Risk Perceptions, Level of Government Trust, and Psychological Distress During COVID-19 Pandemic in Taiwan

Figures & data

Table 1 The Demographic of Participants (n=1098)

Variable	n	%
Sex
Male	532	48.4
Female	566	51.6
Age, year (means, sd)	47.7	16.4
20–45	525	48.1
46–64	383	35.1
≥65	183	16.8
Education level
Junior high school or below	183	16.7
Senior high school	448	40.9
Junior college or above	465	42.4
Residential area
Urban^a	763	69.5
Suburb	335	30.5
Information Sources of COVID-19
Television	813	74.1
Websites	141	12.9
Social Media	46	4.2
Group Messaging Apps / Live stream	48	4.4
Newspapers	30	2.7
Others^b	19	1.7
Psychological distress
Insomnia	164	14.9
Anxiety	246	22.4
Hostility	154	14.0
Depression	177	16.1
Interpersonal sensitivity/inferiority	67	6.1
Psychological morbidity
Without	1040	94.7
With	58	5.3
Suicidal ideation	11	1.0

Notes: ^aUrban including Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Taichung City, Kaohsiung City. ^bHospitals, doctors, nurse, pharmacists, Ministry of Health, relatives and friends, schools.

Table 2 Perceptions Towards COVID-19

Variable	n	%
How would you rate the severity of COVID-19 infection?
Extremely	917	84.1
Very	154	14.1
Slightly	18	1.7
Not at all	1	0.1
Are you worried about contracting COVID-19 in Taiwan?
Extremely	346	31.6
Very	519	47.4
Slightly	184	16.8
Not at all	47	4.3
Is it possible for you to be infected with COVID-19?
Very probable	60	5.5
Somewhat probable	407	37.1
Neutral	109	9.9
Somewhat improbable	452	41.2
Not probable	70	6.4
Are you scared to go to the hospital because you are fear of contracting COVID-19?
Extremely	85	7.8
Very	187	17.1
Slightly	369	33.8
Not at all	451	41.3
Does the COVID-19 pandemic affect your daily life?
Major affect	219	19.9
Moderate affect	589	53.6
No affect	290	26.4
Do you have confidence in the government’s ability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic?
Completely confident	594	54.4
Fairly confident	425	39.0
Slightly confident	54	4.9
Not confident at all	18	1.6

Table 3 The Distribution of the Psychological Distress by Demographic of Participants and Perception to COVID-19

Variable	Insomnia					Anxiety					Hostility
	No		Yes		P-value	No		Yes		P-value	No		Yes		P-value
	n	%	n	%		n	%	n	%		n	%	n	%
Sex					0.019					<0.001					<0.001
Male	466	49.9	65	39.6		438	51.4	94	38.2		478	50.6	54	35.1
Female	467	50.1	99	60.4		414	48.6	152	61.8		466	49.4	100	64.9
Age, year					0.071					0.389					0.278
20–45	455	49.1	69	42.1		407	48.2	118	48.0		446	47.6	79	51.3
46–64	326	35.2	58	35.4		290	34.3	93	37.8		327	34.9	56	36.4
≥65	146	15.7	37	22.6		148	17.5	35	14.2		164	17.5	19	12.3
Education level					0.431					0.385					0.147
Junior high school or below	150	16.1	32	19.5		142	16.7	41	16.7		163	17.3	21	13.6
Senior high school	388	41.6	61	37.2		357	42.0	92	37.4		392	41.6	57	37.0
Junior college or above	394	42.3	71	43.3		352	41.4	113	45.9		388	41.1	76	49.4
Residential area					0.510					1.000					0.927
Urban^a	644	69.0	118	72.0		592	69.5	171	69.5		655	69.4	108	70.1
Suburb	289	31.0	46	28.0		260	30.5	75	30.5		289	30.6	46	29.9
How would you rate the severity of COVID-19 infection?					0.839					0.326					0.588
Mild	17	1.8	2	1.2		17	2.0	2	0.8		15	1.6	4	2.6
Severe	910	98.2	159	98.8		828	98.0	243	99.2		921	98.4	150	97.4
Are you worried about contracting COVID-19 in Taiwan?					0.540					<0.001					0.219
No	199	21.4	31	18.9		215	25.3	16	6.5		205	21.7	26	17.0
Yes	732	78.6	133	81.1		635	74.7	230	93.5		738	78.3	127	83.0
Is it possible for you to be infected with COVID-19?					0.045					<0.001					0.005
No	548	58.7	82	50.0		516	60.6	115	46.6		559	59.2	72	46.8
Yes	385	41.3	82	50.0		335	39.4	132	53.4		385	40.8	82	53.2
Are you scared to go to the hospital because you are fear of contracting COVID-19?					<0.001					<0.001					0.004
No	723	77.9	97	59.1		667	79.9	143	58.4		719	76.7	101	65.6
Yes	205	22.1	67	40.9		170	20.1	102	41.6		219	23.3	53	34.4
Does the COVID-19 pandemic affect your daily life?					<0.001					<0.001					<0.001
No	267	28.6	23	14.0		265	31.1	25	10.2		280	29.7	10	6.5
Yes	665	71.4	141	86.0		586	68.9	221	89.8		663	70.3	144	93.5
Do you have confidence in the government’s ability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic?					0.784					0.131					<0.001
No	60	6.5	12	7.4		51	6.0	22	9.0		51	5.4	21	13.9
Yes	868	93.5	150	92.6		797	94.0	222	91.0		888	94.6	130	86.1
Variable	Depression					Interpersonal sensitivity/inferiority					Suicidal ideation
	No		Yes		P-value	No		Yes		P-value	No		Yes		P-value
	n	%	n	%		n	%	n	%		n	%	n	%
Sex					0.001					0.637					1.000
Male	467	50.7	65	36.7		499	48.5	30	44.8		527	48.5	5	45.5
Female	454	49.3	112	63.3		529	51.5	37	55.2		560	51.5	6	54.5
Age, year					0.379					0.105					0.561
20–45	447	48.9	78	44.1		482	47.2	40	60.6		518	47.9	7	63.6
46–64	313	34.2	70	39.5		365	35.7	18	27.3		381	35.2	3	27.3
≥65	155	16.9	29	16.4		175	17.1	8	12.1		183	16.9	1	9.1
Education level					0.536					0.113					0.643
Junior high school or below	157	17.1	27	15.2		176	17.1	7	10.4		181	16.7	3	27.3
Senior high school	380	41.3	69	38.8		425	41.3	24	35.8		445	40.9	4	36.4
Junior college or above	383	41.6	82	46.1		427	41.5	36	53.7		461	42.4	4	36.4
Residential area					0.789					0.344					0.574
Urban^a	638	69.3	125	70.6		720	70.0	42	63.6		755	69.4	9	81.8
Suburb	283	30.7	52	29.4		309	30.0	24	36.4		333	30.6	2	18.2
How would you rate the severity of COVID-19 infection?					1.000					1.000					1.000
Mild	15	1.6	3	1.7		18	1.8	1	1.5		19	1.8	0	0
Severe	900	98.4	170	98.3		1003	98.2	65	98.5		1060	98.2	11	100
Are you worried about contracting COVID-19 in Taiwan?					0.003					0.637					1.000
No	209	22.7	22	12.4		217	21.1	12	17.9		229	21.1	2	18.2
Yes	710	77.3	155	87.6		810	78.9	55	82.1		857	78.9	9	81.8
Is it possible for you to be infected with COVID-19?					0.001					0.103					0.019
No	550	59.8	81	45.5		597	58.0	31	47.0		629	57.9	2	18.2
Yes	370	40.2	97	54.5		432	42.0	35	53.0		458	42.1	9	81.8
Are you scared to go to the hospital because you are fear of contracting COVID-19?					<0.001					0.002					0.593
No	710	77.5	111	62.7		780	76.1	38	58.5		814	75.2	7	63.6
Yes	206	22.5	66	37.3		245	23.9	27	41.5		268	24.8	4	36.4
Does the COVID-19 pandemic affect your daily life?					<0.001					0.003					0.098
No	277	30.1	13	7.3		284	27.6	7	10.4		290	26.7	0	0
Yes	643	69.9	164	92.7		745	72.4	60	89.6		797	73.3	11	100
Do you have confidence in the government’s ability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic?					<0.001					0.563					0.282
No	49	5.4	24	13.6		66	6.5	6	9.1		70	6.5	2	20.0
Yes	866	94.6	152	86.4		956	93.5	60	90.9		1011	93.5	8	80.0

Notes: ^aUrban including Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Taichung City, Kaohsiung City.

Table 4 The Distribution of the Psychological Morbidity by Demographic of Participants and Perception to COVID-19

Variable	Without		With		P-value
	n	%	n	%
Sex					0.331
Male	508	48.8	24	41.4
Female	532	51.2	34	58.6
Age, year					0.333
20–45	500	48.4	25	42.4
46–64	363	35.1	20	33.9
≥65	170	16.5	14	23.7
Education level					0.301
Junior high school or below	170	16.4	13	22.0
Senior high school	430	41.4	19	32.2
Junior college or above	438	42.2	27	45.8
Residential area					0.888
Urban^a	722	39.4	42	71.2
Suburb	318	30.6	17	28.8
How would you rate the severity of COVID-19 infection?					1.000
Mild	18	1.7	1	1.8
Severe	1015	98.3	55	98.2
Are you worried about contracting COVID-19 in Taiwan?					0.367
No	222	21.4	9	15.5
Yes	816	78.6	49	84.5
Is it possible for you to be infected with COVID-19?					0.007
No	608	58.5	23	39.7
Yes	431	41.5	35	60.3
Are you scared to go to the hospital because you are fear of contracting COVID-19?					<0.001
No	792	76.6	28	48.3
Yes	242	23.4	30	51.7
Does the COVID-19 pandemic affect your daily life?					0.003
No	285	27.4	5	8.6
Yes	754	72.6	53	91.4
Do you have confidence in the government’s ability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic?					0.040
No	64	6.2	8	14.0
Yes	970	93.8	49	86.0

Notes: ^aUrban including Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Taichung City, Kaohsiung City.

Table 5 Crude and Multiple Logistic Regression of Psychological Distress by Perception to COVID-19

Variable	Insomnia						Anxiety
	Crude			Adjusted^a			Crude			Adjusted^a
	OR	95% CI	P-value	OR	95% CI	P-value	OR	95% CI	P-value	OR	95% CI	P-value
How would you rate the severity of COVID-19 infection?
Mild	1			1			1			1
Severe	1.31	(0.32–5.38)	0.706	1.34	(0.32–5.53)	0.687	2.07	(0.52–8.18)	0.301	2.11	(0.53–8.43)	0.291
Are you worried about contracting COVID-19 in Taiwan?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	1.17	(0.77–1.78)	0.465	1.07	(0.70–1.65)	0.746	4.75	(2.81–8.04)	<0.001	4.57	(2.69–7.75)	<0.001
Is it possible for you to be infected with COVID-19?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	1.41	(1.01–1.97)	0.043	1.44	(1.03–2.02)	0.035	1.77	(1.33–2.35)	<0.001	1.74	(1.30–2.33)	<0.001
Are you scared to go to the hospital because you are fear of contracting COVID-19?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	2.42	(1.71–3.43)	<0.001	2.33	(1.64–3.31)	<0.001	2.85	(2.10–3.87)	<0.001	2.87	(2.10–3.91)	<0.001
Does the COVID-19 pandemic affect your daily life?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	2.47	(1.55–3.92)	<0.001	2.58	(1.60–4.16)	<0.001	3.99	(2.57–6.18)	<0.001	3.92	(2.50–6.13)	<0.001
Do you have confidence in the government’s ability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	0.84	(0.45–1.58)	0.589	0.92	(0.48–1.74)	0.788	0.65	(0.39–1.10)	0.108	0.68	(0.40–1.16)	0.160
Variable	Hostility						Depression
	Crude			Adjusted^a			Crude			Adjusted^a
	OR	95% CI	P-value	OR	95% CI	P-value	OR	95% CI	P-value	OR	95% CI	P-value
How would you rate the severity of COVID-19 infection?
Mild	1			1			1			1
Severe	0.60	(0.20–1.81)	0.362	0.60	(0.19–1.86)	0.378	0.83	(0.26–2.69)	0.760	0.84	(0.26–2.74)	0.771
Are you worried about contracting COVID-19 in Taiwan?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	1.36	(0.85–2.09)	0.204	1.25	(0.79–1.96)	0.338	2.07	(1.29–3.31)	0.003	1.91	(1.18–3.07)	0.008
Is it possible for you to be infected with COVID-19?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	1.63	(1.16–2.30)	0.005	1.54	(1.09–2.18)	0.015	1.78	(1.29–2.46)	<0.001	1.74	(1.25–2.42)	0.001
Are you scared to go to the hospital because you are fear of contracting COVID-19?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	1.71	(1.18–2.46)	0.004	1.70	(1.17–2.46)	0.005	2.04	(1.45–2.87)	<0.001	1.95	(1.38–2.77)	<0.001
Does the COVID-19 pandemic affect your daily life?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	6.21	(3.21–12.03)	<0.001	5.79	(2.97–11.32)	<0.001	5.32	(2.99–9.47)	<0.001	5.15	(2.87–9.26)	<0.001
Do you have confidence in the government’s ability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	0.36	(0.21–0.61)	<0.001	0.37	(0.21–0.64)	<0.001	0.36	(0.21–0.61)	<0.001	0.38	(0.22–0.65)	<0.001
Variable	Interpersonal sensitivity/inferiority						Psychological morbidity
	Crude			Adjusted^a			Crude			Adjusted^a
	OR	95% CI	P-value	OR	95% CI	P-value	OR	95% CI	P-value	OR	95% CI	P-value
How would you rate the severity of COVID-19 infection?
Mild	1			1			1			1
Severe	1.85	(0.15–22.73)	0.632	2.01	(0.16–25.07)	0.588	1.56	(0.13–19.20)	0.730	1.61	(0.13–19.98)	0.711
Are you worried about contracting COVID-19 in Taiwan?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	1.25	(0.66–2.40)	0.495	1.28	(0.66–2.46)	0.465	1.51	(0.73–3.12)	0.271	1.42	(0.68–2.96)	0.353
Is it possible for you to be infected with COVID-19?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	1.58	(0.96–2.59)	0.073	1.48	(0.89–2.44)	0.130	2.19	(1.278–3.767)	0.004	2.29	(1.32–3.97)	0.003
Are you scared to go to the hospital because you are fear of contracting COVID-19?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	2.28	(1.37–3.81)	0.002	2.45	(1.46–4.11)	0.001	3.42	(2.00–5.82)	<0.001	3.35	(1.96–5.75)	<0.001
Does the COVID-19 pandemic affect your daily life?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	3.41	(1.52–7.69)	0.003	3.19	(1.40–7.26)	0.006	3.74	(1.52–9.20)	0.004	4.01	(1.60–10.04)	0.003
Do you have confidence in the government’s ability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic?
No	1			1			1			1
Yes	0.68	(0.27–1.62)	0.384	0.66	(0.28–1.59)	0.359	0.39	(0.18–0.85)	0.017	0.42	(0.19–0.92)	0.030

Notes: ^aOdds ratio were adjusted for covariate factors, including age, sex, education level, and residential area.

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.