Introduction: During emergencies, individuals and communities often react in a variety of ways, including panic response. However, the study of panic response is limited due to narrow assessment tools that measure only one or two dimensions of human response (eg, physiology, cognition, emotion, and behavior). To address this limitation and to explore the risk and protective factors of panic response during the global spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the current study developed and evaluated the Panic Response Scale (PRS).
Methods: Four samples were recruited for the following purposes: interview analysis (n = 26); item analysis and exploratory factor analysis (n = 604); confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis (n = 603); and retest reliability, validity analysis, and regression analysis (n = 349).
Results: The PRS consists of 21 items with four subscales: Physical Discomfort, Anxious Fluster, Sensitive Depression, and Excessive Prevention. Each of these subscales demonstrated good internal consistency (rs > 0.73), test-retest reliability (rs > 0.77), criterion validity (r = 0.69, p < 0.01), and convergent validity (rs = 0.31– 0.65, p < 0.01). Regression analysis revealed significant predicting effects of COVID-19 knowledge and neuroticism on panic response. Additionally, cognitive reappraisal moderated the association between neuroticism and panic response.
Discussion: Following a traumatic event, the PRS offers a potential tool for identifying individuals in need of mental health services. Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, knowledge and neuroticism served as risk factors for heightened panic response, while cognitive reappraisal served as a protective factor for coping with panic response.
Keywords: COVID-19, panic response, knowledge, neuroticism, cognitive reappraisal