| ObjectiveThe study aims to understand the awareness and coping behavior about COVID-19 and mental health status among the Chinese population in the initial stage of the COVID19 outbreak,and to explore the influencing factors for the mental health conditions;to investigate Chinese people’s knowledge of prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and the measures taken in response to the pandemic;to explore the possibility of promoting behaviors to prevent COVID-19 infection based on the Information-MotivationBehavioral skills model(IMB),and to provide a scientific basis for mental health services and the promotion of protective behaviors against COVID-19.MethodsParticipants were recruited using stratified convenience sampling method from February 23,2020 to April 5,2020 from 7 research centers which were universities or hospitals located in the seven geographical regions in China.Seven research centers distributed the electronic questionnaires in universities,hospitals,government functional departments,enterprises,and institutions in their provinces.Based on the research situation,the target population can be divided into university students,healthcare workers and other groups.Healthcare workers refer to those who work in medical and health institutions(including doctors,nurses,and administrative personnel);university students refer to fulltime university students(including bachelor’s degree,master’s degree,and doctor’s degree);and other groups refer to the staff of government functional departments,public institutions and non-public institutions except medical staff and college students.The questionnaire includes General Situation Questionnaire,21-Item Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale(DASS-21),Impact of Event Scale-6(IES-6),Perceived Social Support Scale(PSSS),Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire(SCSQ),and IMB theory related Questionnaires.SPSS 24.0 was used for statistical analysis,and logistic regression was used to analyze the related influencing factors of mental health.Amos software was used to analyze the structural equation model,evaluate the fitting of the model,and analyze the path relationship between the modules.ResultsFinally,6007 individuals were included in statistical analysis.Of the participants,15.4%had depressive symptoms,9.3%had anxiety symptoms,7.8%had stress symptoms,and 37.3%had post-traumatic stress syndrome(PTSD).Further analysis found that lowlevel social support might increase the risk of negative emotions(including depressive symptoms,anxiety symptoms,and stress symptoms)and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.That is,higher level of perceived family support,friend support and other support can reduce the occurrence of negative emotions and PTSD.More positive coping styles and less negative coping styles can reduce the risk of negative emotions and PTSD.Similarly,the quantity and quality of COVID-19 information played an important role in the risk of negative emotions and PTSD.Compared with professional mental health services,participants were more inclined to communicate with family and friends to solve psychological problems,which brings challenges to the solution of psychological problems and the ability of family and friends to solve psychological problems.The results based on IMB model suggest that information can affect preventive behavior through behavioral skills,and information and behavioral skills can directly affect preventive behavior.ConclusionsBased on the findings of this study,(1)the prevalence rate of negative emotions and PTSD among the Chinese populations were high in the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak,and understanding social support and coping style played an important role in mental health;(2)the information about the COVID-19 played an important role in the mental health of the general population;(3)it is preliminarily explored that IMB model is suitable for improving the prevention behavior of the COVID-19 in the general population,and information and behavioral skills played an important role in the prevention behavior. |
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