Contributor

Hannah O. Nordberg, Michelle M. Berthet-Miron, Isabelle Mermilliod, Thomas Ritz

Abstract

While health challenges introduced by the coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) pandemic impacted the general population, individuals living with both asthma and low socioeconomic status (SES) may have been particularly vulnerable to health-related stress. For example, the CDC announced that a diagnosis of asthma increased one's risk of severe COVID- 19, emergency room closures restricted access to reliable disease management resources, and many lost health insurance after losing employment. Further, many essential or blue-collar workers could not protect themselves from disease by isolating themselves or quarantining at home. For these individuals, the pandemic may have introduced or exacerbated feelings of being "out of control" of one's own health. Therefore, we predicted that this unique combination of factors would lead to higher levels of COVID-19-related fear in low-SES individuals with asthma during the pandemic.

This thesis aimed to investigate the relationship between SES, asthma status, and fear of COVID-19. We also explored whether this fear existed over and above generalized anxiety and depression symptoms. Finally, we investigated the roles of coping style, asthma control, and asthma severity in the relationship between asthma, SES, and fear of COVID-19.

Degree Date

Spring 5-13-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Department

Psychology

Advisor

Thomas Ritz

Number of Pages

47

Format

.pdf

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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