Open Access

ARTICLE

The Mediating Role of Religious Beliefs in the Relationship between Well-Being and Fear of the Pandemic

Van-Son Huynh¹, Thanh-Thao Ly¹, My-Tien Nguyen-Thi^1,*, Xuan Thanh Kieu Nguyen², Gallayaporn Nantachai^3,4, Vinh-Long Tran-Chi¹

1 Faculty of Psychology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam
2 Faculty of Social Sciences and Public Relations, HUTECH University, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam
3 Department of Medical Services, Ministry of Public Health, Somdet Phra Sungharaj Nyanasumvara Geriatric Hospital, Chon Buri, 20150, Thailand
4 Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand

* Corresponding Author: My-Tien Nguyen-Thi. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Coping with Life Stress During/After the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Mental Health)

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 2023, 25(9), 1019-1031. https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2023.029235

Received 08 February 2023; Accepted 03 April 2023; Issue published 10 August 2023

Abstract

Religion is one of the social entities that has had a significant impact on the pandemic. The study’s goals are to investigate the relationship between well-being and fear of COVID-19, as well as to test whether religious beliefs mediate the effect of wellbeing on fear of COVID-19. The sample comprised of 433 participants in Vietnam. Independent Sample t-Test, One-way ANOVA, mediation analysis were used to analyze the data. In the levels of well-being, individuals who engage in religious services daily have higher levels than those hardly and never attend, and people from the age of 18 to 30 have higher levels than individuals from 31 to above 60 years. In addition, people aged from 51 to above 60 have higher levels of religious beliefs than people aged from 18 to 50. Females experience more fear of COVID-19 compared to males. The latter illustrates that religious beliefs mediate the effect of well-being on fear of COVID-19. Social workers and clinicians must prioritize older adults and people with chronic diseases for early mental interventions, and they should be aware of the role of religion in psychological treatment integration.

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Keywords

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