A Study on the Public’s Crisis Management Efficacy and Anxiety in a Pandemic Situation—Focusing on the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea

Abstract

Social distancing, shutdown, and lockdown policies have recently been implemented worldwide to help slow the spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has caused economic, social, and cultural crises on a global scale. To help create safe communities, we aimed to analyze the factors affecting the public’s anxiety and efficacy to overcome crises. The results show that efficacy is associated with sex, education, central government support, the public hygiene environment, and public hygiene behaviors. Anxiety was shown to have a negative relationship with central government support, a positive relationship with civilian support, and a negative relationship with efficacy. For a country to prevent the spread of a novel infectious disease, alleviate the anxiety of the population, and construct a safe community in the midst of a global pandemic, active central government support and response, protection of vulnerable populations, publicization of policies, and crisis management communication are essential. In particular, identifying an evidence-based method to understand and address the psychological and social influences of COVID-19, such as excessive fear and discrimination, providing insight into risk factors associated with future society for policy makers, and establishing potential and sustainable public health communication strategies are of paramount importance.