COVID-19 infection outbreak increases anxiety level of general public in China: involved mechanisms and influencing factors

• Published in: Journal of affective disorders Vol. 276; pp. 446 - 452
• Main Authors: Zhao, Hongyu, He, Xiaoyi, Fan, Guanhua, Li, Liping, Huang, Qingjun, Qiu, Qinming, Kang, Zhewei, Du, Taifeng, Han, Ling, Ding, Lei, Xu, Haiyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.11.2020; Published by Elsevier B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anxiety; Anxiety - epidemiology; Anxiety - psychology; Betacoronavirus; China - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disease Outbreaks; Epidemic; Female; General public; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Middle Aged; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Psychosocial factors; Quarantine; SARS-CoV-2; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult; China; COVID-19; Epidemic; Anxiety; General public; Psychosocial factors
• ISSN: 0165-0327; 1573-2517
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.07.085

•BAI score of respondents here is higher than those in previous studies with Chinese.•Quarantined people presented the highest BAI score and incidence of anxiety.•People in high epidemic area showed higher BAI score and incidence of anxiety.•All factors impacted respondents’ anxiety level significantly, except gender. COVID-19 outbreak happened last December in China and is still continuing. Here, we reported effects of COVID-19 outbreak on the mood of general public and ascertained impacts of psychosocial factors on the plague-related emotional measures. During Feb. 4-6, 2020, a self-reported questionnaire Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was disseminated to general public via Wechat, along with a sociodemographic information sheet. BAI score and incidences of moderate and severe anxiety in subgroups of respondents were compared. Multiple linear and logistic regressions were done for correlation analysis and to identify factors predictive of anxiety. Averaged BAI score of all respondents is higher than those of general public in two previous studies. The people quarantined for probable COVID-19 infection presented higher BAI score and incidences of moderate and severe anxiety relative to non-quarantined respondents. People in high epidemic area showed higher BAI score and incidences of moderate and severe anxiety compared to those in low epidemic area. Significant associations existed between anxiety level of the respondents and each of the investigated factors, except for gender. Quarantine was the predictor with a highest OR, followed by divorced/widow. The other factors showed smaller but significant effects on the anxiety level of respondents. This cross-sectional study was unable to track the emotional changes in the respondents over time. It had a relatively small sample and involved some of emotional measures only. These data are of help in planning psychological interventions for the different subpopulations in general public during and after COVID-19 outbreak.