Vulnerability to Coronaphobia during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Gender study in Ibadan, Nigeria

D.O. Adeyanju¹

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.7 , Issue.12 , pp.37-42, Dec-2021

Online published on Dec 31, 2021

Copyright © D.O. Adeyanju . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

View this paper at   Google Scholar | DPI Digital Library

XML View     PDF Download

How to Cite this Paper

Abstract :
The contagious nature of coronavirus and the rapidly upsurge death tolls from the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the restriction measures and infodemic, had significantly heightened fear, anxiety, worry and depression (referred to as coronaphobia) among the people. This study assessed gender vulnerability to coronaphobia during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State of Nigeria. The study made use of structured questionnaires to elicit data from 400 accidentally sampled respondents, which comprises of 200 males and 200 females. The statistical techniques employed for data analysis includes percentage mean score, and two-tailed t-test was employed to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that both genders are vulnerable to coronaphobia, with females exhibiting higher severity of the menace (t-calculated = 5.957; t-tabulated = 2.179). Recommendations made to manage coronaphobia include attitudinal and behavioural change, concerted re-orientation and awareness, prevention of infodemic, and engagement of psychologists who specialises in anxiety.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Vulnerability, Coronaphobia, COVID-19, Fear, Gender, Ibadan Nigeria

References :
[1] Tandon, R., “COVID-19 and mental health preserving humanity, maintaining sanity, and promoting health”, Asian J. Psychiatry, 2020.
[2] Rodriguez-Rey, R., Garrido-Hernansaiz, H. & Collado, S., “Psychological impact and associated factors during the initial stage of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic among the general population in Spain”. Front. Psychol. 11: p. 1540, 2020.
[3] WHO, “WHO announces COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic”, Europe: World Health Organization, 2020.
[4] Alyami, M., Herming, M., Krageloh, C.U. & Alyami, H., “Psychometric evaluation of the Arabic version of the Fear of COVID-19 scale”. Int. J. Ment. Heal. Addict.2020.
[5] Jackson, J.K., Weiss, M.A., Schwanzenberg, A.B., Nelson, R.M., Sutter, K.M., & Sutherland, M.D., “Global Economic Effect of COVID-19”. Congressional Research Service, Document Number R46270, 10 November, 2021.
[6] International Monetary Fund, “World Economic Outlook Update; June 2020: A Crisis Like no Other, An Uncertain Recovery”: IMF. June 2020.
[7] Saladino, V. Algeri, D., & Vuriemma, V., “The Psychological and social impact of COVID-19: New Perspectives of Well-being”. Front Psychol. 11:577684. 02 October, 2020.
[8] Li, L.Z., & Wang, S., “Prevalence and predictors of general psychiatric disorders and loneliness during COVID-19 in the United Kingdom”. Psych. Res. 291, 0165-1781, 2020.
[9] Adeyanju, D.O., “Prevalence of sexual violence against Children during COVID-19 lockdown in Ibadan, Nigeria”. International Journal of Scientific Research in Multidisciplinary Studies, Vol. 7 Issue 10, pp 1-7, 2021.
[10] Mohamed, A., Mervat, S.H., Hayam, M.E. & Eman, F., “Exploring the factors associated with coronaphobia among physicians during the COVID-19 outbreak in Egypt”. The Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery, Vol. 57 No. 1: 105; 29 July, 2021.
[11] Arora, A., Jha, A.K., Alat, P., & Das, S.S., “Understanding Coronaphobia”, Asian J. Psychiatr. 6 Sept., 2020.
[12] Duan, L., & Zhu, G., “Psychological interventions for people affected by the COVID-19 epidemic”. The Lancet Psychiatry, Vol. 7, No. 4: pp 300-302, 2020.
[13] Lee, S.A., “Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: A brief mental screener for COVID-19 related anxiety”, Death Studies, Vol. 44 No. 7: pp 393-401, 2020.
[14] Karaasian, Y., Mete, O., Karadag, M., Ozer, K.D., Toprak, C.S., “An investigation of potential coronaphobia-related factors in adults and sleep quality relations”. Sleep Med., 84: pp 356-361. 2021
[15] Newby, J. & Werner-Saidler, A., “7 ways to manage your coronaphobia”. The Conversation, May 20, 2020.
[16] Yadav, U.N., Yadav, O.P., Singh, D.R., Ghimire, S., Rayamajhee, B., Kanti, M.S., et al, “Perceived fear of COVID-19 and its associated factors among Nepalese older adults in eastern Nepal: A cross-sectional study”. PLoS ONE 16(7): 2021.
[17] National Population Commission, “2006 Population and Housing Census: PopulationDistribution by sex, state, LGA and Senatorial District”. Priority Table, Vol. III, April 2010.
[18] UN, “Ibadan, Nigeria Metro Area Population 1950-2021”, 2021.
[19] Yamane, T., “Statistics, An Introductory Analysis”, 2nd Ed., New York: Harper and Row. 1967.