Exploring Symptoms of OCD and Anxiety in Association with Fear of COVID-19: A Global Cross-Sectional Study

Authors

  • Isha Rastogi MSc Psychology , Psychology Division ,School of Social Sciences Nottingham Trent University ,Public research university in Nottingham, England

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37506/wypm0d60

Keywords:

COVID-19, fear, anxiety, Psychological Factors, Coping Style, Social Support, Interpersonal Behaviour and OCD., public health, mental health

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused extensive emotional suffering, which may worsen mental health issues. This study investigates whether fear of COVID-19 is connected with symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety in a worldwide sample, primarily from India. Qualtrics was employed to conduct a cross-sectional survey of 144 persons using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), and Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS). There was no significant connection between COVID-19 fear and OCD or anxiety symptoms, according to the findings. OCD and anxiety symptoms were shown to have a substantial association (r =.598, p <.01), with Asian Indian individuals reporting higher levels of discomfort. The findings highlight the necessity for culturally customised mental health therapies to address co-occurring anxiety and OCD during pandemics, which will guide public health policies.

Author Biography

  • Isha Rastogi, MSc Psychology , Psychology Division ,School of Social Sciences Nottingham Trent University ,Public research university in Nottingham, England

    MSc Psychology , Psychology Division ,School of Social Sciences

    Nottingham Trent University ,Public research university in Nottingham, England

References

Ahorsu, D. K., Lin, C. -Y., Imani, V., Saffari, M., Griffiths, M. D., &Pakpour, A. H. (2020). Fear of COVID-19 scale: development and initial validation. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8.

Anderson, R. M., Heesterbeek, H., Klinkenberg, D., & Hollingsworth, T. D. (2020). How will country-based mitigation measures influence the course of the COVID-19 epidemic? The Lancet, 395(10228), 931-934.

Arora, A., Jha, A. K., Alat, P., & Das, S. S. (2020). Understanding coronaphobia. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 54, 102384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102384.

Asmundson, G. J. G., & Taylor, S. (2020). Coronaphobia: Fear and the 2019-nCoV outbreak. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 70, 102196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102196.

Ayittey, F. K., Ayittey, M. K., Chiwero, N. B., Kamasah, J. S., &Dzuvor, C. (2020). Economic impacts of Wuhan 2019-nCoV on China and the world. Journal of Medical Virology, 92(5), 473-475.

Balaratnasingam, S., & Janca, A. (2006). Mass hysteria revisited. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 19, 171-174.

Bao, Y., Sun, Y., Meng, S., Shi, J., & Lu, L. (2020). 2019-nCoV epidemic: Address mental health care to empower society. The Lancet, 395, e37-e38. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30309-3.

BBC. (2020b). Coronavirus: World leaders pledge $8bn to find vaccine. BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51747215.

Brand, J., McKay, D., Wheaton, M. G., & Abramowitz, J. S. (2013). The relationship between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and anxiety sensitivity: Evidence from a community sample. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 27(5), 523-528.

Brady, E. A., McKay, D., & Jacofsky, M. D. (2010). Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Subtypes and spectrum conditions. Elsevier.

Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: Rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395(10227), 912-920. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8.

Carleton, R. N. (2016). Fear of the unknown: One fear to rule them all? Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 41, 5-21. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.03.011.

Chong, M., Wang, W., Hsieh, W., Lee, C., Chiu, N., Yeh, W., Huang, T., Wen, J., & Chen, C. (2004). Psychological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome on health workers in a tertiary hospital. British Journal of Psychiatry, 185(2), 127-133.

Farrall, S., Jackson, J., & Gray, E. (2009). Social order and the fear of crime in contemporary times. Clarendon Studies in Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fergus, T. A. (2013). Intolerance of uncertainty and prospective changes in emotional well-being: A prospective study. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 27(5), 482-487.

Gallagher, M. W., Bentley, K. H., & Barlow, D. H. (2014). Perceived control and vulnerability to anxiety disorders: A meta-analytic review. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 38, 571-584. doi: 10.1007/s10608-014-9624-x.

Garfin, D. R., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A. (2020). The novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) outbreak: Amplification of public health consequences by media exposure. Health Psychology, 39(5), 355-357. doi: 10.1037/hea0000875.

Goodman, W. K., Price, L. H., Rasmussen, S. A., Mazure, C., Delgado, P., Heninger, G. R., & Charney, D. S. (1989). The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. II. Validity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46(11), 1012-1016. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1989.01810110054008.

Goodman, W. K., Price, L. H., Rasmussen, S. A., Mazure, C., Fleischmann, R. L., Hill, C. L., Heninger, G. R., & Charney, D. S. (1989). The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. I. Development, use, and reliability. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46(11), 1006-1011. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1989.01810110048007.

Grover, N. (2021). Fears Covid anxiety syndrome could stop people reintegrating. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/24/fears-covid-anxiety-syndrome-could-stop-people-reintegrating, 24 Apr. 2021.

Jackson, J., & Gray, E. (2010). Functional fear and public insecurities about crime. The British Journal of Criminology, 50(1), 1-22.

Ji, G., Wei, W., Yue, K. C., Li, H., Shi, L. J., Ma, J. D., He, C. Y., Zhou, S. S., Zhao, Z., Lou, T., Cheng, J., Yang, S. C., & Hu, X. Z. (2020). Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on obsessive-compulsive symptoms among university students: Prospective cohort survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), e21915. https://doi.org/10.2196/21915.

Jiang, S., Shi, Z., Shu, Y., Song, J., Gao, G. F., Tan, W., & Guo, D. (2020). A distinct name is needed for the new coronavirus. The Lancet, 395(10228), 949. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30419-0.

Kalat, J. W., & Shiota, M. N. (2007). Emotion. Thompson Wadsworth.

Kissler, S. M., Tedijanto, C., Goldstein, E., Grad, Y. H., &Lipsitch, M. (2020). Projecting the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through the post-pandemic period. Science, 368(6493), 860-868.

Lee, S. A., & Crunk, E. A. (2020). Fear and psychopathology during the COVID-19 crisis: Neuroticism, hypochondriasis, reassurance-seeking, and coronaphobia as fear factors. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying. [Advance online publication]. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222820949350.

Lin, C.-Y. (2020). Social reaction toward the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Social Health and Behavior, 3(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.4103/SHB.SHB_11_20.

Mertens, G., Gerritsen, L., Salemink, E., & Engelhard, I. M. (2020). Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19): Predictors in an online study conducted in March 2020. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 74, 102258. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102258.

Norman, S. B., Hami Cissell, S., Means-Christensen, A. J., & Stein, M. B. (2006). Development and validation of an Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS). Depression and Anxiety, 23(4), 245-249. 30

Ohman, A. (2000). Fear and anxiety: Evolutionary, cognitive, and clinical perspectives. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (2nd ed., pp. 573-593). Guilford Press. 31

Ornell, F., Schuch, J. B., Sordi, A. O., & Kessler, F. H. P. (2020). “Pandemic fear” and COVID-19: Mental health burden and strategies. Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 42(3), 232-235. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2020-0008. 32

Park, S. C., & Park, Y. C. (2020). Mental health care measures in response to the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in Korea. Psychiatry Investigation, 17(2), 85-86. 33

Reynolds, M. G., Anh, B. H., Thu, V. H., Montgomery, J. M., Bausch, D. G., Shah, J. J., & Mills, J. N. (2008). Factors associated with nosocomial SARS-CoV infection among healthcare workers in Hanoi, Vietnam, 2003. BMC Public Health, 8, 205. 34.

Roy, D., Tripathy, S., Kar, S. K., Sharma, N., Verma, S. K., & Kaushal, V. (2020). Study of knowledge, attitude, anxiety & perceived mental healthcare need in Indian population during COVID-19 pandemic. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51, 102083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102083.

Rubin, G. J., & Wessely, S. (2020). The psychological effects of quarantining a city. BMJ, 368, m313. doi: 10.1136/bmj.m313.

Satici, B., Saricali, M., Satici, S. A., & Griffiths, M. D. (2020). Intolerance of uncertainty and mental wellbeing: Serial mediation by rumination and fear of COVID-19. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1-12. doi: 10.1007/s11469-020-00305-0.

Savage, M. (2020). Coronavirus: The possible long-term mental health impacts. BBC Worklife. BBC, 29 Oct. 2020, www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20201021-coronavirus-the-possible-long-term-mental-health-impacts. 38

Shigemura, J., Ursano, R. J., Morganstein, J. C., Kurosawa, M., & Benedek, D. M. (2020). Public responses to the novel 2019 coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Japan: Mental health consequences and target populations. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 74(4), 281-282. 39

Sokolov, M. (2020). The pandemic infodemic: How social media helps (and hurts) during the coronavirus outbreak. The Drum. 40

Taha, S., Matheson, K., Cronin, T., &Anisman, H. (2014). Intolerance of uncertainty, appraisals, coping, and anxiety: The case of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. British Journal of Health Psychology, 19, 592-605. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12070. 41

Tandon, R. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic, personal reflections on editorial responsibility. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102100. 42

Tanner, L. (2020). Living with coronavirus: The new normal. Associated Press. 43.

Taylor, S. (2019). The psychology of pandemics: Preparing for the next global outbreak of infectious disease. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 44.

Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., Ho, C. S., & Ho, R. C. (2020). Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(5), 1729. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051729. 45

World Health Organization. (2019). International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (11th ed.). https://icd.who.int/. 46.

World Health Organization. (2020a). WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March 2020. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020. 47.

Xiang, Y. T., Yang, Y., Li, W., Zhang, L., Zhang, Q., Cheung, T., & Ng, C. H. (2020). Timely mental health care for the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak is urgently needed. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(3), 228-229. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30046-8.

Downloads

Published

2026-04-14

How to Cite

Exploring Symptoms of OCD and Anxiety in Association with Fear of COVID-19: A Global Cross-Sectional Study. (2026). Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development, 17(2), 73-81. https://doi.org/10.37506/wypm0d60