Coping with COVID-19 Stressors: Adverse and Protective Factors Responding to Emotions in a Chinese Sample

  1. Rui Xu
  2. Xinfeng Zhang
  3. Danni Liu
  4. Qiang Li
  5. Yanping Wang
  6. Rong Jiao
  7. Ximei Gong
  8. Xueyan Hou
  9. Tao Xu
  10. Xuemei Qing
  11. Kangxing Song
  12. Voyko Kavcic
  13. Shiyan Yan
  14. Ruolei Gu
  15. Terry Stratton
  16. Yang Jiang

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Abstract

Background

The potential roles of affective responses to environmental stressors in individuals’ physical and mental health are complex and multi-faceted. This study, then, explores Chinese citizens’ emotional responses to COVID-19-related stressors and influence factors which may boost or buffer such effects.

Methods

From late March to early June (2020), a cross-sectional study was conducted using an anonymous online questionnaire included demographic characteristics, COVID-19-related stressors related to individuals’ daily functioning, and the self-assessed impact of protective and adverse internal factors on emotions.

Results

1,662 questionnaires were received from residents in 32 Chinese provinces classified by prevalence level according to COVID-19 infections. Among the 17 positive and negative emotional responses, agglomerative hierarchical clustering revealed four subclassifications: (1) stress relations; (2) missing someone relations; (3) individual relations; and (4) social relations. Additionally, heightened regional prevalence levels positively corresponded to intensity of stress relations. Lowest intensity of social relations was found in the areas surrounding Wuhan and coastal areas. Specially, economic- and work-related stressors as well as negative self-perceptions (e.g., suppression, emotionally unstable, self-denial) implicated in negative emotions. While positive emotions were tied to demographic characteristics (e.g., high education, young age and male) and protective traits (e.g., creativity, sympathy, social responsibility), and inversely linked to relationships- and pandemic-related stressors, etc.

Conclusion

Associations were clearly noted among Chinese residents’ emotions to specific stressors during pandemic. Providing appropriate psychological resources/supports during future or extended public health crises may help offset the cognitive burden of individuals striving to regain an adequate level of normalcy and emotional well-being.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.11.30.21250895: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    NIH rigor criteria are not applicable to paper type.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    05 was set for all inferential tests, and analyses were conducted using Python (https://www.python.org/) and R software platforms (https://www.python.org/).
    Python
    suggested: (IPython, RRID:SCR_001658)
    https://www.python.org/
    suggested: (CVXOPT - Python Software for Convex Optimization, RRID:SCR_002918)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    The limitation of the study is that most responders in our sample haven’t experience traumatic events, such as confirmed COVID-19 infection. Thus, they reported lots of maladjustment for changes of routine life. Those who and whose family members have fallen illness due to virus infections, may show more intensity of negative emotions and different stressors and influence factors. In addition, we did not ask participants to report their quality of life, thus the potential influence of emotion on subjective well-being has not been fully understood.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.11.30.21250895v1 on medRxiv