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Behavioural responses and anxiety symptoms during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan: A large scale cross-sectional study

Cai G 1 , Lin Y 2 , Lu Y 3 , He F 4 , Morita K 5 , Yamamoto T 6 Show all authors , Aoyagi K 3 , Taguri T 7 , Hu Z 8 , Alias H 9 , Danaee M 9 , Wong LP 10

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of International Health and Medical Anthropology, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan; Department of Public Health, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan; Nagasaki Prefectural Institute of Environment and Public Health, Nagasaki, 856-0026, Japan
  • 2 Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, Fujian Province, China. Electronic address: yulanlin@fjmu.edu.cn
  • 3 Department of Public Health, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan
  • 4 Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, Fujian Province, China
  • 5 Department of Virology, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan
  • 6 Department of International Health and Medical Anthropology, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan
  • 7 Nagasaki Prefectural Institute of Environment and Public Health, Nagasaki, 856-0026, Japan
  • 8 Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, Fujian Province, China. Electronic address: huzhijian@fjmu.edu.cn
  • 9 Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 10 Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, Fujian Province, China; Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: wonglp@ummc.edu.my
J Psychiatr Res, 2021 Apr;136:296-305.
PMID: 33631655 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.02.008

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study explored the behavioural responses and anxiety symptoms of the general adult population in Japan during the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

METHODS: A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted between 12th and May 13, 2020. Quota sampling was used to attain equal gender and age distributions representative of the Japanese population.

RESULTS: A total of 4127 complete responses were analysed. Higher educational level (B = 0.045, p = 0.002) and household income (B = 0.04, p = 0.009) were associated with a higher increase in preventive measures when comparing before and after the state of emergency was declared. The highest reported social anxiety was a feeling of fear (65.6%), followed by embarrassment (43.8%), keeping infection a secret (41.3%), avoidance (41.3%), and stigma (25.5%). A total of 86.1% of the respondents reported moderate to severe anxiety. The partial least square-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) revealed that being female has the greatest effect (B = 0.246, p 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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