Open AccessPerceived Risk, Fear of Covid-19, and Resilience on Mental Health of Malaysian Emerging Adults during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Erika Wye Keet Liew,
Esther Mei Jen Low,
Glory Lee Lin Ho,
Soo Ting T’ng,
Khee Hoong Ho
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of research in counseling and education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2620-5769
pISSN - 2620-5750
DOI - 10.24036/00456za0002
Subject(s) - mental health , anxiety , pandemic , psychological resilience , psychology , psychological intervention , covid-19 , mental distress , clinical psychology , depression (economics) , psychiatry , distress , medicine , social psychology , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , economics , macroeconomics
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affects one’s physical and mental state. Past studies reported higher levels of anxiety, distress, and depression, especially among emerging adults, indicating the need of studying how COVID-19 affects one mentally. Hence, this study looked to investigate the predictive effect of perceived risk, fear of COVID-19, and resilience on mental health among Malaysian emerging adults. 182 emerging adults were recruited in the cross-sectional study through an online survey using the purposive sampling method. Results showed that resilience significantly and positively predicted mental health while perceived risk and fear of COVID-19 were insignificant predictors of mental health. Overall, practitioners and policymakers are encouraged to focus on resilience-based interventions to improve our emerging adults' mental health. This is because emerging adults with strong mental health can serve as a strong impetus for national development.