Perceived effectiveness of public health measures and positive attitudes during a pandemic: a large cross-sectional study in Shanghai, China

Abstract

ObjectivesBuilding individuals’ positive attitudes during a pandemic is essential for facilitating psychological resilience. However, little is known about how public health measures may improve people’s positive attitudes during a pandemic. We investigated the potential mechanism underlying the association between individuals’ perceived effectiveness of public health measures and positive attitudes towards the success of pandemic control during the COVID-19 pandemic, by examining the parallel mediating effects of three types of threat appraisals: concerns about contracting the virus, perceived impact of the pandemic on life and estimated duration of the pandemic.Design, setting and participantsIn February 2020 when the COVID-19 infection was spreading rapidly in China, a large cross-sectional survey was conducted among 132 054 adults from the 16 districts in Shanghai, China.Outcome measuresPerceived effectiveness of the public health measures, positive attitudes towards the success of pandemic control and threat appraisals.ResultsResults of structural equation modelling supported the hypothesised mediation model: perceived effectiveness of public health measures was associated with lower levels of concerns about contracting the virus (β=−0.20), perceived impact of the pandemic (β=−0.13) and perceived duration of the pandemic (β=−0.20), which were then associated with higher levels of positive attitudes towards the success of pandemic control (βs=−0.12 to −0.25).ConclusionsThe findings suggest that threat appraisals may be important pathways through which individuals’ evaluations of prevention strategies may influence their attitudes towards the success of pandemic control. The health authorities should consider reducing people’s inappropriate threat appraisals when designing public health policies to facilitate people’s positive attitudes during a pandemic.

Public support for policies to improve population and planetary health: A population-based online experiment assessing impact of communicating evidence of multiple versus single benefits

“…Assuming policy support is a manifestation of an attitude towards a policy, increasing perceived policy effectiveness through communicating evidence of a policy's effectiveness, could in theory change attitudes towards a policy by changing policy-related beliefs and policy-related outcome expectancies. This is supported by the results of recent studies showing that perceived policy effectiveness has a significant and positive impact on policy attitudes ( Chu et al, 2021 ; H. Wang et al, 2021 ). It should be noted, however, that the relationship between policy support and attitudes towards a policy is not necessarily straightforward.…”

Effectiveness of Complaint Services at the Talise Health Center Regional Technical Implementation Unit

“…The "exit" mechanism means that if public services are of poor quality, consumers must have the opportunity to choose another public service provider that they like. While the "voice" mechanism means that there is an opportunity to express dissatisfaction to the public service provider institution [5] [6].…”

Meta-analysis of KAP toward COVID-19 in Chinese residents

“…As China eases its COVID-19 prevention and control measures, it is crucial to emphasize the importance of preventing COVID-19 through comprehensive knowledge, a positive attitude, and appropriate behavior. Given the importance of this issue, it is necessary to perform a retrospective analysis of studies on KAP and summarize the results, which will provide solid evidence for better management of the disease by policy makers in China ( 24 , 25 ). Therefore, this study aims to conduct a systematic review to synthesize the available evidence on KAP toward COVID-19 in China’s general population.…”