Behavioral intentions and perceived stress under isolated environment.

Abstract

Isolation is a special environment that will affect the mental health and behavior of individuals. The current study was to explore the relationship between behavior intention (BI) and perceived stress in isolated environment during Shanghai Omicron pandemic. A cross-sectional study was conducted between April 8 and 14, 2022. Three self-reported questionnaires were used to evaluate quarantine duration, stress perception, and BI. A total of 1042 participants in Shanghai under quarantine at home were included by random sampling. Logistic regression and one-way variance analysis were used to determine the risk factors related to BI. The finding implicated negative BI was more reported by the population of males, with lower educational background, with jobs, and youngers. A negative association existed between perceived stress and BI (B=-1.004, p=.003, OR=0.367, 95% CI=.191-.703). The proportion of positive BI decreased with quarantined duration, whereas the negative BI seemed vibrate upward then downward. There existed a significant effect of quarantined days on perceived stress with different BIs. High perceived stress was a risk factor of positive BI. This preliminary study has significance to understand the effect of compulsory measures on BI and for policies makers to take a psychosocial perspective to consider the effective pandemic intervention strategies.