The Relationship between COVID-19 Anxiety with Catastrophizing, Loneliness and Academic Support

Background and Objectives: With the spread of COVID-19, the fear and anxiety of this disease is increasing and this virus has had various psychological consequences for people. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of COVID-19 anxiety with catastrophizing, loneliness and academic support. Materials and Methods: The research method was descriptive-correlation. The statistical population of the study was all third grade students of the second high school of Zahedan in the academic year 2020-2021 (n = 6199) that stratified-available sampling method 346 students were studied through corona virus anxiety, catastrophizing, loneliness and academic support questionnaires. Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression were used in a stepwise manner to analyze the data. Results: Based on the findings, the mean and standard deviation of the research variables were as follows: COVID-19 anxiety (m = 2.48, sd = 0.83), catastrophizing (m = 2.83, sd = 0.67), loneliness (m = 2.85, sd = 0.72) and academic support (m = 2.74, sd = 0.62). There was a positive and significant relationship between COVID-19 anxiety with catastrophizing (r = 0.444), loneliness (r = 0.625) and academic self-handicapping (r = 0.601). The regression results also showed that the components of COVID-19 anxiety have the ability to predict 20.7%, 39.2% and 36.3% of the variances of catastrophizing, loneliness and academic support of students, respectively. Conclusions: According to the results, it is suggested that school principals and teachers can reduce the level of COVID-19 anxiety and its catastrophizing in students by providing virtual training in the field of corona virus disease. It is also recommended to hold debugging classes in person and in accordance with health protocols to provide the necessary academic support to students. Dedicating more time from parents 'lives to their children and using supervised social media can be effective in reducing students' loneliness.