The Association between Future Anxiety, Health Literacy and the Perception of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Increased anxiety related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in society and specific professional groups has been reported by many authors. Most have applied tools enabling assessing the general traits of anxiety. Tools specifically designed for an assessment of anxiety or fear related to COVID-19 have also been developed. However, no study has assessed the future anxiety in relation to the pandemic. This concept was defined by Zaleski in the end of the 20th century as the state of apprehension, fear, worry, and concern regarding unfavourable changes in the more remote personal future. The aim of this study was an analysis to establish the level and the determinants of future anxiety in Polish society related to the COVID-19 pandemic three months after the introduction of the state of epidemic. The analysis reported in the paper is based on the data obtained through a web-based survey carried out on a representative sample of 1002 Polish adults aged 18–74 years. The hierarchical linear regression model was developed for the analysis of the determinants of future anxiety from the responses to a questionnaire consisting of five items. The independent variables selected for inclusion in the model, apart from sociodemographic characteristics, encompassed health literacy (HL) and ehealth literacy (eHL), perceived health threat related to COVID-19 (PHTC19), and a COVID-19-related conspiracy belief score (CCBS) derived from three items asking about the most popular conspiracy theories. The regression model developed in the final step showed that the future anxiety scale score (FASS) was significantly associated with gender, vocational status, HL, PHTC19, and CCBS. The FASS was lower among men than women (regression coefficient (B) (standard error, SE) = −1.28 (0.39), p = 0.001), among entrepreneurs or farmers rather than among employees of the public or private sector (B(SE) = −1.55, p = 0.010), in persons with a higher HL (B(SE) = −0.43 (0.06), p < 0.001). A higher FASS was observed in respondents with higher rather than lower PHTC19 (B(SE) = 1.49 (0.17), p < 0.001) and in those with a higher CCBS (B(SE) = 0.33 (0.07), p < 0.001). The model accounted for 15.2% of the variance of the FASS. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic is not only a cause of increased mental symptoms, but also of increased future anxiety. Health-related measures are significantly associated with the FASS.

Dissociation, Cognitive Reflection and Health Literacy Have a Modest Effect on Belief in Conspiracy Theories about COVID-19

“…Because overestimating one’s own understanding of complex relations is related to belief in conspiracy theories in politics [ 14 ], overestimating one’s understanding of health-related information might increase both belief in conspiracy theories about COVID-19 as well as positive bias in self-assessment in the eHEALS questionnaire. This might help to explain the unexpected positive correlation between eHEALS score and conspiracy beliefs [ 16 , 17 ] or the negative link between some aspects of health literacy and vaccination compliance [ 18 ]. As a result, the research using subjective measures to estimate digital health literacy (including the presented one) may systematically underestimate the positive impact of digital health literacy on belief in conspiracy theories, willingness to get vaccinated or other outcome measures.…”

“…In case respondents overestimate their digital health literacy, it may be especially relevant in those susceptible to conspiracy theories, as overestimating one’s own explanations contributes to both the risk of inflating one’s skills in a subjective health literacy questionnaire [ 13 ] and conspiratorial thinking [ 14 ]. Indeed, a meta-analysis revealed a mismatch between subjective and objective information literacy [ 15 ] and some studies led to counterintuitive results, such as a positive correlation between digital health literacy and conspiracy theories [ 16 , 17 ] or a negative correlation between digital health literacy and vaccination compliance [ 18 ]. Because digital literacy should, by definition [ 19 ], result in finding and applying health-related information in a way that helps to solve health problems, rather than increasing vulnerability to contagious diseases, we find these findings suspicious.…”

Fears Related to COVID-19 among Rural Older People in Japan

“…As COVID-19 spread, each country had to independently manage the virus [ 41 ], and different countries adopted different approaches to address it [ 3 , 42 ]. Mass media provided a lot of information on the virus from different sources [ 43 , 44 , 45 ]. This study’s participants stated that they felt confused due to the different (sometimes contradictory) information from different government, health, and news sources.…”

Exploring COVID-19 anxiety in Iranian adult based on health literacy by moderating demographic variables: A structural equation model

“…Most studies in Iran have focused on the psychological consequences of COVID-19 [ 22 , 23 ] and despite the high importance of HL, the role of it in the control of COVID-19 and its psychological consequences has not been addressed [ 24 , 25 ]. Therefore, this study was conducted to describe HL and COVID-19 anxiety in different dimensions and to determine the relationship between HL and demographic characteristics with COVID-19 anxiety in adults living in Iran during the outbreak of COVID-19.…”