The Role of Psychological Characteristics Related to Mental Security in Corona Anxiety and Social Stigma Experience after the First Wave of the Covid-19 Epidemic in Students

Due to the prevalence of COVID-19 and the fear of the stigma attached to this disease, psychological characteristics and, consequently, psychological security of individuals can affect the level of Coronavirus-related anxiety and social stigma. This study aimed to investigate the role of psychological characteristics related to psychological security in Coronavirus-related anxiety and the experience of social stigma after the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in students of the Islamic Azad University of Tabriz, Iran.

The present study is applied, in terms of purpose, and descriptive-analytical, in terms of method. It was conducted as an online questionnaire due to traffic restrictions and universitieschr('39') shutdown when the risk of Coronavirus disease in Iran became severe. Using a convenience sampling method, 259 undergraduate humanities students at the Islamic Azad University of Tabriz, in May 2020, voluntarily answered the questions of the Maslow Mental Security Questionnaire, Coronavirus Disease Anxiety Questionnaire, and the researcher-made Coronavirus Social Stigma Questionnaire with validity and reliability of 0.89 and 0.84, respectively. A multiple regression test using SPSS version 16 software was used to investigate the relationship between psychological characteristics and Coronavirus-related anxiety and social stigma.

In the present study, 252 undergraduate humanities students from the Islamic Azad University of Tabriz participated, of which 208 (82.5%) were girls, and 44 (17.5%) were boys, with a mean age of 27.43±7.42 years old. The regression analysis results showed that, among the components of psychological characteristics, paranoia (p=0.025) and feeling of health (p=0.009) were able to predict the degree of Coronavirus-related anxiety after the first wave of the epidemic in students. Components of paranoia (p=0.025) and depression (p=0.042) were also able to predict the degree of Coronavirus-related social stigma.

More severe paranoia and depression in people and less feeling of health can increase Coronavirus-related anxiety and its resultant social stigma.