IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i21p11718-d674454.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public Stigma of COVID-19 and Its Correlates in the General Population of China

Author

Listed:
  • Tian-Ming Zhang

    (Department of Social Work, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China)

  • Qi Fang

    (School of Social Development and Public Policy, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)

  • Hao Yao

    (Shanghai Clinical Research Center for Mental Health, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China)

  • Mao-Sheng Ran

    (Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the profile of COVID-19-related public stigma and its correlates in the general population of China. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in China from 7 May to 25 May in 2020. A total of 1212 participants from the general population completed the survey measuring their stigmatizing attitudes towards COVID-19, as well as knowledge and causal attributions of COVID-19. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine the correlates of COVID-19-related public stigma. A total of 31.8% of participants endorsed stigmatization towards people with COVID-19. Those who were of older age (t = −3.97, p < 0.001), married (F = 3.04, p < 0.05), had a lower level of education (F = 8.11, p < 0.001), and a serious psychological response (F = 3.76, p < 0.05) reported significantly higher scores of public stigma. Dangerousness ( B = 0.047, p < 0.001), fear ( B = 0.059, p < 0.001), anger ( B = 0.038, p < 0.01), and responsibility ( B = 0.041, p < 0.001) were positively associated with public stigma. This study shows that public stigma related to COVID-19 is prevalent in the general population of China. Actions against public stigma need to contain the spread of misinformation about COVID-19, alter inappropriate attributions, alleviate unfavorable reactions, and provide psychosocial support for the public.

Suggested Citation

  • Tian-Ming Zhang & Qi Fang & Hao Yao & Mao-Sheng Ran, 2021. "Public Stigma of COVID-19 and Its Correlates in the General Population of China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-11, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:21:p:11718-:d:674454
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/21/11718/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/21/11718/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Duan, Wenjie & Bu, He & Chen, Zheng, 2020. "COVID-19-related stigma profiles and risk factors among people who are at high risk of contagion," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    2. Elena Marbán-Castro & Ana Villén-Gonzalvo & Cristina Enguita-Fernàndez & Anna Marín-Cos & Clara Menéndez & Maria Maixenchs & Azucena Bardají, 2020. "Uncertainties, Fear and Stigma: Perceptions of Zika Virus among Pregnant Women in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-15, September.
    3. Tenkorang, Eric Y., 2017. "Ebola-related stigma in Ghana: Individual and community level determinants," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 142-149.
    4. Lindsay Y. Dhanani & Berkeley Franz, 2020. "Unexpected public health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic: a national survey examining anti-Asian attitudes in the USA," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(6), pages 747-754, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Seonwoo Kang & Jungsuk Kang, 2022. "Age Differences in Psychological Antecedents and Behavioral Consequences of Stigmatization Associated with COVID-19 among Koreans," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-15, July.
    2. Chidchanok Ruengorn & Ratanaporn Awiphan & Chabaphai Phosuya & Yongyuth Ruanta & Kednapa Thavorn & Nahathai Wongpakaran & Tinakon Wongpakaran & Surapon Nochaiwong, 2022. "Disparities and Factors Associated with Coronavirus Disease-2019-Related Public Stigma: A Cross-Sectional Study in Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-13, May.
    3. Jounghwa Choi & Kyung-Hee Kim, 2022. "The Differential Consequences of Fear, Anger, and Depression in Response to COVID-19 in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-13, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sabrina Cipolletta & Gabriela Rios Andreghetti & Giovanna Mioni, 2022. "Risk Perception towards COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Synthesis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-25, April.
    2. Hao Li & Ling Zheng & Hong Le & Lijun Zhuo & Qian Wu & Guoqing Ma & Hongbing Tao, 2020. "The Mediating Role of Internalized Stigma and Shame on the Relationship between COVID-19 Related Discrimination and Mental Health Outcomes among Back-to-School Students in Wuhan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Islam, Asad & Pakrashi, Debayan & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Wang, Liang Choon, 2021. "Stigma and misconceptions in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: A field experiment in India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    4. Chidchanok Ruengorn & Ratanaporn Awiphan & Chabaphai Phosuya & Yongyuth Ruanta & Kednapa Thavorn & Nahathai Wongpakaran & Tinakon Wongpakaran & Surapon Nochaiwong, 2022. "Disparities and Factors Associated with Coronavirus Disease-2019-Related Public Stigma: A Cross-Sectional Study in Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-13, May.
    5. Hunter, P.V. & Ward, H.A. & Puurveen, G., 2023. "Trust as a key measure of quality and safety after the restriction of family contact in Canadian long-term care settings during the COVID-19 pandemic," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 18-27.
    6. Richardson, Eugene T. & Kelly, J. Daniel & Sesay, Osman & Drasher, Michael D. & Desai, Ishaan K. & Frankfurter, Raphael & Farmer, Paul E. & Barrie, Mohamed Bailor, 2017. "The symbolic violence of ‘outbreak’: A mixed methods, quasi-experimental impact evaluation of social protection on Ebola survivor wellbeing," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 77-82.
    7. Tommaso Sonno & Davide Zufacchi, 2022. "Epidemics and rapacity of multinational companies," CEP Discussion Papers dp1833, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Lucía Pérez-Pérez & Inés Cárdaba-García & Miguel A. Madrigal-Fernández & Federico Montero-Cuadrado & E. M. Sobas & Raúl Soto-Cámara, 2023. "COVID-19 Pandemic Control Measures and Their Impact on University Students and Family Members in a Central Region of Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-12, March.
    9. Devaraj, Srikant & Patel, Pankaj C., 2021. "Change in psychological distress in response to changes in reduced mobility during the early 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence of modest effects from the U.S," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    10. Rumeng Dai & Shuixiang Peng, 2024. "The implication of the illness metaphors of In America: Mitigating negative effects of metaphors through illness narratives in the postpandemic era of COVID-19," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    11. Levin-Dagan, Naama & Baum, Nehami, 2021. "Passing as normal: Negotiating boundaries and coping with male breast cancer," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    12. Weilun Ju & Shahrul Nazmi Sannusi & Emma Mohamad, 2023. "Stigmatizing Monkeypox and COVID-19: A Comparative Framing Study of The Washington Post ’s Online News," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-20, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:21:p:11718-:d:674454. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.