Coronavirus anxiety, fear of COVID-19, hope and resilience in healthcare workers: a moderated mediation model study.

Background: In the era of the global health crisis, mental health and well-being of people have been severely affected because of experiencing high levels of anxiety, stress, fear, and uncertainty related to COVID-19. This study investigated a moderated mediation model in which resilience mediated the link between coronavirus anxiety and fear of COVID-19, and this mediation effect was moderated by hope.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 168 healthcare workers (Mage = 29.19 ± 6.13 years and 63.1% women) working at a state hospital in the eastern part of Turkey. They completed measures of coronavirus anxiety, fear of COVID-19, resilience, and hope during COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: The results indicated that resilience mediated the relationship between coronavirus anxiety and fear of COVID-19. Hope moderated the mediating path from coronavirus anxiety to resilience. Coronavirus anxiety had a stronger effect on resilience under the moderate and high levels of hope condition, compared to the low level of hope condition.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that resilience is an important mechanism explaining how coronavirus anxiety is associated with fear of COVID-19 and that this relation may depend on the levels of hope. Future prevention and intervention programs should focus on increasing hope and resilience when addressing mental health problems in the face of adversity.