Social Support and its Relationship to Emotional Reassurance and Pathological Concerns of Covid-19: A Comparative Study of the Arab and Western Environments

Abstract:





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he current research aimed to identify the effect of social support on emotional reassurance and pathological concerns of Covid-19 among both the Arab and western environments. and to study the difference between the two environments on the research variables as well as other secondary variables. The sample comprised (300) participants. of whom (173) were from the Arab countries (Palestine. Saudi Arabia. Egypt). and (127) were from some western countries (Canada. France. Germany). To achieve the research aims. three instruments were utilized. namely a researcher-made scale for psychological support and a researcher-made scale for emotional reassurance. in addition to a questionnaire for pathological concerns of Covid-19. Findings confirmed the existence of a high level of social support and emotional reassurance among the samples of the two environments; however. their levels were higher among the Arab environment more than among the western one. as well as the existence of an average level of pathological concerns among the Arab environment sample; however. their levels were higher among the western one. Furthermore. it was found that there is a positive direct relationship between social support and emotional reassurance among the two environments. which is of high level among the western environment sample than among the Arab environment sample. Likewise. a positive direct relationship between social support and pathological concerns among the western environment sample was found; whereas. there was no such relationship among the Arab environment sample. as well as it was found that social support contributed to the prediction of emotional reassurance among the two environments; however. it was higher among the western environment sample. On the other hand. social support did not contribute to predicting pathological concerns among the Arab environment; while. it contributed to predicting pathological concerns among the western one.