Development and psychometric assessment of the public health emergency risk perception scale: Under the outbreak of COVID-19

Exploring the measurement of psychological resilience in Chinese civil aviation pilots based on generalizability theory and item response theory

Understanding and accurately measuring resilience among Chinese civil aviation pilots is imperative, especially concerning the psychological impact of distressing events on their well-being and aviation safety. Despite the necessity, a validated and tailored measurement tool specific to this demographic is absent. Addressing this gap, this study built on the widely used CD-RISC-25 to analyze and modify its applicability to Chinese civil aviation pilots. Utilizing CD-RISC-25 survey data from 231 Chinese pilots, correlational and differential analyses identified items 3 and 20 as incongruent with this population's resilience profile. Subsequently, factor analysis derived a distinct two-factor resilience psychological framework labeled "Decisiveness" and "Adaptability", which diverged from the structure found in American female pilots and the broader Chinese populace. Additionally, to further accurately identify the measurement characteristics of this 2-factor measurement model, this study introduced Generalized Theory and Item Response Theory, two modern measurement analysis theories, to comprehensively analyze the overall reliability of the measurement and issues with individual items. Results showed that the 2-factor model exhibited high reliability, with generalizability coefficient reaching 0.89503 and dependability coefficient reaching 0.88496, indicating the 2-factor measurement questionnaire can be effectively utilized for relative and absolute comparison of Chinese civil aviation pilot resilience. However, items in Factor 2 provided less information and have larger room for optimization than those in Factor 1, implying item option redesign may be beneficial. Consequently, this study culminates in the creation of a more accurate and reliable two-factor psychological resilience measurement tool tailored for Chinese civil aviation pilots, while exploring directions for optimization. By facilitating early identification of individuals with lower resilience and enabling the evaluation of intervention efficacy, this tool aims to positively impact pilot psychological health and aviation safety in the context of grief and trauma following distressing events.

Developing an Exercise Attitudes and Behavior Intentions Questionnaire for Survivors of Aortic Dissection: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Purpose

Our study aimed to develop a questionnaire to assess the reliability and validity of exercise attitudes and behavior intentions among survivors of an aortic dissection (AD).

Methods

There were two phases to the study between April 2021 and April 2022. Phase I involved the development of an initial version of the Exercise Attitudes and Behavior Intentions Questionnaire (EABIQ) through literature reviews, qualitative interviews, Delphi expert consultations and a pre-experimental study. During Phase II, the reliability and validity of the questionnaire was assessed in 160 survivors with AD.

Results

A 62-item EABIQ for AD survivors was developed. Eleven common components with eigenvalues larger than 1 were identified by exploratory factor analysis. The scale's variance explained cumulatively rate was 75.216%. The content validity index at the item level for the EABIQ varied from 0.813 to 1.000 and the S-CVI/Ave was 0.934. The correlation coefficients between each scale dimension and the overall scale ranged from 0.405 to 0.785, with all p-values less than 0.05. Cronbach's alpha for the whole scale was 0.929, with Cronbach's alpha for each domain ranging from 0.835 to 0.965. The overall scale split-half reliability coefficient was 0.960, with each domain's split-half reliability coefficient ranging from 0.844 to 0.962.

Conclusions

The AD exercise attitudes and behavior intentions questionnaire has high reliability and validity and is generally consistent with the hypothetical theoretical framework. It can be used as a judgment tool to measure the exercise behavior for AD patients.

The Effects of Information-Seeking Behaviors on Risk Perception During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Correlational Survey

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus represents an ongoing public health challenge that necessitates a heightened need to understand people's risk perceptions as well as their information-seeking behavior.

Objective

The aim of this study is to explore the impact of different information-seeking behaviors on people's risk perceptions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We employed convenience sampling in order to administer questionnaires to 3048 residents in Hunan Province, China. After screening the questionnaires for inclusion in the study, multiple linear regressions were then used to analyze the impact of the characteristics of respondents' information-seeking behavior on their risk perceptions.

Results

From the 3048 distributed 2611 were included. New media (80.20%) was the most frequently used source of information seeking, and traditional media were participants' most trusted source of COVID-19 information. Statistics of COVID-19 were the type of information most frequently queried by respondents, and approximately 30.0% of them reported that most or all of the COVID-19 information they sought was negative. Approximately one in five respondents reported that they sought COVID-19 information more than 10 times per day. The results of our multivariate linear regression analysis showed that "seeking information from new media ", "level of trust in new media and local propaganda", "information content being about protective behaviors and personal related information", "proportion of negative information", and "frequency of information seeking" were positively associated, and "seeking information from traditional media" and "level of trust in traditional media" were negatively associated with people's risk perception of COVID-19.

Conclusion

We find that specific types of channels of information acquisition and public trust in these information channels, their informational content, and proportion of negative information, as well as a frequency of information seeking all had an impact on risk perception during COVID-19.

Associations of COVID-19 Risk Perception, eHealth Literacy, and Protective Behaviors Among Chinese College Students Following Vaccination: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background

In spite of strict regulation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) preventive measures and containment in China, there are still confirmed cases sporadically occurring in many cities. College students live in groups and have active social activities so that it will trigger a serious public health event once an infection event occurs. Thus, identifying the status and related factors of protective behaviors among them after receiving vaccination will be crucial for epidemic control. This study aimed to gather information on the protective behaviors and to identify the associations of COVID-19 risk perception, eHealth literacy, and protective behaviors for Chinese college students following vaccination.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey of college students engaged in protective behaviors post vaccination was conducted using the COVID-19 risk perception scale, eHealth literacy scale, and protective behaviors following vaccination questionnaire in one of the groups. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to confirm the correlation among the COVID-19 risk perception, eHealth literacy, and protective behaviors for Chinese college students.

Results

A total of 5,641 Chinese college students were included. Male students comprised 59.01% with an average age of (21.39 ± 2.75) years and most students rating their health as very good (44.85%) or pretty good (46.98%). A smaller percentage (13.76%) believed that they would likely or most likely be infected with COVID-19 after getting vaccinated. In addition, more than 1 in 10 (10.35%) college students had ever suspected to suffer from post-vaccination reactions following the COVID-19 vaccination. The mean score of protective behaviors was 26.06 ± 3.97. Approximately one-third (30.42%) of the students always or often did not wear a mask when going out. Some college students (29.25%) did not maintain distance of at least 1 m from others in social situations. Older female college students who were in good health and perceived as being at a low risk of getting infected with COVID-19, and those never suspected to suffer from post-vaccination reactions expected to engage in post-vaccination protective measures. Those with a higher level of perceived risk, severe risk perception and eHealth literacy, and a lower level of unknown risk perception were more likely to engage in further protective behaviors after getting vaccinated.

Conclusions

Overall, the level of protective behaviors among the Chinese college students following vaccination could be improved, especially for male, younger college students in poor health. This study revealed the predictive effects of risk perception and eHealth literacy on protective behaviors, recommending that the negative and positive effects of risk perception should be balanced in epidemic risk management, and eHealth literacy promotion should also be emphasized for public health and social measures.

Ethics of U.S. government policy responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic: A utilitarianism perspective

COVID‐19 hit the United States in January 2020, quickly resulting in stay‐at‐home orders that sent the U.S. economy into a major recession. The federal government leveraged fiscal, regulatory, and monetary policies to provide relief. Decisions had to be made in a complex environment wrought with difficult choices, complicated by the federalist governing system in the United States. Myers (2016, p. 202) asserted, “If an event like the [1918 influenza] pandemic were to occur in the United States, it is important that the government be prepared, not only in terms of material, but ethically.” We analyze the ethical choices of the initial responses by reviewing early U.S. government responses and the impact of culture, federalism, and justice. We conclude that utilitarian analyses of balancing infection rates and economic impacts must be supplemented with Kantian principles of not treating people as means to an end, balancing the protection of individual freedoms with the good of society, and protecting vulnerable groups. As governments prepare for future crises, ethical considerations should be built into those plans as guardrails to guide decision‐makers.

Development and Validation of the Coping Capacity Measurement Scale of Public Health Emergencies in China

Public health emergency coping capacity has been an important direction in crisis research in recent years. The use of the public health emergency coping capacity scale to evaluate the public's response and feelings regarding public health emergencies is one of the essential ways to improve the effectiveness of public health emergency response. Based on literature research, this paper constructed the theoretical dimension of public health emergency coping ability and completed the development of the items of the initial scale in China. After using SPSS 22.0-conducted exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability test, the scale dimensions and items were deleted and optimized. The final public health emergency coping capacity measurement scale in China included 12 items and four dimensions. The results showed that the developed scale has high reliability and validity, which is helpful for the relevant personnel to understand the level of public health emergency coping ability and provides an essential basis for timely and accurate emergency prevention and control interventions.

Environmental Risk Perception and Preventive Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Central Taiwan

Due to traffic and industrial and seasonal air pollution, wearing masks outside the home has long been a daily habit for many people in Taiwan. After the emergence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which has an incubation period of up to 14 days, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing was advised to reduce exposure to this new environmental risk. This study investigates open and semi-open spaces in three districts in central Taiwan, using a non-participant observation method, with the aim of understanding people's mask-wearing behavior. The results indicate that mask-wearing rates were higher in urban areas than in rural ones and among females than males. By age cohort, mask-wearing was most prevalent among young adults and middle-aged people and least prevalent among minors, with the elderly occupying a middle position. Masks were also more likely to be worn in semi-open spaces than in open ones. This study enriches our understanding of environmental risk perception of the pandemic and of public perceptions, which are vital to increasing the adoption of preventative measures.

Risk perception of COVID-19: A comparative analysis of China and South Korea

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a pandemic and the risk perception plays an important role in self-protection and spread prevention. This study attempts to explore the intrinsic characteristic of risk perception and the spatial distribution of it, which have not been involved in previous studies. To attach this purpose, data from questionnaire conducted in China and Korea (samples of 897 respondents in China and 340 respondents in South Korea) are used to produce risk perception of COVID- 19. Results reveal four principal findings: (1) risk perception of COVID-19 can be categorized into perceived social risk and perceived risk of being infected; (2) the internal differences are most pronounced in perceived risk of being infected about oneself in China, and in perceived social risk disorder about local community in South Korea; (3) the spatial distribution of risk perception is not consistent with that of epidemic severity, for high-risk perception spread out beyond the epicenter with different performance in the two categories; and (4) among the influence factors, trust in information, familiarity with epidemic situation, and interpersonal distance from suffers in the epicenter are found to have a significant influence on different aspects of risk perception. The theoretical and practical implications of this study enrich the understanding of risk perception of epidemic, and provide specific suggestions for preventing this ongoing epidemic spread across the population.

Analysis of the Mediating Effect of Risk Perception on the Relationship Between Time Perception and Mental Health of College Students During the COVID-19 Epidemic

Background: COVID-19 has had a wide impact on the mental health of college students. This study aims to explore the relationship between time perception, risk perception, and the mental health of college students during COVID-19 through a questionnaire survey. Subjects: One thousand two hundred and eighteen college students, 449 male and 769 female, who studied online during the COVID-19 epidemic were selected. Methods: Time Perception Scale, Risk Perception Scale, and SCL-90 were used to investigate the relationship using correlation analysis. Results: During the COVID-19 period, mental health problems of college students were widespread, and 65.93% of college students reported moderate to severe mental health problems. The correlation analysis showed that risk perception, time perception, and the mental health of college students were significantly related. Risk perception played a partial mediating role between present enjoyment and mental health, and risk perception played a partial mediating role between future time perception and mental health. Conclusion: In the case of sudden public crises, we should pay close attention to the mental health of college students, adjust their attitude toward the present and the future, and pay attention to their perception of risk so as to improve their mental health level under crisis.