The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has broadly increased anxiety and changed individual behavior. However, there is limited research examining predictors of pandemic-related changes, and the majority of existing research is cross-sectional in nature, which limits causal inference. Given functional links with disease avoidance processes, individual differences in contamination fear may be especially relevant in predicting responses to COVID-19. Accordingly, the present study prospectively examines contamination fear and obsessive-compulsive washing symptoms as predictors of anxiety and safety behaviors in response to COVID-19 in a student sample (N = 108). To examine specificity, anxiety and safety behaviors in response to seasonal influenza are also examined. In the early stages of the pandemic (March 2020), coronavirus-related anxiety was higher than flu-related anxiety (d = 1.38). Obsessive-compulsive washing symptoms also increased from before the pandemic (d = 0.4). Although baseline contamination fear and obsessive-compulsive washing symptoms did not significantly predict coronavirus-related anxiety, contamination fear did significantly predict safety behavior usage in response to both COVID-19 and influenza. The specificity of the prospective association between contamination fear and the use of safety behaviors are discussed in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the broader literature on the role of safety behaviors in anxiety.

冠状病毒 (COVID-19) 大流行广泛增加了焦虑并改变了个人行为。然而，关于大流行相关变化的预测因素的研究有限，而且大多数现有研究本质上是横断面的，这限制了因果推断。鉴于与疾病避免过程的功能联系，污染恐惧的个体差异可能与预测对 COVID-19 的反应特别相关。因此，本研究前瞻性地研究了污染恐惧和强迫性洗涤症状作为学生样本中应对 COVID-19 的焦虑和安全行为的预测指标（N = 108）。为了检查特异性，还检查了响应季节性流感的焦虑和安全行为。在大流行的早期阶段（2020 年 3 月），冠状病毒相关的焦虑高于流感相关的焦虑 ( d  = 1.38)。强迫性洗涤症状也比大流行前有所增加（d = 0.4）。尽管基线污染恐惧和强迫性洗涤症状不能显着预测冠状病毒相关的焦虑，但污染恐惧确实显着预测了应对 COVID-19 和流感的安全行为使用。在全球 COVID-19 大流行和关于安全行为在焦虑中的作用的更广泛文献的背景下，讨论了污染恐惧与使用安全行为之间的前瞻性关联的特异性。