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Social Support Impact on Public Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China

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Navigating Complexity: Understanding Human Responses to Multifaceted Disasters
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Abstract

This chapter investigated the psychological anxiety of the Chinese public and its relationship with social support during the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak, thereby providing empirical support for interventions on improving the public’s mental health. On the basis of an online questionnaire survey conducted on February 10th–18th, 2020, this study shows that 19.8% of the respondents suffered mild anxiety, 68.5% suffered moderate anxiety, and 11.1% suffered severe anxiety. Significant differences are reported in state anxiety between people with different household incomes. Social support and trait anxiety were significantly correlated. Social support and state anxiety were negatively correlated. There were significant differences in trait anxiety and state anxiety between different social support groups. Social support affected state anxiety both directly and indirectly (through the mediation of trait anxiety). Therefore, during the COVID-19 outbreak, increasing public support for society can effectively reduce public psychological anxiety.

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Ao, Y., Bahmani, H. (2023). Social Support Impact on Public Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China. In: Navigating Complexity: Understanding Human Responses to Multifaceted Disasters. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8207-3_6

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