The national vaccination campaign has led Israel to have one of the highest rates of vaccinated individuals per capita. Later on, the vaccination campaign was gradually expanded until all individuals aged 16 years and older were eligible to receive the vaccine. During the early phases of the distribution process, individuals considered as being at high risk for COVID-19 were prioritized for vaccination, such as those older than 60 years, nursing home residents, healthcare workers, and those with severe comorbidities. Vaccinations were widely available from December 2020, according to a prioritization schedule determined by the Israeli Ministry of Health (MOH). The decrease of this pandemic was most likely achieved due to a national COVID-19 vaccination campaign ( Leshem and Wilder-Smith, 2021). The study was conducted at the beginning of the year 2021, after a peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which an overall lockdown policy was directed, requiring the entire Israeli population, except for employees in vital services, to remain at home 24/7. A comprehensive study on the antecedents of this risk perception, conducted in 10 countries around the globe ( Dryhurst et al., 2020), found that this perception was significantly influenced by cognitive, emotional, social, and cultural factors, as well as direct and indirect experiences with the virus. Studies on COVID-19 risk perception and perceived cognitive and emotional dimensions found that it was associated with higher levels of frustration, confusion, inadequacy, uncertainty, anxiety, anger, and loneliness ( Lanciano et al., 2020), as well as lower levels of coping, well-being, and finding meaning in life ( Krok and Zarzycka, 2020). The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has a dramatic impact on the mental health and behavior of people. The results generally supported the hypotheses and indicated that the unrealistic optimism process was employed quite consistently by the participating students. The fourth hypothesis suggested that the three investigated perceived risks will positively and significantly correlate with each other. The second and third hypotheses claimed that psychological coping responses articulated along this pandemic would be predicted by all these perceived risks, as well as the observance of pandemic precaution rules. First, we hypothesized that the three perceived risks would be inversely rated, so perceived health risk would be rated lowest, and perceived economic risk would be rated highest. Depressive and anxiety symptoms, perceived threats, resilience, well-being, hope, and morale were measured using a structured quantitative questionnaire. Using social networks, a questionnaire was disseminated to students during the third lockdown that was implemented in Israel because of the pandemic. The study examined an unrealistic optimism of Israeli college students in assessing the health, security, and economic risks during the pandemic, and the contributions of these perceived risks to the prediction of psychological coping responses, such as well-being, and coping suppressing response of anxiety, expressed during this pandemic. Their mental health and behavior may dramatically be impacted. College students are among the most strongly affected populations by the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic because of uncertainty regarding academic success, future careers, and social life during their study period.
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