Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between internalized stigmatization brought on by epicenter travel experiences and mental health problems (including anxiety, depression, and shame) during the period of the novel coronavirus disease emergency in China. The cross-sectional data were collected using the time-lag design to avoid the common method bias as much as possible. Regression results using structural equation modeling show that the internalized stigmatization of epicenter travel experiences may have positive relationships with mental health problems (i.e., anxiety, depression, and shame), and such relationships can be moderated by social support. Specifically, the positive relationships between internalized stigmatization and mental health problems are buffered/strengthened when social support is at a high/low level. The findings of this study suggest that, in this epidemic, people who have epicenter travel experience could be affected by internalized stigmatization, no matter whether they have ever got infected.
Highlights
The novel coronavirus disease first reported in late December 2019, followed by an outbreak across Hubei Province, China, was later declared by the World Health Organization as a global public health emergency [1]
The empirical findings show that the internalized stigmatization has positive relationships with mental health problems for people who once traveled in the epicenter
This study shows that social support has a regulatory role, which can remind people, suffering internalized stigmatization in the epidemic, to seek social support
Summary
The novel coronavirus disease first reported in late December 2019, followed by an outbreak across Hubei Province, China, was later declared by the World Health Organization as a global public health emergency [1]. Many people had traveled in the epidemic area (for business or leisure purposes) before the outbreak. These people did not necessarily get infected. Some research on infectious disease-related internalized stigmatization and mental health problems has reported that infectious disease-related internalized stigmatization is one of the important determinants of psychological problems among men who have sex with men [4] and among people living with HIV [5]. For people who have travel experiences in the epicenter, their internal fear of discrimination and exclusion may create negative emotions and cognition of self-deprecation, feeling dirty, and self-blame, making them suffer a series of mental health problems as a result
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