Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-8-2022
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Aaron Lee
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals with diabetes may be at higher risk for experiencing negative behavioral, psychosocial, and disease-related outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to compare COVID-19-related anxiety between adults with and without type 2 diabetes. Two separate samples were recruited for this study from web-based panels of adults: 372 adults with type 2 diabetes and 259 adults without type 2 diabetes. COVID-19-related anxiety was assessed using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S)This scale includes 7 items scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Scores are summed to generate a total score with higher scores indicating greater anxiety. Bivariate comparisons were used to compare the sociodemographic and medical characteristics of the samples. An independent samples t-test was used to compare the means of FCVS-19 between the two samples. A multivariable linear regression model was used to examine the relationship between diabetes status and the COVID-19 anxiety scale, controlling for age, race, sex, level of education, income, having a primary care provider, and health insurance status. There was a significant difference in the COVID-19 anxiety scores between those with Type 2 diabetes (M = 20.34, SD = 6.93) and those without Type 2 diabetes (M = 18.37, SD = 7.07; t = 3.48, df = 548.50, p <.001). The multivariable regression model accounted for 16.1% of the variance in COVID-19 anxiety (F [8, 622] = 14.92, p <.001). Diabetes status was a significant predictor of COVID-19 anxiety (B = 2.20, SE = 0.56, p < .001). Age was also significantly associated with lower COVID anxiety (B = -0.17, SE = 0.02, p <.001). However, race, sex, level of education, income, having a primary care provider, and health insurance status were not significantly associated with COVID-19 anxiety. Adults with type 2 diabetes are significantly more likely to experience COVID-19 anxiety than participants without type 2 diabetes – even when controlling for potentially important sociodemographic and healthcare variables. Additional research is needed to determine whether COVID-related anxiety is adaptive or maladaptive among adults with type 2 diabetes. If maladaptive, additional work is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of evidence-based approaches for the treatment of COVID-related anxiety in medical populations with risk factors for severe COVID-related outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Hewes, Jane G., "Differences in COVID Related Anxiety Between Those with and without Type 2 Diabetes" (2022). Honors Theses. 2674.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2674
Accessibility Status
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Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.