Table 4.
Direct, indirect and total effects on fear of COVID-19 concerning perceived stress in four mediation models (n = 3299).
| Path | Coeff. | 95% LL-CI | 95% UL-CI | SE | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model 1 | |||||
| Total effect (c) | 0.123 | 0.095 | 0.152 | 0.014 | <0.01 |
| Direct effect (c’) | 0.103 | 0.083 | 0.123 | 0.010 | <0.01 |
| Fear of COVID—Neuroticism (a1) | 0.048 | 0.01 | 0.095 | 0.024 | 0.047 |
| Fear of COVID—Total perceived social support (a2) | −0.053 | −0.123 | 0.017 | 0.036 | 0.140 |
| Neuroticism—Perceived stress (b1) | 0.347 | 0.330 | 0.363 | 0.08 | <0.01 |
| Total perceived social support—Perceived stress (b2) | −0.074 | −0.085 | −0.063 | 0.05 | <0.01 |
| Neuroticism—Total perceived social support | −0.349 | −0.382 | −0.316 | 0.017 | <0.01 |
| Total indirect effect | 0.020 | 0.02 | 0.039 | 0.010 | 0.032 |
| Fear of COVID—Neuroticism—Perceived stress | 0.018 | 0.00 | 0.036 | 0.09 | 0.047 |
| Fear of COVID—Perceived social support—Perceived stress | 0.08 | −0.03 | 0.019 | 0.06 | 0.141 |
| Model 2 | |||||
| Total effect (c) | 0.123 | 0.095 | 0.152 | 0.014 | <0.01 |
| Direct effect (c’) | 0.107 | 0.086 | 0.127 | 0.010 | <0.01 |
| Fear of COVID—Neuroticism (a1) | 0.048 | 0.01 | 0.095 | 0.024 | 0.047 |
| Fear of COVID—Perceived social support from significant others (a2) | 0.08 | −0.021 | 0.036 | 0.015 | 0.60 |
| Neuroticism—Perceived stress (b1) | 0.370 | 0.353 | 0.386 | 0.08 | <0.01 |
| Perceived social support from significant others—Perceived stress (b2) | −0.117 | −0.142 | −0.092 | 0.013 | <0.01 |
| Neuroticism—Perceived social support from significant others | −0.214 | −0.246 | −0.181 | 0.017 | <0.01 |
| Total indirect effect | 0.017 | −0.02 | 0.035 | 0.09 | 0.074 |
| Fear of COVID—Neuroticism—Perceived stress | 0.018 | 0.00 | 0.036 | 0.09 | 0.047 |
| Fear of COVID—Perceived social support from significant others—Perceived stress | −0.02 | −0.09 | 0.05 | 0.04 | 0.599 |
| Model 3 | |||||
| Total effect (c) | 0.123 | 0.095 | 0.152 | 0.014 | <0.01 |
| Direct effect (c’) | 0.104 | 0.084 | 0.124 | 0.010 | <0.01 |
| Fear of COVID—Neuroticism (a1) | 0.048 | 0.01 | 0.095 | 0.024 | 0.047 |
| Fear of COVID—Perceived social support from family members (a2) | −0.014 | −0.043 | 0.015 | 0.015 | 0.348 |
| Neuroticism—Perceived stress (b1) | 0.351 | 0.334 | 0.368 | 0.08 | <0.01 |
| Perceived social support from family members—Perceived stress (b2) | −0.176 | −0.203 | −0.150 | 0.014 | <0.01 |
| Neuroticism—Perceived social support from family members | −0.317 | −0.350 | −0.284 | 0.017 | <0.01 |
| Total indirect effect | 0.019 | 0.01 | 0.038 | 0.09 | 0.043 |
| Fear of COVID—Neuroticism—Perceived stress | 0.018 | 0.00 | 0.036 | 0.09 | 0.047 |
| Fear of COVID—Perceived social support from family members—Perceived stress | 0.05 | −0.05 | 0.015 | 0.05 | 0.348 |
| Model 4 * | |||||
| Total effect (c) | 0.123 | 0.095 | 0.152 | 0.014 | <0.01 |
| Direct effect (c’) | 0.10 | 0.080 | 0.121 | 0.010 | <0.01 |
| Fear of COVID—Neuroticism (a1) | 0.048 | 0.01 | 0.095 | 0.024 | 0.047 |
| Fear of COVID—Perceived social support from friends (a2) | −0.047 | −0.074 | −0.019 | 0.014 | 0.01 |
| Neuroticism—Perceived stress (b1) | 0.361 | 0.344 | 0.378 | 0.08 | <0.01 |
| Perceived social support from friends—Perceived stress (b2) | −0.131 | −0.160 | −0.102 | 0.015 | <0.01 |
| Neuroticism—Perceived social support from friends | −0.326 | −0.358 | −0.294 | 0.016 | <0.01 |
| Total indirect effect | 0.023 | 0.05 | 0.042 | 0.09 | 0.013 |
| Fear of COVID—Neuroticism—Perceived stress | 0.018 | 0.00 | 0.036 | 0.09 | 0.047 |
| Fear of COVID—Perceived social support from friends—Perceived stress | 0.016 | 0.06 | 0.025 | 0.05 | 0.01 |
Controlling covariates: age, sex, education level, religion, occupation status, history of chronic non-communicable disease and quarantine status. Note: * the parallel mediation model was significant (p < 0.05). Coeff. = unstandardized coefficients, LL-CI = lower limit confidence interval, UL-CI = upper limit confidence interval, SE = standard error.