Wang Xiao
Rochester Institute of Technology, 92 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY, USA.
SSM Popul Health. 2023 Jul 11;23:101467. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101467. eCollection 2023 Sep.
Debates about China's zero-COVID policy should consider Chinese public attitudes toward COVID-19 and China's COVID-19 policies. Such attitudes can provide a theoretical account for public health crisis management and have implications for China to manage future public health crises. The present research reports on two surveys conducted in mainland China in June ( = 460) and early December 2022 ( = 450) to examine the changing COVID-19 risk perceptions and policy attitudes. Results showed that the participants' perception of the severity of COVID-19, perceived health consequences of a COVID-19 policy, and fear predicted their policy attitudes. In contrast, perceived disruption to the economy and daily lives was a weak predictor of Chinese attitudes toward a COVID policy. Furthermore, mainstream media use was positively associated with favorable attitudes toward the COVID-19 policy backed by the government (i.e., zero-COVID in June and relaxing restrictions in December). On the other hand, the uses of WeChat positively predicted favorable attitudes toward the alternatives to the government's approach. The results indicate the need to address public health concerns and employ the mainstream media in China for public health communication.
关于中国“动态清零”政策的辩论应考虑中国公众对新冠疫情的态度以及中国的新冠疫情政策。这些态度可为公共卫生危机管理提供理论依据，并对中国应对未来公共卫生危机具有启示意义。本研究报告了2022年6月（n = 460）和12月初（n = 450）在中国大陆进行的两项调查，以考察不断变化的新冠疫情风险认知和政策态度。结果显示，参与者对新冠疫情严重程度的认知、对新冠疫情政策的感知健康后果以及恐惧情绪预测了他们的政策态度。相比之下，对经济和日常生活的感知干扰对中国人对新冠政策的态度预测作用较弱。此外，主流媒体的使用与对政府支持的新冠疫情政策（即6月的“动态清零”和12月的放宽限制）的积极态度呈正相关。另一方面，微信的使用正向预测了对政府政策替代方案的积极态度。结果表明，有必要解决公众对公共卫生的担忧，并在中国利用主流媒体进行公共卫生宣传。
