The link between religiousness and COVID-19 anxiety among a Turkish sample: the mediating role of generalised anxiety

The current study tested the associations between three indices of religiousness (i.e., religious practices, religious identity, and religious struggles) and COVID-19 anxiety, and whether these links are mediated by generalised anxiety. Participants of this cross-sectional study were 1089 Turkish individuals who completed an online survey. They provided demographic information, and completed measures of religious practices, religious identity, religious struggles, generalised anxiety, and COVID-19 anxiety. The findings indicated that both religious practices and religious identity correlated negatively with both COVID-19 anxiety and generalised anxiety. Religious struggles correlated positively with generalised anxiety but were uncorrelated to COVID-19 anxiety. Regression analyses revealed that none of the religious variables remained predictive of COVID-19 anxiety after adding generalised anxiety to the regression equation, and that generalised anxiety fully mediated the links between all religious variables and COVID-19 anxiety. The findings suggest that the link between religiousness and COVID-19 anxiety is indirect and can be explained by generalised anxiety.