engleski

Protective Factors of Mental Health During the Second Lockdown in Croatia

Not only did the COVID-19 pandemic led to numerous changes in daily lifestyle, but it also caused the emergence of different conspiracy theories about the novel coronavirus and the disease connected with it. Recent studies suggest that higher levels of the COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs predict worse mental health and lower levels of respecting epidemiological measures. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics, respecting the epidemiological measures, beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories and mental health. The online survey was consisted out of sociodemographic questions, COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories Scale, Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire, Pandemic- related Beahvior Scale and Brief Mental Health Inventory. 793 responses were collected between November 2020 and December 2020. Gender differences were found for respecting the epidemiological measures, belief that the virus was human-made, conspiracy mentality and mental health. More precisely, females respected the epidemiological measures more than males while levels of conspiracy mentality and belief that the virus was human-made were lower for males than females. Males reported better mental health than females. The results of hierarchical regression analysis indicate that male sex, higher age and being on the right political spectrum are significant predictors of better mental health. The results of this study suggest the importance of access to reliable, accurate and timely information in order to protect mental health.

COVID-19 ; mental health ; conspiracy theory mentality

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