Determining the relationship between health technician students' attitudes to The Covid-19 Pandemic and intolerance of uncertainty with depression, anxiety, and stress levels

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to identify the relationship between the attitudes of health technician students towards COVID-19 and their intolerance to uncertainty with depression, anxiety, and stress. Subjects and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with health technician students at two public universities in western Turkey. Data were collected from January 29 to April 5, 2021. In this study, The Descriptive Data Form; Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21; The Health Education Students' Attitude Scale towards the COVID-19 outbreak, and the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12 were used. The electronic versions of the questionnaires were shared with students in WhatsApp groups. Results: A total of 1132 students participated in the study and 23.2% of the students had mild, 21.6% moderate, and 2.8% severe depression. Additionally, 9.4% of the students had mild, 16.3% moderate, and 5.1% severe anxiety. Furthermore, 12.5% of the participants had mild and 5.5% had moderate stress. Smoking, prospective and inhibitory anxiety, negative perception of the state's efforts to prevent the outbreak, anxiety about the virus, and belief of intentional spread significantly affected depression, anxiety, and stress levels (p<0.05). Furthermore, the place of residence and the presence of acquaintances infected with COVID-19 significantly affected anxiety levels (p<0.05). Conclusions: It may be beneficial to develop online psychoeducation and psychotherapy programs and to direct young people to these platforms during the social isolation process of COVID-19. Training in virus protection is also strongly recommended.