Assessing explanatory variables of perceived stress to disaster: implications for risk research

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of the sample.

	Participants (n = 744)
		Range
Characteristic	Mean/%	n	SD
Age (in years)	47.68	744	15.35
		18-91
Gender
Male	18.7	139
Female	80.9	602
Other	.3	3
Race
White	83.1	618
Black	10.3	77
Native American/Alaska Native	.7	5
Asian	1.1	8
Middle Eastern	1.3	10
Mixed or Bi-Racial	1.9	14
Other	1.6	12
Relationship
In a relationship	71.2	530
Single	28.8	214
Employment
Employed	73.2	544
Unemployed	27.8	200
Education
Less than 12 years/No HS Diploma	1.7	13
HS Diploma/GED	4.4	33
Some College	9.3	69
Associate Degree	3.9	29
Bachelor Degree	19.1	142
Graduate Degree	61.6	458
Residential
Own House	67.9	505
Rent	32.1	239
Perceived Stress Scale Mean Score	20.42		6.63
Perceived Stress Category
Low Perceived Stress (0-13)	15.6	116
Moderate Perceived Stress (14-26)	66.7	496
High Perceived Stress (27-40)	17.7	132

Table 2. Descriptive statistics of COVID-19 experiences of the sample.

	Participants (n = 744)
Characteristic	Mean/%	n
Rent/Mortgage Stress
Stressed/Worried	31.5	235
Not Stressed/Worried	69.5	509
Nutritional Stress
Stressed/Worried	22.7	169
Not Stressed/Worried	77.3	575
COVID-19 Lead to Losing Job
Lost Job	13.3	99
Did not lose Job	86.7	645
COVID-19 Lead to Losing Income
Losing Income	36.2	260
Did not Lose Income	63.8	474
Assistance from Family/Friends & Neighbors
Very little help	36.9	275
Little help	23.7	176
Neither very little help nor very much help	20.1	149
Much help	10.9	81
Very much help	8.5	63
Assistance from Government & Non-Governmental Organizations
Very little help	33.1	246
Little help	24.4	181
Neither very little help nor very much help	16.2	120
Much help	13.2	98
Very much help	13.1	99
Worried about ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on physical health of self or immediate family
Not at all worried	7.1	53
A little worried	27.9	207
Moderately worried	39.6	294
Very worried	25.4	190
Worried about ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on the economy in your community
Not at all worried	1.9	14
A little worried	13.4	100
Moderately worried	30.6	228
Very worried	54.1	402
Worried about ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on the relationships with family and friends for you or any member of immediate family
Not at all worried	29.3	218
A little worried	29.4	219
Moderately worried	24.5	182
Very worried	16.8	125

Table 3. Bivariate correlations of all variables included in Model 1.

	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.
1. Total PSS Score	1.00
2. Age	−0.297**	1.00
3. Gender	0.196**	−0.154**	1.00
4. Race	0.25	−0.121**	−0.013	1.00
5. Relationship status	0.146**	−0.369**	0.1**	0.068	1.00
6. Employment	0.033	0.198**	0.053	−0.04	0.01	1.00
7. Education	−0.176**	0.073*	0.063	0.029	−0.142**	−0.244**	1.00
8. Residential status	0.2**	−0.414**	0.043	−0.05**	0.175**	0.008	0.532**	1.00

Table 4. Bivariate correlations of new variables included in Model 2.

	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.	10.
1. Total PSS Score	1.00
2. Rent/Mortgage stress	−0.375**	1.00
3. Nutrition stress	−0.336*	0.741**	1.00
4. COVID-19 led to job loss	−0.128**	0.083**	0.054	1.00
5. COVID-19 led to income loss	−0.188**	0.302**	0.217**	0.016	1.00
6. Cooperation from family	0.287**	−0.271**	−0.276**	0.114	−0.188**	1.00
7. Cooperation from government	0.226**	−0.338**	−0.301**	−0.041	−0.16**	0.584**	1.00
8. Worry over ongoing COVID-19 impacts on physical health	0.324**	−0.134**	−0.189**	−0.042	−0.034	0.274**	0.249**	1.00
9. Worry over ongoing impacts on the economy	0.258**	−0.129**	−0.131**	0.025	−0.149	0.161**	0.24**	0.287**	1.00
10. Worry over ongoing impacts on relationships	0.339**	−0.23**	−0.259**	−0.071	−0.071	0.326**	0.275**	0.414**	0.236**	1.00

Table 5. Model 1 of hierarchical linear regression for demographic factors of perceived stress (n = 735; df = 7).

					95% CI	95% CI
	B	β	t	p	Lower Bound	Upper Bound
Age***	−0.104	−0.241	−5.744	.001	−0.139	−0.068
Gender***	2.635	.605	4.358	.001	1.448	3.822
Race	.340	.019	0.539	.59	−0.898	1.578
Relationship	−0.077	−0.006	−0.151	.88	−1.083	0.928
Employment	−0.071	−0.005	−0.137	.891	−1.095	0.952
Education***	−0.754	−0.147	−3.985	.001	−1.126	−0.383
Residential	−0.816	−0.058	−1.41	.159	−1.952	0.32
Constant	24.799		14.41	.001	21.421	28.178

Notes: n = 735; df = 7.

*** p < .001

Table 6. Model 2 of hierarchical linear regression for demographic and COVID-19 factors of perceived stress (n = 727; df = 9).

					95% CI	95% CI
	B	β	t	p	Lower Bound	Upper Bound
Age***	−0.091	−0.212	−5.742	.001	−0.122	−0.06
Gender***	2.167	0.129	4.074	.001	1.123	3.211
Race	0.981	0.056	1.728	0.084	−0.133	2.095
Relationship	−0.007	−0.001	−0.015	.988	−0.895	0.882
Employment	0.24	0.018	0.519	.604	−0.667	1.147
Education*	−0.358	−0.07	−2.054	.04	−0.701	−0.016
Residential	0.319	0.023	0.62	0.535	−0.691	1.329
Rent/Mortgage Stress***	−1.123	-.204	−4.231	0.001	−1.644	−0.602
Nutrition Stress	−0.089	−0.015	−0.317	0.751	−0.643	0.464
COVID-19/Coronavirus lead to you losing your job*	−1.273	−0.071	−2.288	0.022	−2.364	−0.181
COVID-19/Coronavirus lead to you losing income	−0.845	−0.061	−1.883	0.06	−1.726	0.036
Cooperation from others (e.g. family, friends, neighbors)*	0.433	0.09	2.32	0.021	0.067	0.799
Cooperation from others (e.g. government or non-governmental organizations)	−0.18	−0.041	−1.026	0.305	−0.524	0.164
Worried about ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on physical health***	1.111	0.151	4.288	.001	0.602	1.619
Worried about ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on the economy***	1.153	0.281	4.1	.001	0.601	1.705
Worried about ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on relationships***	0.989	0.159	4.501	.001	0.558	1.42
Constant	20.373		8.888	.001	15.872	24.873

* p < .05; ***p < .001.