Assessing the influence of personality and health beliefs on variability of COVID-19 fear among Egyptians: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background Patients and their families get stigmatized and socially excluded due to their fear of COVID-19, which exposes them to psychological discomfort, rage, depression, and anxiety. The purpose of this study was to assess the fear the Egyptian population had of COVID-19 and its risk factors during the pandemic. Methods In this study, 1002 Egyptian adults joined part via a cross-sectional online survey. The survey included questions related to sociodemographic and clinical data, the Health Belief Model (HBM), The Arabic Big Five Personality Inventory (ABFPI), and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S). Results Marriage status, rural residence, non-medical work, lack of satisfaction with personal information about COVID-19, high perceived severity, perceived benefits of social distance, and high scores of neuroticism significantly increased the risk of fear from COVID-19, while low perceived susceptibility and high conscientiousness were protective factors against the fear of covid-19. Conclusions Personality traits and health beliefs play an important role in COVID-19-related fear during the pandemic. These findings might help in the planning of prevention programs in the future.