Anxiety, Depression and Fear of COVID-19 in Adolescents during the Pandemic

Abstract

Objectives: To define the factors affecting the anxiety and depression levels in adolescents during the epidemic period.

Materials and Methods: The Covid-19 Fear Scale, Covid-19 Anxiety Scale, and Beck Depression Scale, along with the main demographic characteristics, were applied to 639 participants aged 13-17. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test evaluated the conformity of continuous variables to normal distribution. Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare paired groups, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare more than two variables. The spearman correlation test was used to examine the relationship between continuous variables. Linear Regression analysis was applied to determine the predictors of fear, anxiety, and depression scale. The statistical significance level in the analysis was accepted as p<0.05.

Results: The anxiety, depression, and fear scores of those who had COVID-19 and those whose relatives had COVID-19 were significantly lower. The anxiety, depression, and fear scales of girls and those whose relatives died from COVID-19 infection were significantly higher. There was a positive correlation between fear scores and anxiety and depression scores.

Conclusion: The most important result of the study is the significantly lower anxiety, depression, and COVID-19 fear scores of adolescents who were infected by COVID-19 and whose relatives were infected by COVID-19. Because the event that definitively ends the uncertainty about the disease for the individual in the short term is to be infected with the virus. The end of this uncertainty reduced anxiety and depressive symptoms in the individual. In addition, international organizations, governments and WHO should definitely cooperate in order to spread accurate information to the world from the beginning of the epidemic.