Niño Michael, Harris Casey, Drawve Grant, Fitzpatrick Kevin M
Department of Sociology and Criminology, University of Arkansas 1 University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, AR, USA.
SSM Popul Health. 2021 Mar;13:100717. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2020.100717. Epub 2020 Dec 13.
Previous studies find preventative behaviors designed to reduce the number of infections during emerging disease outbreaks are associated with perceived risk of disease susceptibility. Few studies have attempted to identify underlying factors that explain differences in perceptions of risk during an infectious disease outbreak. Drawing from two early waves of American Trends Panel (7,441), as well as a National Science Foundation funded, Qualtrics national panel survey from the early stages of the pandemic (10,368), we test whether race and ethnicity, gender, and age were associated with six perceived threat and fear outcomes related to COVID-19. Results demonstrate race and ethnicity, gender, and age play a significant role in shaping threat and fear perceptions of COVID-19, but depending on the outcome, relationships vary in direction and magnitude. In some cases, historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups were more likely to report high fear and perceive coronavirus as a major threat to population and individual health, whereas, in others cases, the same marginalized racial and ethnic groups were less likely to perceive coronavirus to be a serious threat to the immune-comprised and the elderly population. We also find women were generally more likely to report high levels of threat and fear of COVID-19. Finally, we observe a clear age difference, whereby adults in older age groups report high-risk perceptions of COVID-19. Findings can inform public health programs designed to educate communities on the benefits of engaging in effective preventative practices during emerging infectious disease outbreaks.
先前的研究发现，旨在减少新发疾病爆发期间感染数量的预防行为与疾病易感性的感知风险相关。很少有研究试图确定解释传染病爆发期间风险认知差异的潜在因素。我们利用美国趋势小组的前两波数据（7441人），以及一项由美国国家科学基金会资助、在疫情早期阶段进行的Qualtrics全国小组调查（10368人），测试种族和族裔、性别以及年龄是否与与新冠病毒相关的六种感知威胁和恐惧结果有关。结果表明，种族和族裔、性别以及年龄在塑造对新冠病毒的威胁和恐惧认知方面发挥着重要作用，但根据结果的不同，关系在方向和程度上有所不同。在某些情况下，历史上被边缘化的种族和族裔群体更有可能报告高度恐惧，并将冠状病毒视为对人口和个人健康的重大威胁，而在其他情况下，同样被边缘化的种族和族裔群体则不太可能认为冠状病毒对免疫功能低下者和老年人群体构成严重威胁。我们还发现，女性通常更有可能报告对新冠病毒的高度威胁和恐惧。最后，我们观察到明显的年龄差异，即年龄较大的成年人报告对新冠病毒的高风险认知。这些发现可为公共卫生项目提供参考，这些项目旨在向社区宣传在新发传染病爆发期间采取有效预防措施的益处。
