Correlates of COVID-۱۹ Pandemic on Anxiety among Adults in Appalachia, USA

Background: Anxiety problems have increased in the COVID-۱۹ pandemic worldwide. However,very little is known about the anxiety rates in the new normal phase of the disease when adultshave been assumed to be adjusted. The study aimed to find out the difference in anxiety in aconvenience sample of Appalachian adults during the new normal phase of the COVID-۱۹pandemic, examine its association with sociodemographic factors, and compare it with the anxietylevels before the pandemic as recalled by the participants.Study design: A cross-sectional study.Methods: The Generalized Anxiety Disorder-۷ scale was used in the present study. The Chisquaretest was used to examine the difference between the severity of anxiety before and duringthe new normal phase of the COVID-۱۹ pandemic in terms of sociodemographic and behavioralcorrelates. Pearson correlation was used to see the strength of the association between anxietyand age.Results: Although the anxiety rate was stabilized by the time people approached the new normalphase of the COVID-۱۹ pandemic, its severity increased significantly among those with preexistinganxiety (P=۰.۰۰۱). Anxiety was found highly associated with female and minority gender, studentstatus, lower education and income level, marital status, cohabitation with parents, and cigaretteconsumption (P=۰.۰۰۱). A slight inverse association was observed between age and anxiety beforeand during the new normal phase of the COVID-۱۹ pandemic (P=۰.۰۰۱).Conclusion: The young and females seem to be suffering from a higher burden of anxiety.Research is suggested to identify ways to develop social support-based community programs toaddress this issue.