Transcript Document 7283403

SARS and Its Effects:
Coping with the Threat
Esther Greenglass,Anita DeLongis
& Dayna Lee-Baggley
Paper presented at ICP, Bejing,
August 8- 13, 2004
Grateful acknowledgement
to
George D. Bishop, National
University of Singapore
& the SARS Psychosocial
Research Consortium
Coping with SARS
• In dealing with stress, some
strategies include preventive coping,
taking precautions, relationship
focused coping, seeking social support
and avoidance
• The relationship between anxiety and
these strategies is examined here
Method
• Data were collected using an Internet-based
survey based on 229 respondents from Europe,
Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the
USA and was conducted from May 2003 to
January 2004
• This study focused primarily on the stressful
aspects of the perception of SARS and coping
strategies employed
Demographics
• Gender 159 Female 65 Male 5 missing
• Age
Age
Frequency
• Under 20
69
• 20-39
100
• 40-59
49
• 60+
5
• Missing
6
Demographics (cont.d)
• Education
•
•
•
•
•
Years
<6 years
7-12
13-16
16+
Missing
Frequency
10
28
94
94
3
Perceived SARS Threat
• A 5-item measure
• Extent to which SARS is seen as a
direct threat to one’s health
• Sample item: “SARS is threatening
my health”
• Response: 1 not at all to 4 a great
deal
• Alpha = .71
Preventive Coping
• A 3-item measure that assesses
behaviors designed to lessen the risk
of getting SARS in the future
• Sample item: “I do what I can so that
I will not get SARS”
• Response: 1 not at all true 4 completely
true
• Alpha = .77
To avoid getting SARS, I have personally:
(tick those that apply)
Avoidance Behavior
• Travel to SARS affected
area
• Eating in restaurants
• Shaking hands
• Travel in taxis
• Travel in subways or
commuter trains
• Eating in food courts
• Large gatherings of people
• Particular types of people
• Travel by plane
• Work/school
Taking Precautions
• Worn a mask
• Washed my hands more
often
• Taken more care about
cleanliness
• Used disinfectants
• Eaten a balanced diet
• Exercised regularly
• Taken an herbal
supplement
• Made sure I got sufficient
sleep
Score= sum of behaviors checked
Seeking Social Support
• A 2-item measure that assesses
seeking information and emotional
support to deal with concerns about
SARS
• Sample Item: “Talked to someone to find
out more about SARS”
• Response: 1 not at all 5 a great deal
• Alpha =.83
Relationship Focused Coping
• A 4- item measure that assesses
extent to which the individual helps
others deal with SARS
• Sample item: “Tried to understand
the other person’s concerns about
SARS”
• Response: 1 not at all 4 a great deal
• Alpha = .91
Avoidance of People
• A 10-item measure
• Sum of behaviors to avoid certain people
including those who appear unwell,a health
care worker, and a person who might be
from an area infected with SARS, for
example
• Sample item: “How likely are you to avoid a
person who is coughing?”
• Response: 1 very unlikely to 5 very likely
• Alpha = .91
State Anxiety
• Anxiety related to SARS
• A 17-item measure
• Adapted from the State-Trait Anxiety
Inventory (STAI) A-State Anxiety
measure (Spielberger et al., 1970)
• Sample item: “I am worried about possible
misfortune regarding SARS”
• Response: 1 not at all 4 very much so
• Alpha = .94
Depression
• A 10-item measure* designed to measure
• Sample item: “I feel sad”
• Response: 1 rarely or none of the time
4 most or all of the time
• Alpha=.88
*Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale
Relative Risk of Getting SARS vs
Catching a Cold*
• A 2-item measure
• The relative risk of me or someone my age
and sex getting SARS compared to the risk
of catching a cold
• Sample item: “Compared to my risk of
catching a cold, the risk of my getting
SARS is”
• Response: 1 very low to 5 very high
• Alpha = .82
* adapted from Renner & Schwarzer, 2003
Relative Risk of Getting SARS vs
Getting West Nile Virus*
• A 2-item measure
• The relative risk of me or someone my age
and sex getting SARS compared to the risk
of getting West Nile Virus
• Sample item: “Compared to my risk of
getting West Nile virus, the risk of my
getting SARS is”
• Response: 1 very low to 5 very high
• Alpha = .92
*adapted from Renner & Schwarzer, 2003
Relative Risk of Getting SARS vs
Getting AIDS*
• A 2-item measure
• The relative risk of me or someone my age
and sex getting SARS compared to the risk
of getting AIDS
• Sample item: “Compared to my risk of
getting AIDS, the risk of my getting SARS
is”
• Response: 1 very low to 5 very high
• Alpha = .82
*adapted from Renner & Schwarzer, 2003
Correlations Between SARS Threat,
Anxiety, Risk of Getting SARS Compared to
the Risk of Catching a Cold, Getting AIDS
and Getting West Nile Virus
State Anxiety
Cold Risk
AIDS Risk
West Nile Virus Risk
**p < .01 ***p < .001
59***
51***
31***
29**
Correlations between Anxiety, Avoidance of
People, Avoidance Behavior, Taking Precautions, &
Risk of Getting SARS vs. Risk of Catching a Cold,
Getting AIDS & Getting West Nile Virus
Avoidance of People
Cold Risk
AIDS Risk
West Nile Virus
Avoidance Behavior
Taking Precautions
**p < .01 ***p < .001
52***
52***
39***
33**
32**
30**
Theoretical Model Relating SARS Threat,
Preventive Coping, Avoidance of People, Anxiety
and Depression
Prevent
Coping
State
Anxiety
SARS
Threat
Avoid of
People
Depression
Structural Model Relating SARS Threat,
Preventive Coping, Avoidance of People, Anxiety
and Depression
Prevent
Coping
.49***
.39***
SARS
Threat
.52***
-.25**
.12*
State
Anxiety
.18**
Avoid of
People
.27***
.47***
Depression
Goodness of Fit Indices for Models
a
b
Model
Chi-Square
df
p
GFI
AGFI
NFI
CFI
RMSEA
PCLOSE
Initial
model
25.835
4
.000
.962
.856
.919
.929
.155
.001
Revised
Model
1a
11.298
3
.010
.981
.903
.965
.973
.110
.057
Revised
Model
1b
3.958
2
.138
.993
.949
.988
.994
.066
.291
Identical to the initial model except that a path from preventive coping to depression
was added
Identical to the revised model 1a except that a correlation between preventive coping
a
and avoiding people perceived to be at high risk of SARS was added
Conclusions
• Greater threat due to SARS leads to
increases in preventive coping and
avoidance of people associated with SARS
• Preventive coping includes avoidance of
people
• Preventive coping and avoidance of people
lead to greater anxiety
• Anxiety leads to depression
• Depression decreases with greater
preventive coping