Demographic and COVID Experience Predictors of COVID-19 Risk Perception among Chinese Residents in Canada

Abstract

The current study aimed to identify demographic and COVID experience predictors for COVID-19 risk perception among Chinese residents in Canada. A final sample of 653 participants aged 18 and up completed an online survey in simplified Chinese during the peak of the first wave of COVID-19 (25 April–10 June 2020). After removing those with missing data on demographic covariates, as missing data cannot be imputed, 444 were included in the structural equation model, and COVID-19 risk perception was indexed by three outcome variables: self-infection risk perception (i.e., likelihood of personal infection of COVID-19); threat perception (i.e., whether the pandemic is a real threat); and future infection rate prediction (i.e., a latent variable for community, Ontario, Canada, and World infection rate predictions). Predictors included demographic (i.e., income, gender, education, age, household size, employment status, and life satisfaction) and COVID experience variables (i.e., personal connection with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, self-isolation experience, perceived anti-Chinese discrimination, and confusion over COVID-19 information). In the structural equation model, we found increased risk perception for the following demographic and COVID experience predictors; women, relatively higher education, living alone, working in a medical field, lower in life satisfaction, having personal connection with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, with perceived anti-Chinese discrimination, or showing high confusion over COVID-19 information.