Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted people's psychological
functioning, including how they cope with anxiety. This study aimed to assess the role
of coping styles in the relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and Washing Obsessive-
Compulsive Disorder (W-OCD) symptoms.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 420 people living in Kashan city (Iran)
from March to April, 2020. Participants were selected by the convenience sampling method
due to the difficulties brought about by COVID-19 and completed the contamination subscale
of the Padua Inventory, COVID-19 anxiety inventory, and coping strategies scale. Data were
analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS- 22.
Results: The results revealed that emotion-focused, somatization and social support coping
strategies were significantly associated with W-OCD symptoms. Also, there was a significant
correlation between COVID-19 anxiety and the W-OCD symptoms. SEM results revealed that
emotion-focused and somatization coping strategies positively mediated the relationship between
COVID-19 and W-OCD symptoms.
Conclusion: Emotion-focused and somatization coping strategies increase W-OCD symptoms
following COVID-19 anxiety. Psychoeducation interventions addressing COVID-19's physical
and psychological impacts on health, discriminating the rational and adaptive behavior and
obsessive and compulsive behaviors, and restricting the information gathering from numerous
sources, which may lead to increased negative emotions, might be helpful.