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Updated: Sep 29, 2025

Social Isolation Model: A Noninvasive Rodent Model of Stress and Anxiety
Published on: November 11, 2022
Fear of COVID-19, anxiety, and social support among college students
Victoria A Mauer1, Heather Littleton2, Stephanie Lim3
1Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools, University of Nebraska Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Objective:
The present study prospectively examined the association between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety and whether social support moderated this association among college students.
Participants:
1,539 students from 11 universities in the United States completed two online surveys, one prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and one during the pandemic.
Methods:
Hierarchical linear regressions assessed the impact of COVID-19 fears and social support on anxiety, after accounting for pre-pandemic anxiety and demographics.
Results:
Results supported that adding fear of COVID-19 to the regression model resulted in a significant increase in variance explained over demographics and pre-pandemic anxiety. Social support did not moderate the association between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety.
Conclusion:
These data underscore the mental health impact of COVID-19 on students and the urgency with which campus-wide initiatives are needed to support students during this unprecedented time.
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