There has been substantial concern about the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for those with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) given the overlap between OCD symptoms (e.g., excessive handwashing) and appropriate disease prevention measures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic, causing substantial anxiety. One potential factor in the spread of anxiety in response to a pandemic threat is emotion contagion, the finding that emotional experiences can be socially spread through conscious and unconscious pathways. Some individuals are more susceptible to social contagion effects and may be more likely to experience anxiety and other mental health symptoms in response to a pandemic threat.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on public health, economic activity, and mental health as it spread across the globe. Research from past pandemics links excessive anxiety about illness-related threats with symptoms of health anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In the present study, we investigated whether intolerance of uncertainty (IU), a psychological vulnerability factor involved in both OCD and health anxiety, accounts for a portion of the relationship between these symptoms and fear of COVID-19 during the early stages of the outbreak in the Unites States.
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