Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2026-4
The Effect of Fear of Coronavirus on COVID-19 Vaccine Attitude in Pregnant Women in Turkey and Factors Affecting Their Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccine
The aim of this study was to examine the effect of fear of coronavirus during pregnancy on the attitudes of pregnant women towards the COVID-19 vaccine and the factors affecting their attitudes towards it. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted online with 324 pregnant women. It was determined that there was a positive and significant relationship (r = .26, p = .000) between their positive attitude towards the COVID-19 vaccine sub-dimension and the fear of coronavirus; however, the negative attitude sub-dimension did not have a significant relationship with the fear of coronavirus (r = −.09, p = .099). The following were found to affect pregnant women’s positive attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine: socio-economic level and the thought that their baby would be disabled due to COVID-19. They should be informed more by the health professionals in order to develop a positive vaccination attitude regarding COVID-19 vaccines.
AbiçA., AksoyA., & Vefikuluçay YılmazD. (2021). How should COVID-19 management in pregnancy and childbirth be?Journal of Education and Research in Nursing, 18(1), 20–25. https://doi.org/10.5152/jern.2021.01878
2.
AhorsuD. K., LinC. Y., ImaniV., SaffariM., GriffithsM. D., & PakpourA. H. (2022). The fear of COVID-19 scale: Development and initial validation. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20, 1537–1545. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00270-8
3.
Al-ZalfawiS. M., RabbaniS. I., AsdaqS. M. B., AlamriA. S., AlsanieW. F., AlhomraniM., MohzariY., AlrashedA. A., AlRifdahA. H., & AlmagrabeT. (2021). Public knowledge, attitude, and perception towards COVID-19 vaccination in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 10081. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910081
4.
AndersonE., BridgenA., DaviesA., ShepherdE., & IngramJ. (2021). Maternal vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative interview study with UK pregnant women. Midwifery, 100, 103062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2021.103062
5.
BakioğluF., KorkmazO., & ErcanH. (2021). Fear of COVID-19 and positivity: Mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty, depression, anxiety, and stress. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 19(6), 2369–2382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00331-y
6.
BattarbeeA. N., StockwellM. S., VarnerM., Newes-AdeyiG., DaughertyM., Gyamfi-BannermanC., TitaA. T., VorwallerK., VargasC., SubramaniamA., ReichleL., GalangR. R., PowersE., Lucca-SusanaM., ParksM., ChenT. J., RazzaghiH., & DawoodF. S. (2022). Attitudes toward COVID-19 illness and COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant women: A cross-sectional multicenter study during August-December 2020. American Journal of Perinatology, 39(1), 75–83. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0041-1735878
7.
EllingtonS., StridP., TongV. T., WoodworthK., GalangR. R., ZambranoL. D., NahabedianJ., AndersonK., & GilboaS. M. (2020). Characteristics of women of reproductive age with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection by pregnancy status, United States, January 22–June 7, 2020. MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69, 769–775. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6925a1
8.
ElmaoğluE., SungurM., Yavaş ÇelikM., & ve Öztürk-ÇopurE. (2021). Bireylerde covid-19 kontrolü algısı ile covid-19 aşısına karşı tutum arasındaki ilişki. Toplum ve Sosyal Hizmet, COVID-19 Özel Sayı Cilt, 1, 337–353. https://doi.org/10.33417/tsh.978616
9.
ErkekoğluP., KöseS. B. E., BalcIA., & YirünA. (2020). Aşı Kararsızlığı ve COVID-19’un Etkileri (Vaccine hesitancy and effects of COVID-19). Literatür Eczacılık Bilimleri Dergisi, 9(2), 208–220. https://doi.org/10.5336/pharmsci.2020-76102
10.
EroğluM., Çıtak-TunçG., & KılınçF. E. (2021). Gebelik Stresi İle Covıd-19 Korkusu Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi (Investigation of the relationship between the pregnancy stress and fear of COVID-19). Toplum ve Sosyal Hizmet, 125–139. https://doi.org/10.33417/tsh.996747
11.
GanL., ChenY., HuP., WuD., ZhuY., TanJ., LiY., & ZhangD. (2021). Willingness to receive SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and associated factors among Chinese adults: A cross-sectional survey. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1993. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041993
12.
GencerH., ÖzkanS., VardarO., & SerçekusP. (2021). The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on vaccine decisions in pregnant women. Women Birth, 35(3), 317–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2021.05.003
13.
GenişB., GürhanN., KoçM., GenişÇ., ŞirinB., ÇırakoğluO. C., & CoşarB. (2020). Development of perception and attitude scales related with COVID-19 Pandemia. Pearson Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 5(7), 306–328. https://doi.org/10.46872/pj.127
14.
GuidryJ., LaestadiusL. I., VragaE. K., MillerC. A., PerrinP. B., BurtonC. W., RyanM., FuemmelerB. F., & CarlyleK. E. (2021). Willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine with and without emergency use authorization. American Journal of Infection Control, 49(2), 137–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2020.11.018
15.
JanuszekS. M., Farniyak ZuzakA., BarnàsE., ŁozińskiT., GóraT., SiwiecN., SzczerbaP., JanuszekR., & KluzT. (2021). The approach of pregnant women to vaccination based on a COVID-19 systematic review. Medicina, 57(9), 977. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina57090977
16.
KarkınP. Ö., SezerG., ŞenS., & DuranM. (2021). Gebe Olan ve Olmayan Kadınlarda Koronavirüs-19 Fobisinin Karşılaştırılması (The comparison of coronavirus-19 phobia between pregnant and non-pregnant women). Kocaeli Medical Journal, 10(2), 176–180. https://doi.org/10.5505/ktd.2021.81084
17.
KüçükE., Yeşilçiçek ÇalıkK., ErkayaR., & KanbayY. (2021). Oxford COVID-19 aşisi güven ve uyum ölçeği’nin Türk kültürüne uyarlanmasi ve psikometrik özelliklerinin incelenmesi. Kadın Sağlığı Hemşireliği Dergisi KASHED, 7(3), 197–214.
18.
KugelmanN., NahshonC., Shaked-MishanP., KleifeldS., CohenN., Lahav SherM., ZahranH., BarshaH., AssafW., ShalabnaE., SteinN., LavieO., KedarR., & Riskin-MashiahS. (2022). Maternal and neonatal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) immunoglobulin G levels after the Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination during the second trimester of pregnancy. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 140(2), 187–193. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000004867
Mizrak ŞahinB., & KabakciE. N. (2021). The experiences of pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey: A qualitative study. Women and Birth, 34(2), 162–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2020.09.022
21.
NguyenH. L., HoangT. M., NguyenL. D., NinhL. Y., NguyenH. T. T., NguyenA. D., VuL. G., VuG. T., DoanL. P., LatkinC. A., TranB. X., CyrusS. H., & RogerC. M. (2021). Acceptance and willingness to pay for COVID-19 vaccines among pregnant women in Vietnam. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 26(10), 1303–1313. https://doi.org/10.1111/tmi.13666
22.
SkjefteM., NgirbabulM., AkejuO., EscuderoD., Hernandez-DiazS., WyszynskiD. F., & WuJ. W. (2021). COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among pregnant women and mothers of young children: Results of a survey in 16 countries. European Journal of Epidemiology, 36, 197–211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-021-00728-6
23.
SuttonD., D’AltonM., ZhangY., KaheK., CepinA., GoffmanD., StaniczenkoA., YatesH., BurganskyA., ColettaJ., WilliamsZ., & Gyamfi-BannermanC. (2021). COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among pregnant, breastfeeding, and nonpregnant reproductive-aged women. American Journal of Obstetrics Gynecology MFM, 3(5), 100403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajogmf.2021.100403
24.
TaoL., WangR., HanN., LiuJ., YuanC., DengL., HanC., SunF., LiuM., & LiuJ. (2021). Acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine and associated factors among pregnant women in China: A multi-center cross-sectional study based on health belief model. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 17(8), 2378–2388. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2021.1892432
25.
TMFTP. (2022). Gebelerde Covid-19 Aşilari ve Hatirlatma Dozu Hakkinda Bilgilendirme, Türkiye Maternal-Fetal Tıp ve Perinatoloji Derneği, 2022. https://www.tmftp.org/files/covidbilgilendirme/Covid19-23temmuz2022/gebelerde-covid-hatirlatma-asilari-23temmuz.pdf
26.
UludagE., SerçekusP., YıldırımD. F., & ÖzkanS. (2022). A qualitative study of pregnant women’s opinions on COVID-19 vaccines in Turkey. Midwifery, 114, 103459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2022.103459
World Health Organization. (2013). What influences vaccine acceptance: A model of determinants of vaccine hesitancy. https://terrance.who.int/mediacentre/data/sage/SAGE_Docs_Ppt_Apr2013/7_session_vaccine_hesitancy/Apr2013_session7_vaccine_acceptance.pdf
29.
WHO. (2022). Update on COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant and lactating women & children. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/2021-dha-docs/update-on-who-interim-recommendations-on-c-19-vaccination-for-pregnant-and-lactating-women-70-.pdf
