Moral Obligation to Follow Anti-COVID-19 Measures Strengthens the Mental Health Cost of Pandemic Fatigue (preprint)

Background: It has been observed that people became gradually exhausted about the COVID-19-related information and preventive measures as the pandemic unfolds. This phenomenon is known as pandemic fatigue. Not only is pandemic fatigue averse to the prevention of COVID-19, a small but increasing number of studies have also found that it is related to poor mental health. This study extended this line of research by examining a novel yet understudied idea that moral obligation, a crucial motivation that drives people to follow the preventive measures, would amplify the association between pandemic fatigue and mental health problems. Methods: Participants were 937 Hong Kong parents (88% mothers, 62.4% aged 31–40 years). They participated in an online survey reporting on pandemic fatigue, moral obligation, and mental health problems (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress). Results: Findings of moderation model analyses showed that higher levels of pandemic fatigues and moral obligation were related to more mental health problems. Importantly, these links were moderated by moral obligation, with those who felt more morally obliged to follow the preventive measures reporting poorer mental health than those who felt less morally obliged to do so.Limitations: The study was cross-sectional, which constrains the deduction of causality. Participants were only recruited from Hong Kong and females were over representative, thus limiting the generalizability of the findings. Conclusions: People who experience pandemic fatigue while feeling more morally obliged to follow the anti-COVID-19 measures are at greater risk of mental health problems. These populations need more support from practitioners.

What Makes Hong Kong Parents Hesitant to Vaccinate Their Children against COVID-19? Testing Health Belief Model and Theory of Planned Behavior in a Large-Scale Survey (preprint)

COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized for use in children in many nations. Parents’ intention to vaccinate their children is context-specific. Drawing upon health belief model (HBM) and theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study contributed to a timely topic by examining the extent to which parents intended to vaccinate their children and its associated factors in Hong Kong, where the government announced children as young as five could take COVID-19 vaccines on 21-January-2022. A large-scale, online survey was conducted among 11,141 Hong Kong parents (86% mothers) of children aged 5-12 (N=14,468, 49.5% girls). They reported on measures that assessed HBM constructs (i.e., perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action), TPB constructs (i.e., attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control), and their intention to vaccinate each of their children. Multilevel regression showed that after controlling for parents’ and children’s demographic variables (e.g., sex and age), parents’ willingness to vaccinate their children was higher for parents with higher levels of perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, positive attitudes, and subjective norms, but it was lower for parents with higher levels of perceived barriers. These findings identify health belief factors that explain Hong Kong parents’ hesitancy to vaccinate their children.

Positive Changes in Life Outcomes over the Pandemic in Chinese Adolescents: The Role of Resilience and Relation to Mental Health (preprint)

Background: Although the existing literature has well documented the negative effects of COVID-19 on multiple life outcomes in adolescents, some research has also revealed that some life outcomes have become better during COVID-19. Scant research has specifically examined to what extent and in what aspects COVID-19 is beneficial to adolescent development so far. With person-centered approach, this research addressed this gap by: (1) exploring different profiles of positive changes in life outcomes in Chinese adolescents since the outbreak of COVID-19; (2) examining the role of resilience in relation to different profiles; (3) comparing mental health across adolescents categorized into different profiles. Method Participants were 2,567 Chinese adolescents aged 12 to 24. They rated how much their lives of different domains had experienced positive changes since the outbreak of the pandemic. They also answered the questionnaires that measured their resilience and mental health. Results Results of latent profile analysis revealed three different profiles: limited positive changes (33.3%), partial positive changes (49.5%), and overall strong positive changes (17.2%). Moreover, adolescents with a higher level of resilience were more likely to be categorized into the partial positive changes profile compared to the limited positive changes profile and into the overall strong positive changes profile compared to the other two profiles, after controlling for the covariates. Finally, adolescents in the overall strong positive changes profile had better mental health than their counterparts in the other two profiles. Conclusion COVID-19 might be helpful to adolescent development to some extent, especially for those with higher resilience.

Chinese Public’s Knowledge, Perceived Severity, and Perceived Controllability of COVID-19 and Their Associations with Emotional and Behavioural Reactions, Social Participation, and Precautionary Behaviour: A National Survey (preprint)

Background: The outbreak of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has caused enormous stress among the public in China. Intellectual input from various aspects is needed to fight against COVID-19, including understanding of the public’s emotion and behaviour and their antecedents from the psychological perspectives. Drawing upon the cognitive appraisal theory, this study examined three cognitive appraisals (i.e., perceived severity, perceived controllability, and knowledge of COVID-19) and their associations with a wide range of emotional and behavioural outcomes among the Chinese public. Methods: : Participants were 4607 citizens (age range: 17–90 years, Mage=23.71 years) from 31 provinces in China and they took part in a cross-sectional survey online. Results: : The results showed that the public’s emotional and behavioural reactions were slightly affected by the outbreak of COVID-19. Moreover, the public had limited participation in the events regarding COVID-19 but actively engaged in precautionary behaviour. In addition, results of structural equation model with latent variables revealed that the three appraisals were differentially related to the outcome variables (i.e., negative emotion, positive emotion, sleep problems, aggression, substance use, mobile phone use, social participation, and precautionary behaviour). Conclusions: : The findings highlight the utility of cognitive appraisal, as a core process of coping stress, in explaining the public’s emotion and behaviour in the encounter of public health concern. Practically, the findings facilitate the government and practitioners to design and deliver targeted intervention programs to the public.

Self-control moderates the association between perceived severity of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and mental health problems among the Chinese public (preprint)

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused thousands of death in China. Prior research suggests that individuals’ perceived severity of the COVID-19 is related to a range of negative emotional and behavioural reactions among the Chinese public. However, scant research has examined the underlying mechanisms. Drawing upon the risk-resilience model, this study proposes that self-control, as a resilient factor, would potentially moderate the association between perceived severity of the COVID-19 and mental health problems. Data from a national survey was used to examine this possibility. Participants were 4,607 citizens from 31 regions in China (Mage=23.71 years, 72.5% female) who completed a national survey at the beginning of February 2020. Results of hierarchical regression showed that after controlling for demographic variables, perceived severity of the COVID-19 and self-control were positively and negatively related to mental health problems, respectively. More importantly, self-control moderated the “perceived severity of the COVID-19 – mental health problems” association, with the said link attenuating as the levels of self-control increased. These findings suggest that compared to those with high self-control, individuals with low self-control are more vulnerable and are more in need of psychological aids to maintain mental health in the encounter of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Chinese public’s knowledge, perceived severity, and perceived controllability of the COVID-19 and their associations with emotional and behavioural reactions, social participation, and precautionary behaviour: A national survey (preprint)

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has caused enormous stress among the public in China. Intellectual input from various aspects is needed to control the COVID-19, including the understanding of the public’s emotion and behaviour and their antecedents from the psychological perspectives. Drawing upon the cognitive appraisal theory, this study examined three cognitive appraisals (i.e., knowledge, perceived severity and perceived controllability of the COVID-19) and their associations with a wide range of emotional and behavioural outcomes among the Chinese public. Participants were 4607 citizens (age range: 17–90 years, Mage=23.71 years) from 31 provinces in China and they took part in an online survey. The results showed that the public’s emotional and behavioural reactions were slightly affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19. Moreover, the public had limited participation in the events regarding the COVID-19 but actively engaged in precautionary behaviour. In addition, results of hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the three appraisals were differentially related to the outcome variables. Theoretically, the findings highlight the utility of cognitive appraisal, as a core process of coping stress, in explaining the public’s emotion and behaviour in the encounter of public health concern. Practically, the findings facilitate the government and practitioners to design and deliver targeted intervention programs to the public affected by the COVID-19.