Population anxiety and positive behaviour change during the COVID-19 epidemic: Cross-sectional surveys in Singapore, China and Italy

Jane M Lim; Zaw Myo Tun; Vishakha Kumar; Sharon Quaye; Vittoria Offeddu; Alex R Cook; May Oo Lwin; Shaohai Jiang; Clarence C Tam

Positive behavioural response was associated with willingness to adhere to control measures in all three countries (Figure 3) . In Singapore and Italy, greater self-efficacy (confidence in the ability to protect family members if respondents became infected), greater acceptance of restrictive public health measures, and higher anxiety were also associated with more positive behavioural responses. In China, information sufficiency was the factor most strongly associated with positive behaviour. Conversely, superstition and fatalism were negatively associated with behavioural response in China and Italy, while in Singapore respondents displaying greater confidence in authority had less positive behavioural responses. We did not observe strong associations between information sources and positive behavioural response, except in Singapore, where reliance on traditional and social media as trustworthy information sources was associated with more positive behaviour.