en Psychology Psychology Original Research Original Research <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-style:italic"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">Background: </span></span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">Believability and thoughts are considered as the pillars of behaviors over time, and anxious feelings are a risk factor for mental disorders, especially during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to explore the thought believability and anxious feelings of COVID-19 among infected and healthy families. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Methods:</b> In this hospital-based matched case-control study, health surveillance files of COVID-19 patients were collected from January to June 2021 and were analyzed statistically. In this study, two questionnaires of demographic characteristics and the Believability of Anxious Feelings and Thoughts (BAFT) were used. Data were analyzed using the One-way ANOVA. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Results:</b> Of 600 participants, 300 (50%) were PCR-confirmed and 300 (50%) were non-infected. Overall, 163 (54.33%) of infected people were male, 146 (48.67%) single, and 156 (52.00%) government employees. The results showed that the mean scores of physical anxiety (PA) and negative evaluation (NE) in the case group is significantly higher than the control group (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.001); while emotional regulation (ER) in the control group was significantly higher than the case group (</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt">P</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal"> = 0.001).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:13pt"><span style="text-justify:kashida"><span style="text-kashida:0%"><span style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif"><span style="font-style:italic"><span style="font-size:9.0pt"><span style="font-style:normal">&nbsp;&nbsp; <b>Conclusion:</b> Having high believability to the risks of COVID-19 may be a predictor of preventive behaviors in individuals. Worrying about COVID-19 can increase the perceived risk of a pandemic in societies and consequence, increase the general public health.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> &nbsp; COVID-19, Believability, Anxiety 729 736 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-7642-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Abbas Ghodrati Torbati ghodratita171@yahoo.com 200319475328460079197 200319475328460079197 No Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Atefeh Shirinzadeh Feizabadi at_shirinzadeh@yahoo.com 200319475328460079198 200319475328460079198 No Department of Anesthesiology, School of Paramedical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Mohamad Reza Askari shakilaghaznavi@yahoo.com 200319475328460079199 200319475328460079199 No Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Anahita Zandi zandia1@thums.ac.ir 200319475328460079200 200319475328460079200 No Department of Anesthesiology, School of Paramedical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Mohammad Sarmadi sarmadim1@thums.ac.ir 200319475328460079201 200319475328460079201 Yes Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran