Living in fear: The relationship between fear of COVID-19, distress, health, and marital satisfaction among Israeli women

After the COVID-19 virus was officially declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, the Israeli government adopted lockdown restrictions to limit its spread. The purpose of the present article is to examine the impact of this disturbing environment on Israeli women. Specifically, we examined whether fear of the virus would impact the women’s distress symptoms, self-rated health (SRH), and marital satisfaction. A total of 130 Israeli married women with children completed the survey during the lockdown restrictions period. All participants reported that their children were living with them during the lockdown, and that no one had been infected by the virus. The results indicated that fear of COVID-19 was negatively associated with SRH as well as marital satisfaction, and positively associated with psychological distress. In addition, psychological distress mediated the link between fear of COVID-19 and both SRH and marital satisfaction. To mitigate similar negative consequences in the future, it is suggested that interventions should focus on the way the crisis is presented in the public domain. In addition, further research is recommended to identify the various indirect consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological, physical, and relational aspects among women.