Managing urban citizens' panic levels and preventive behaviours during COVID-19 with pandemic information released by social media.

ABSTRACT: Reducing citizens' panic and promoting their preventive behaviours are critical parts of pandemic management for the government. However, the effects of pandemic information types (daily statistical vs. detailed case information) and sources (official vs. unofficial social media accounts) on the psychological states and behaviours of urban citizens need to be explored further. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of these effects for citizens from areas with different epidemic levels also needs further investigation. Therefore, we conducted a survey during the COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China in March 2020, and 1298 urban citizens (592 from Wuhan) offered reliable data. Results of linear regression analysis indicated that non-Wuhan urban citizens who were more concerned about detailed case in

SUBMITTER: Wu G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8498698 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature