Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Sep 18, 2020
Date Accepted: Apr 17, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Apr 20, 2021
Positive Psychological Responses and Information Seeking Behaviors Influence Anxiety among the WeChat Users During the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mainland China: A Cross-sectional Survey Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
The rapid spread of COVID-19 around the world has induced in considerable adverse influence on the mental health of the public. Measurement of anxiety, psychological responses and information seeking behaviors is crucial to protect and improve the mental health of the public.
Objective:
This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety and the associated factors among the public of mainland China during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
From February 10 to April 8, 2020, the cross-sectional survey with convenience sampling was carried out online in mainland China. Anxiety was measure by Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item Scale (GAD-7). Psychological responses and information seeking behaviors were measured by self-developed questionnaire. Questionnaires were distributed to the public via the Wenjuanxing smart phone platform. Chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore the associated factors of anxiety.
Results:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of anxiety (GAD-7 score ≥7) among the public in China was 446/2484 (17.95%). Multivariable logistic regression showed that being fearful, being nervous, spending time consuming on the information about the COVID-19 pandemic increased anxiety. Conversely, being rational was associated less with anxiety.
Conclusions:
High levels of anxiety among the public during the COVID-19 pandemic should be emphasized. Promotion of mental well-being should be provided to decrease the degree of anxiety.Governments and news media should take the responsibilities to control the sources and quality of health information in order to prompt positive psychological responses and healthy behaviors among the public. Future research on health of the public after prolonged anxiety from the COVID-19 pandemic is warranted.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.