Anxiety level in context of chosen pro-health attitudes of male students during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background and objective: Assessing the impact of different factors on anxiety level is a complex and challenging problem, especially during pandemic or similar life threatening situations. Stress can affect dietary and eating behaviors. The aim of this study is to extend knowledge concerning the relation between increased anxiety level during pandemic and attitude towards dietary and eating behaviors in the context of social situation and support of relatives and friends. This study was conducted in 2020 during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory alongside auxiliary questions about social relations and eating habits were asked to the male students from different universities and courses in Eastern Europe. To assess differences and dynamics of anxiety level, multiple regression models were used. Results: Multiple regression models between state anxiety level with context to the following factors: paying particular attention to one’s diet, namely, the way of nutrition during severe anxiety felt during the pandemic and factors such as strong social support and type of university course was R = 0.41 (p= 0.00). For trait-anxiety the same model returned R = 0.39 (p= 0.00). Analysis of variance revealed that support of relatives is significant factor for state anxiety level, whereas this factor is insignificant for trait anxiety level. Conclusions: Models obtained from this study indicated that there are significant relations between anxiety level of male students and social support, which is expressed in the form of proper eating, therefore pro-health habits are revealed during elevated prolonged stress state such as COVID-19 pandemic.