Panic, Psycho-Behavioral Responses, and Risk Perception in the Earliest Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic in China

Frontiers in Medicine

article

Weiyu Zhang¹  Changqing Zou²  Kristin K. Sznajder³  Can Cui¹  Jiahui Fu¹  Shan He¹  Qinqi Peng¹  Qiongli Chen¹  Xiaoshi Yang¹ 

[1] Department of Social Medicine, College of Health Management, China Medical University;Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, China Medical University;Department of Public Health, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine

关键词: panic;    behavior;    COVID-19;    online survey;    mental health;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmed.2022.766842

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Background Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19), a rising global pandemic, has triggered psychological crises among the public. Panic, a severe symptom of mental disorders, is increasing in the public in China and it is urgent to provide research for intervention development. Objectives This study aimed to assess the prevalence of public panic in China during the earliest stage of the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore the associated psychological behavioral responses and public's risk perception of the pandemic. Methods A cross-sectional study using a web-based survey with convenience sampling was conducted with 2,484 participants nationally from February 11 to February 24, 2020 in China. A self-developed questionnaire was applied to assess the prevalence of public panic and its associated factors. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to assess the risk and protective factors of public panic. Results There were 23.39% (581/2,484) of the participants who reported experiencing panic during the earliest stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking temperature repeatedly, being nervous in a crowd, being suspicious of infection in the family, being worried about the future, and worries about high infectivity of the COVID-19, lack of effective therapies, and wide impact of the COVID-19 pandemic increased the odds of public panic. Whereas, avoiding gatherings during holidays was negatively associated with the odds of public panic. Conclusions Psycho-behavioral responses were closely associated with public panic during the earliest stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Defusing excessive health-related worries, the guidance of appropriate self-protective behaviors, strengthening of health education in communities, and available treatment for mental disorders should be adopted to monitor the psychological responses and to guide the behaviors of the public.

【 授权许可】

CC BY