2.1 Participants and Study Protocol
This study is a cross-sectional study and has been approved by the
ethics committee. This study was conducted 6 weeks after the first
COVID-19 case was officially announced. The individuals who were planned
to participate in the study were determined by a virtual snowball
sampling method and invited to participate in the web survey online.
Data acquisition was stopped when the targeted sample size was reached
within 5 consecutive days. A questionnaire consisting of 7 sub-units was
sent to the participants. Section 1 of the questionnaire included
sociodemographic features, section 2 included questions on the presence
of symptoms for any infectious disease, contact with COVID-19,
treatment, quarantine history, section 3 included questions on
compliance with the measures taken (these questions were inspired by the
14 rules determined by the official authorities in our country), section
4 included questions on the source from which information about COVID-19
was acquired; level of knowledge, belief in the information received,
health services and measures sufficiency level, level of belief in life
chances. Section 5 included questions on anxiety associated with
possible health and sociological losses of the pandemic. The 6th section
consisted of DASS-21 related questions and section 7 consists of
questions related to IES-R. DASS and IESR were used in previous pandemic
studies.8,9 Data for individuals 18 and older who
agree to participate voluntarily are included. Data of individuals with
a history of bipolar disorder and/or psychotic disorder were not
evaluated during the analysis phase.