On 31 December 2019, China starts reporting about a new coronavirus that first appeared there. COVID-19 represents a threat to many countries, which have been forced to take various measures to contain the virus. During the epidemic, resistance and violation of measures took place. The WHO attributed the indifference to measures to a new phenomenon, the so-called pandemic fatigue. Pandemic fatigue is the result of excessive stress, feelings of anxiety and a generalised physical inactivity deficit, which leads to reduced adherence to recommendations and actions. The aim of our study was to determine the level of pandemic fatigue in a Slovenian sample and to discover how the level of stress, narcissism and satisfaction of relational needs are associated with the level of pandemic fatigue. At the same time, we were also interested in the relationship between pandemic fatigue and adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines. 434 participants aged between 18 and 72 years participated in the study. They completed an online survey that included some demographic questions, as well as questions on pandemic fatigue, adherence and agreement to interventions, narcissism, satisfaction of relational needs, and their perceptions of stress. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the level of pandemic fatigue and adherence to individual measures, while correlation and regression analyses were performed to test the hypotheses. We were able to confirm that pandemic fatigue negatively predicts the level of adherence to the measures to combat COVID-19. Similarly, the level of perceived stress was demonstrated to positively predict pandemic fatigue, while relational need satisfaction negatively predicted the level of pandemic fatigue. There was no association between pandemic fatigue and narcissism in the sample. All these findings may be useful to further explore how to reduce the impact of pandemic fatigue in the current crisis.
|