Uncertainty stress, and its impact on disease fear and prevention behaviors during the COVID-19 epidemic in China: A panel study

Yousef Yang, X.; Peng, S.; Yang, T.; Zhang, W.; Wang, H.; Randall R, C.

Objective To examine changing trends of uncertainty stress, and its impact on disease fear and prevention behaviors during the Chinese COVID-19 epidemic using a prospective observational study. Methods The study employed a longitudinal design. Participants were recruited for an online panel survey from chat groups on social media platforms. There were 5 waves of interviews. Information on uncertainty stress and related variables were collected via the online survey. Descriptive statistics and the GIM program were used for data analysis. Results Participants numbered 150 for the linkable baseline survey and 102 (68%) for the final survey. Uncertainty stress({beta}: -0.047, S.E: 0.118, p>0.05) did not show a statistically significant temporal change trend over the observation period. Disease fear manifested a statistically significant downwards trend ({beta}: -0.342, S.E: 0.157, p<0.05), and prevention behaviors indicated an upwards trend ({beta}: 0.048, S.E: 0.021, p<0.05) during the observation period. Uncertainty stress was positively associated with disease fear ({beta}: 0.45046, S.E: 0.05964, p<0.0001), and negatively associated with self-efficacy ({beta}: -0.6698, S.E: 0.01035, p<0.0001), and prevention behaviors ({beta}: -0.02029, S.E: 0.00876, p: 0.0209). Conclusion This study yielded new information about uncertainty stress among Chinese people during the COVID-19 epidemic. Policy changes and public education are essential for minimizing the negative effects of uncertainty stress in disease prevention.