earticle

영어

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to identify differences in fear of COVID-19 according to types of positive mental health in college students, and to verify the moderating effect of mental well-being in the relationship between mental disorders and fear of COVID-19. Methods: The results of 1,542 college students’ responses to the COVID-19 Fear Scale, Korean Mental Disorder Scale, and Korean Mental Health Scale were analyzed. According to the presence of mental disorders and the level of mental well-being (high, medium, and low) of the participants which were assessed by the Korean Mental Disorder Scale and the Korean Mental Health Scale, participants were classified into five mental health groups. And the difference in fear of COVID-19 between groups was identified by one-way ANOVA. In addition, it was identified whether the moderating effect of mental well-being was significant in the relationship between mental disorders and fear of COVID-19 using hierarchical regression analysis. Results: When participants were classified by positive mental health types, the flourish group had significantly lower fear of COVID-19 than the moderate mental health group and the languishing group. The moderating effect of mental well-being was significant in the relationship between mental disorder and fear of COVID-19. Additionally, the reducing effect of mental well-being upon fear of COVID-19 was greater when the severity of mental disorder was lower. Conclusions: Basically, in the case of groups with mental disorders, efforts to reduce mental disorders should be given first and foremost. In contrast, for groups without mental disorders, psychological interventions to raise levels of mental well-being are likely to help reduce fear of COVID-19.