Institutional trust as a determinant of anxiety during the SARS crisis in Hong Kong.

Cheung, Chau-Kiu; Tse, John Wing-Ling

The SARS crisis of 2003 in Hong Kong generated widespread public fear and escalated the efforts of government and medical institutions for infection control. As such, the role of the government and medical institution in preventing public fear and anxiety became prominent. As hypothesized, trust in the institutions is especially relevant to public fear and anxiety during the epidemic crisis. For testing hypotheses involving the role of institutional trust, a telephone survey during the crisis in April 2003 and another telephone survey after the crisis in June 2003 drew data from 9,402 Hong Kong adults for analysis. Results indicate the significant negative effects of trust in the government and trust in the medical institution on anxiety. Supporting the aforementioned hypothesis the effect of institutional trust in the government was significantly more negative on anxiety during the crisis than its aftermath. Hence, the government and medical institution are particularly responsible for anxiety reduction during the crisis.