Factors associated with fear and coping strategies during pandemic in female university students: The moderator role of physical activity and infection status
PLOS ONE, cilt.21, sa.8, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 21 Sayı: 8
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1371/journal.pone.0355544
- Dergi Adı: PLOS ONE
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, L'Année philologique, Aerospace Database, BIOSIS, Chemical Abstracts Core, EMBASE, Index Islamicus, Linguistic Bibliography, MEDLINE, Psycinfo, zbMATH, Directory of Open Access Journals, Zoological Record, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Biological Science Database (ProQuest), Biomedical Reference Collection: Corporate Edition (EBSCO), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest), Materials Science & Engineering Collection (ProQuest), Pharma Collection (ProQuest), Technology Collection (ProQuest)
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
The COVID-19 pandemic has generated widespread psychological distress worldwide, with fear emerging as a central emotional response; however, its role in shaping coping processes, particularly among female university students, remains unclear. The present study investigates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and coping strategies in female university students, with a specific focus on the moderating role of various variables. Participants were 1000 female university students aged 21.5 (2.5) years, who completed a self-report questionnaire about levels of fear regarding COVID-19 and the coping strategies employed during the post-emergency phase. The result showed that fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19S) was positively related to coping with the outbreak (COS). Physical activity status and COVID-19 positive or negative experiences moderated the relationship between FCV-19S and COS. These findings suggest that individual characteristics such as sedentary lifestyle habits and firsthand infection experiences, may continue to shape COVID-19-related fear and coping responses even after the acute emergency phase has subsided. An intervention such as regular exercise that aims to develop and improve coping dynamics among people in response to new challenges posed by stressful events or public health crises, like COVID-19 infection, seems warranted.