Fear of COVID-19 and general self-efficacy among Turkish teachers: Mediating role of perceived social support

Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19), which has influenced the world since the last months of 2019, has not only affected people physiologically, but also had serious adverse effects on mental health. Unavoidable increases in positive case numbers and loss of life have caused fear and anxiety, which is a psychological aspect of the COVID-19 outbreak. In this study, it was aimed to examine the mediating role of perceived social support in the relationship between teachers' general self-efficacy perceptions and their fear of COVID-19. The sample of the study consists of 322 Turkish teachers (198 women and 124 men; aged between 23 and 66 years). Data collection tools are the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Perceived Multidimensional Social Support Scale. To test the model structural equation modeling and bootstrapping were used. In the study it was found that fear of COVID-19 has a negative impact on general self-efficacy and the perceived social support. Besides, it was found that perceived social support partially mediates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and general self-efficacy. Thus, higher fear of COVID-19 was related to lower self-efficacy and perceived social support. In turn, higher perceived social support was associated with higher self-efficacy. The results were discussed within the framework of the literature, and implications presented.