Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province in China, has caused severe health problems and imposed a tremendous psychological impact on the public. This study investigated the risk and protective factors associated with psychological distress among Hubei residents during the peak of the outbreak. Data were obtained from a combined online and telephone survey of 1,682 respondents. Various COVID-19-related stressors, including risk exposure, limited medical treatment access, inadequate basic supplies, reduced income, excessive exposure to COVID-19-related information, and perceived discrimination, were associated with psychological distress. Neighborhood social support can reduce psychological distress and buffer the effect of COVID-19-related stressors, whereas support from friends/relatives affected stress coping limitedly. Interventions to reduce stressors and promote neighborhood support are vital to reduce psychological distress during infectious disease outbreaks.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 102532 |
| Journal | Health and Place |
| Volume | 69 |
| Early online date | 19 Mar 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
Funding
This work was supported by the Major Program of National Fund of Philosophy and Social Science of China (grant no. 16ZDA079 ). We thank the China Academy of Science and Technology Development Strategy, the Social Policy Research Institute at Renmin University, and the Institute of Sociology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences for conducting the survey. We also thank all the participants in our study.
Keywords
- China
- COVID-19
- Neighborhood social support
- Psychological distress
- Stressors
