Fear of Death, Psychological Distress, and Perceived Social Support during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has proved to be such a calamitous event with an unparalleled magnitude of life loss in decades. The circumstances of physical threat and uncertainty have adversely affected the psychological wellbeing of the public in general. The present study aimed to examine the levels of fear of death and psychological distress as indicated by depression, anxiety, and stress levels in the general population of Pakistan, and the role of social support in alleviating psychological distress as well as fear of death. 250 participants (age 18-30) were recruited using snowball sampling during a time span of 5 months, and the data was collected online. Instruments used for data collection included socio-demographic questionnaire, multidimensional scale of perceived social support (MSPSS), depression-anxiety-stress scales (DASS-21), and indigenous death anxiety scale (IDAS). Results showed that fear of death was positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress; but it had no significant association with perceived social support. However perceived social support was negatively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. Age significantly predicted depression and anxiety, while gender significantly predicted depression only. Perceived social support from friends was found to moderate the relationship of punishment after death (subscale of fear of death) with anxiety and stress. The implications of the findings are discussed.