Buffering the Fear of COVID-19: Social Connectedness Mediates the Relationship between Fear of COVID-19 and Psychological Wellbeing

Ashley Humphrey; Evita March; Andrew P Lavender; Kyle J Miller; Marlies Alvarenga; Christopher Mesagno

doi:10.3390/bs12030086

Buffering the Fear of COVID-19: Social Connectedness Mediates the Relationship between Fear of COVID-19 and Psychological Wellbeing

Behav Sci (Basel). 2022 Mar 21;12(3):86. doi: 10.3390/bs12030086.

Authors

Ashley Humphrey¹, Evita March¹, Andrew P Lavender¹, Kyle J Miller¹, Marlies Alvarenga¹, Christopher Mesagno^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Science, Psychology and Sport, Federation University, Ballarat, VIC 3353, Australia.
² Institute of Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia.

Abstract

Social connections are crucial for an individual's health, wellbeing, and overall effective functioning. During the COVID-19 pandemic, one major preventative effort for reducing the spread of COVID-19 involved restricting people's typical social interactions through physical distancing and isolation. The current cross-sectional study, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, explored the relationship among fear of COVID-19, social connectedness, resilience, depressive symptomologies, and self-perceived stress. Participants (N = 174) completed an anonymous, online questionnaire, and results indicated that social connectedness mediated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and psychological wellbeing. In contrast, the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and psychological wellbeing was not mediated by resilience. These findings highlight the important role that social connections and resilience play in buffering against negative psychological wellbeing outcomes, especially during a pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; depression; resilience; social connectedness; stress.