The relationship between COVID-19 fear and hygiene behaviors of secondary school students in İstanbul

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and hygiene behaviors of middle school students in Istanbul. The purposive sample of the cross-sectional descriptive and correlational design study consisted of 206 middle school students. Data were analyzed by multivariate linear regression. It was determined that fear of COVID-19 was not effective on the total score and sub-dimension mean scores of hygiene behaviors in secondary school students (p> .05). Positive hygiene behavior decreases with increasing scores on the scale . The personal hygiene sub-dimension score of those whose mothers were retired was 4.463 units higher than those whose mothers were housewives, and the personal hygiene sub-dimension score of those whose mothers were workers was 4.868 units higher than those whose mothers were housewives (p < .05). The hand washing subscale score of retired mothers was 3.845 units higher than that of housewives (p < .05). The food hygiene sub-dimension score of retired mothers was 4.052 units higher than that of housewives (p < .05). The hygiene behaviors scale score of those whose mothers are retired is 12.361 units higher than those whose mothers are housewives, and the hygiene behaviors scale score of those whose mothers are workers is 7.884 units higher than those whose mothers are housewives (p < .05). The mean total score of the hygiene behaviors scale was 48.25±14.41 and the mean score of the fear of COVID-19 scale was 15.18±7.69. It is recommended to implement psychosocial support programs in schools to reduce the fear of COVID-19. It is recommended to implement programs to teach correct hygiene practices in schools.