletta & Gabriela Rios Andreghetti & Giovanna Mioni, 2022. "Risk Perception towards COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Synthesis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-25, April.
    6. María del Carmen Pérez-Fuentes & María del Mar Molero Jurado & África Martos Martínez & Elena Fernández-Martínez & Raquel Franco Valenzuela & Iván Herrera-Peco & Diana Jiménez-Rodríguez & Inmaculada M, 2020. "Design and Validation of the Adaptation to Change Questionnaire: New Realities in Times of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-15, August.
    7. Stefania Scuri & Marina Tesauro & Fabio Petrelli & Ninfa Argento & Genny Damasco & Giovanni Cangelosi & Cuc Thi Thu Nguyen & Demetris Savva & Iolanda Grappasonni, 2022. "Use of an Online Platform to Evaluate the Impact of Social Distancing Measures on Psycho-Physical Well-Being in the COVID-19 Era," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-10, June.
    8. Lucía del Río-Casanova & Milagrosa Sánchez-Martín & Ana García-Dantas & Anabel González-Vázquez & Ania Justo, 2021. "Psychological Responses According to Gender during the Early Stage of COVID-19 in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-20, April.
    9. Shamima Akter & Shafia Shaheen, 2021. "Risk perception and the practices towards covid-19 among the garment workers in Bangladesh," Journal of Community Positive Practices, Catalactica NGO, issue 4, pages 61-85.
    10. Aysel Esen Çoban & Nilay Kaptan, 2022. "Psychological and Behavioral Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Adolescents in Turkey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-18, December.
    11. Mateusz Ciski & Krzysztof Rząsa, 2023. "Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression in the Investigation of Local COVID-19 Anomalies Based on Population Age Structure in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-23, May.
    12. Daniel Acosta & Yui Fujii & Diana Joyce-Beaulieu & K. D. Jacobs & Anthony T. Maurelli & Eric J. Nelson & Sarah L. McKune, 2021. "Psychosocial Health of K-12 Students Engaged in Emergency Remote Education and In-Person Schooling: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-21, August.
    13. José Pais-Ribeiro & Alexandra Ferreira-Valente & Margarida Jarego & Elisabet Sánchez-Rodríguez & Jordi Miró, 2022. "COVID-19 Pandemic in Portugal: Psychosocial and Health-Related Factors Associated with Psychological Discomfort," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-13, March.
    14. Ana María Recio-Vivas & José Miguel Mansilla-Domíngez & Ángel Belzunegui-Eraso & David Peña-Otero & David Díaz-Pérez & Laura Lorenzo-Allegue & Isabel Font-Jiménez, 2022. "Compliance with COVID-19 Prevention Measures in the Spanish Population during the New Normal: Will the Need for Greater Community Involvement Be One of the Lessons Learned?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-11, November.
    15. Juan Gómez-Salgado & Montserrat Andrés-Villas & Sara Domínguez-Salas & Diego Díaz-Milanés & Carlos Ruiz-Frutos, 2020. "Related Health Factors of Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-16, June.
    16. José Miguel Mansilla Domínguez & Isabel Font Jiménez & Angel Belzunegui Eraso & David Peña Otero & David Díaz Pérez & Ana María Recio Vivas, 2020. "Risk Perception of COVID−19 Community Transmission among the Spanish Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-15, December.
    17. Daniela Marchetti & Roberta Maiella & Rocco Palumbo & Melissa D’Ettorre & Irene Ceccato & Marco Colasanti & Adolfo Di Crosta & Pasquale La Malva & Emanuela Bartolini & Daniela Biasone & Nicola Mammare, 2023. "Self-Reported Mental Health and Psychosocial Correlates during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Data from the General Population in Italy," Data, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-7, June.
    18. Jo-Hung Yu & Hsiao-Hsien Lin & Yu-Chih Lo & Kuan-Chieh Tseng & Chin-Hsien Hsu, 2021. "Is the Travel Bubble under COVID-19 a Feasible Idea or Not?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-20, May.
    19. Mohammad Farhan Al. Qudah & Ismael Salamah Albursan & Heba Ibraheem Hammad & Ahmad Mohammad Alzoubi & Salaheldin Farah Bakhiet & Abdullah M. Almanie & Soltan S. Alenizi & Suliman S. Aljomaa & Mohammed, 2021. "Anxiety about COVID-19 Infection, and Its Relation to Smartphone Addiction and Demographic Variables in Middle Eastern Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-14, October.
    20. Donato Morena & Nicola Di Fazio & Raffaele La Russa & Giuseppe Delogu & Paola Frati & Vittorio Fineschi & Stefano Ferracuti, 2022. "When COVID-19 Is Not All: Femicide Conducted by a Murderer with a Narcissistic Personality “Masked” by a Brief Psychotic Disorder, with a Mini-Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-13, November.

    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:2:p:834-:d:723274. 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.