Public anxiety through various stages of COVID-19 coping: Evidence from China

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Yangyang Wu, Nanjing University; Ting Zhang, Nanjing University; Ziwen Ye, Nanjing University; Kai Chen, Yale Sch Publ Hlth; J van der Kuijp, Harvard University; Xue Sun, Nanjing University; Guoyi Han, Stockholm Environment Institute; Yi Zhao, Nanjing University; Yang Liu, Emory University; Lei Huang, Nanjing University
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-01-01
• Publisher: PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2022 Wu et al
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270229
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: PLOS ONE
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 6
• Start Page: e0270229
• End Page: e0270229
• Grant/Funding Information: Our study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Project (2019YFC1804001 received by L.H., and 2020YFC1807502 received by L.H.), and the Basic Research Program of Jiangsu Province (BK20201186 received by L.H.). We received no funding from any commercial companies. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Science & Technology - Other Topics; Multidisciplinary Sciences; MENTAL-HEALTH
• Research Categories: Environmental Sciences

Abstract

As countries underwent the initiation, peak, post-peak, and early vaccination stages of COVID-19, the changing risk perception, coping behaviors and corresponding psychological stress experienced by the public over time was rarely reported. We conducted a national scale panel study using social-psychological data collected from 5,983 questionnaires to investigate the interactions between anxiety level, risk perception and coping behavior during different stages of COVID-19 in China. We found that sustained perceiving worries of being infected, first due to domestic and then global pandemic, contributed to the persistent high proportion of respondents with anxiety disorders which even gradually increased over time (56.1% during initiation to 60.4% during early vaccination). Gender was the strongest predictor of anxiety at all stages, with females having less confidence in COVID-19 control and always suffering from much higher anxiety levels than males even during the post peak stage. Excessive protective behavior and frequency of access to COVID-related news also contributed to public anxiety. Additionally, public risk perception was significantly associated with their willingness to vaccinate. The findings verify the feasibility of taking stage-specific and gender-based risk communication strategies to alleviate the pandemic-related public anxiety and promote vaccination by influencing public risk perception and guiding coping behaviors.