Associations between fear of COVID-19 and mental health in Ghana: a sequential mediation model

Ye, J, Huang, P-C, Adjaottor, ES, Addo, F-M, Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524, Ahorsu, DK and Lin, C-Y, 2025. Associations between fear of COVID-19 and mental health in Ghana: a sequential mediation model. Heliyon, 11 (1): e41407. ISSN 2405-8440

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Abstract

Introduction

Although the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has ceased globally, individuals may still suffer from various psychological burdens in the post-COVID-19 era. The present observational cross-sectional study investigated how fear of COVID-19 can affect mental health through mediators including stress, perceived stigma, and preventive behaviors among young adults in Ghana.

Methods

A total of 635 participants aged between 18 and 29 years (mean age = 20.2 years [SD = 2.04]) were recruited to complete measures of COVID-19 fear, stress, perceived stigma, preventive behaviors, and mental health status from June to August 2022.

Results

Results from structural equation modeling found that (i) fear of COVID-19 was associated with stress and perceived stigma (standardized coefficients [βs] = 0.518 and 0.148, p-values < 0.001), (ii) stress and perceived stigma were associated with frequency of preventive behaviors (β = 0.173, p < 0.001 for stress; −0.100, p < 0.05 for perceived stigma), and (iii) preventive behaviors were associated with mental health status (β = 0.118, p < 0.01). Stress and preventive behavior (β = 0.009, 95%CI: 0.000, 0.003) and perceived stigma and preventive behavior (β = −0.007, 95%CI: −0.283, −0.020) were significant mediators in the association between fear of COVID-19 and mental health.

Discussion

The findings suggest that fear of COVID-19 may affect mental health through multiple pathways. Health professionals should provide comprehensive mental health interventions that address various influences regarding fear of COVID-19. Further research that examines the relationships between COVID-19-related variables and various health conditions is needed in the post-COVID-19 era to help develop different preventive and therapy measures.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Heliyon
Creators:	Ye, J., Huang, P.-C., Adjaottor, E.S., Addo, F.-M., Griffiths, M.D., Ahorsu, D.K. and Lin, C.-Y.
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
Date:	15 January 2025
Volume:	11
Number:	1
ISSN:	2405-8440
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e41407 DOI FS2405844024174385 Publisher Item Identifier 2330881 Other
Rights:	© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Melissa Cornwell
Date Added:	06 Jan 2025 10:15
Last Modified:	06 Jan 2025 10:15
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52763

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