Fear of COVID-19, obsessive compulsive symptoms and psychological well-being: Moderating role of harm avoidance behaviors among adults in Lahore, Pakistan

The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship of fear of COVID-19 obsessive-compulsive symptoms, harm avoidance, and psychological well-being among adults, during the pandemic. The study hypothesized that there is a positive association of fear of COVID-19 with obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and a negative association with psychological well-being among adults. Further, harm avoidance is likely to moderate the relationship between fear of COVID-19 with obsessive-compulsive symptoms and the psychological well-being. A correlation research design and non-purposive sampling technique were used to select the sample of menbetween the age range of 28 and 31 years (N=75, 49.3%) andwomen between theage range of 32 and 35 years (N=74, 50.7%) were recruited via an online survey. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Analysis showed a significant positive relationship between fear of COVID-19 and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. A non-significant negative relationship emerged between fear of COVID-19 and psychological well-being. Moderation analysis was run through PROCESS and the findings indicated that harm avoidance behaviors partially moderate the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and psychological well-being. It is recommended that fear of negative events be considered as a target variable for devising interventions for mental health and well-being in both stressful situations and in clinical practice.