A Network Analysis of Brief Measure of Perceived Courtesy and Affiliate Stigma During COVID-19 in Hubei China

ABSTRACT

Purpose

The current study aims to test perceived affiliate and courtesy stigma in Hubei province China during the early periods of COVID-19 by using network analysis.

Method

In this study, 4,591 participants (3,034 female, mean age = 26.64) from the Hubei Province of China were recruited to conduct network analysis.

Results

The network analysis found network connections between Estranged - Blamed, Shamed - No Strong Point, and Rejected - Plague were the strongest. The most important stigma features (nodes) of COVID-19 (i.e. Plague, No Strong Point, Discriminated, and Disgusting).

Discussion and Conclusions

This study uncovered the most central features of perceived affiliate and courtesy stigma on COVID-19, proposing these features (and associations between features) could be prioritized for anti-stigma interventions for the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Stigma
• network analysis
• centrality
• stability
• the brief measure of perceived courtesy and affiliate stigma on COVID-19

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

Please contact the corresponding author for the data of this article on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work is sponsored by the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (No. 23ZR1415000) by the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality.