The Psychology

ofPandemics
The Psychology
ofPandemics:

Preparing for the Next Global

Outbreak of Infectious Disease

By

Steven Taylor

Cambridge
Scholars
Publishing
The Psychology ofPandemics:
Preparingfor the Next Global Outbreak of I n fectious Disease

BySteven Taylor

This book first published 2019

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

LadyStephensonLibrary, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK

British Library Cataloguing inPublication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Copyright © 2019 bySteven Taylor

All rights for this book reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any fonn or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior pennission ofthe copyright owner.

ISBN (10):1-5 275-3959-8

ISBN (13):978-1-5275-3959-4
For Anna, Alex, and Meeru
 CONTENTS

Foreword.......................................................................................................................... xi

Preface .............................................................................................................................. xv

About the Author ...................................................................................................... xvii

List of Acronyms ......................................................................................................... xix

1. What is a pandemic? ............................................................................................... 1

Overview
Definition
Notable pandemics
Nomenclature
Pandemic influenza
Pandemic-related stressors
Effects on the healthcare system
Economic costs
How do pandemics spread?
Socioeconomic factors
Goals of this volume

2. Contemporary methods for managing pandemics .................................. 15

Overview
Risk communication
Pharmacological treatments
Hygiene practices
Social distancing
Conclusion

3. Psychological reactions to pandemics .......................................................... 23

Importance of psychological factors
Emotional reactions to threats of harm, loss, and change
The desperate pursuit of quack cures and folk remedies
Civil unrest, rioting, and mass panic
viii Table of Contents

Immunologically induced psychological reactions

Interactions between stress and the immune system
Conclusion

4. Personality traits as emotional vulnerability factors ............................. 39

Vulnerability to emotional distress
Personality traits
Negative emotionality
Trait anxiety and harm avoidance
Overestimation of threat
Intolerance of uncertainty
Monitoring versus blunting
Unrealistic optimism bias
Other personality traits
Conclusion

5. Cognitive-behavioral models of health anxiety.........................................49

What is health anxiety?
Misinterpretations of health-related stimuli
Beliefs about health and disease
Focus of attention
Adaptive and maladaptive coping
Treating health anxiety
Conclusion

6. The behavioral immune system ....................................................................... 57

Detection and avoidance of sickly others
Perceived vulnerability to disease
Disgust sensitivity
Pathogens and prejudice
Implications for naming diseases
Conclusion

7. Conspiracy theories............................................................................................... 63
What are conspiracy theories?
Medical conspiracy theories
Causes and correlates of conspiratorial thinking
Methods for reducing conspiratorial thinking
Conclusion
 The Psychology of Pandemics ix

8. Social psychological factors ............................................................................... 69

How do beliefs and fears spread through social networks?
Rumors
Observational learning
News media
Social media
Social media and vaccination attitudes
Conclusion

9. Improving risk communication........................................................................ 79

Goals of risk communication
Logical versus emotional appeals
Promoting adherence by evoking fear?
Psychological distance influences perceived risk
Managing rumors
Conclusion

10. Improving vaccination adherence................................................................ 87

Negative beliefs about vaccination
Factors contributing to vaccination hesitancy
Changing vaccination attitudes
Do it for the herd
Targeting superspreaders
Treating injection phobia
Is mandatory vaccination a viable option?
Conclusion

11. Treating pandemic-related emotional distress ...................................... 99

A screen-and-treat approach
Screening methods
Interventions for pandemic-related distress
Stress management advice for the general public
Helping the helpers
Conclusion

12. General conclusions and future directions............................................ 1 07

A portrait of the next pandemic
Managing future pandemics
A roadmap for future research
x Table of Contents

References ................................................................................................................... 113

Index ............................................................................................................................... 155

 FOREWORD

I've admired Or. Taylor's work since I began reading it as a graduate

student in the mid-1990s. His books and research articles on anxiety
disorders stood out as particularly brilliant and eloquent Inevitably,
our paths began to cross as we attended the same professional
conferences each year and were members of the Obsessive-Compulsive
Cognitions Working Group (OCCWG) that formed in the late 1990s. But
it was at one particular OCCWG meeting in 2001 in Whistler, British
Columbia-and the ensuing World Congress of Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy in Vancouver-where we developed the collaborative
relationship that has remained to this day. And what a productive
relationship it's been' As of this writing, we have published four books,
2 5 journal articles, and 22 book chapters together (most of them with
a third colleague, Dr. Dean McKay). I have collaborated with countless
colleagues on many research and writing projects, but Dr. Taylor tops
them all when it comes to his astonishing mix of proficiency and
efficiency.
So, what's a psychologist like Or. Taylor doing writing a book about
pandemics-a seemingly medical conundrum for biologists and
physicians to sort out? I'll tell you what: He's synthesizing his interest
in history, extensive grasp of research on social psychology and human
behavior, and his substantial expertise on anxiety disorders to help us
appreciate pandemics as a psychological problem as much as a medical
one.
Communicable diseases existed during humankind's hunter­
gatherer days. But it wasn't until about 10,000 years ago when we
began living in communities and domesticating animals, that outbreaks
of sicknesses such as malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, influenza,
smallpox, and others first appeared. Humans were blindsided, having
little or no immunity to these viruses, and certainly no knowledge of
how they could spread so easily (no one would propose that
microorganisms caused these diseases until after 1000 AD). The more
interactive human civilizations became-forming cities and establishing
trade routes to connect with other cities-the more the probability of
pandemics increased.
xii Foreword

Fast forward to modernity, where people are exceedingly mobile

and more likely to live in densely populated cities-factors tliat
increase the risk of viruses spreading. Where hasty communication
through a dizzying array of media also escalates the risk of panic and
the chance that people who may be infected will travel in an attempt to
avoid illness-potentially contributing to the spread of the virus.
Months or years would go by before vaccines become available. In the
meantime, clinics and hospitals would be overburdened, and there
could be a lack of human resources to provide crucial services, due to
both the demand and illness.
My point is that our behavior increases the chances of a pandemic. ..
and our chances that if one occurred, it could be catastrophic.
And tlien there's the health anxiety factor-which Or. Taylor knows
so well from his decades of research on the topic. Such psychological
elements often receive short-shrift when considered within the context
of medical diseases. But the information age in which we currently live
exposes us to so much data (and distortions) about health and illness
it's not surprising we're vulnerable to overestimating our risk of, and
vulnerability to, disease. Many of us try to cope with inaccurate beliefs
about health and disease in ways that only strengthen such fears and
lead them to persist and even spread. In turn, this leads to the kinds of
unhealthy practices tliat may ironically aid the spread of the next
pandemic.
Other clinical and social psychological factors tliat Dr. Taylor shows
us are relevant for understanding pandemics include prejudices, the
way we name diseases, the role of the media (not surprisingly,
including social media), attitudes toward vaccinations, howwe manage
rumors, and the psychology of conspiracies. Syntliesizing all of tliis, Dr.
Taylor gives us a picture of how human factors impact the spreading of
disease and emotional disturbance. He convinces us that knowledge of
cognition and behavior will be critical for managing it-or, more
optimistically, preventing it Further, he proposes changes to public
health policies and for how we can best exchange information about
health risks.
In classic Steven Taylor style, this work is comprehensive, fusing
viewpoints from multiple diverse disciplines. It is tlioughtful and
persuasive, grounded in scientific facts. And it has clear societal
implications for us to heed. It also provides a call (and outline) for
future research in medicine and clinical, health, and social psychology.
As such, this book more than accomplishes its goals-it makes an
 The Psychology of Pandemics xiii

exceptional contribution and fills a crucial gap in the literature on

pandemics.

Jonathan S. Abramowitz, PhD

Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
University ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill
 PREFACE

There have been numerous pandemics over the past century and
earlier, typically arising from some form of influenza. Pandemic
influenza is widely considered to be one of the leading public health
threats facing the world today. Virologists predict that the next
influenza pandemic could arrive any time in the coming years, with
potentially devastating consequences. People do not have pre-existing
immunity to the pathogens causing pandemics. Effective drug
treatments are not always available. Vaccinations, if available, and
behavioral methods are first-line interventions for reducing morbidity
and mortality. Behavioral methods include hygienic practices (e.g.,
hand-washing) and social distancing methods (e.g., limiting large social
gatherings).
The question arises as to how best apportion healthcare resources
for managing pandemics. Such resources, by definition, are limited. It is
important that resources be apportioned to essential services and to
the development and distribution of vaccines and other methods for
halting or limiting the spread of infection. Remarkably, public health
agencies have devoted few resources for specifically dealing with the
psychological factors that influence pandemic-related emotional
reactions (e.g., fear, anxiety, distress) and behavioral problems (e.g.,
nonadherence, avoidance, stigmatization of out-groups). Healthcare
authorities neglect the role of psychological factors in pandemic­
related infection even though these factors are important for many
reasons. They play a vital role, for example, in adherence to vaccination
and social distancing, both of which are vital for stemming the spread
of infection. Nonadherence to vaccination is a widespread problem
even during pandemics.
Psychological factors also play an important role in the way in which
people cope with the threat of pandemic infection and its sequelae, such
as the loss of loved ones. Although many people cope well under threat,
many other people experience high levels of distress or a worsening of
pre-existing psychological problems, such as anxiety disorders and
other clinical conditions. Psychological factors are further important
for understanding and managing broader societal problems associated
xvi Preface

with pandemics, such as factors involved in the spreading of excessive

fear. People may fear for their health, safety, family, finances, or jobs.
Psychological factors are also important for understanding and
managing the potentially disruptive or maladaptive defensive
reactions, such as increases in stigmatization and xenophobia that
occur when people are threatened with infection.
The purpose of this volume is to fill an important gap in the
literature on pandemics. Goals are to (1) describe the psychological
reactions to pandemics, including maladaptive behaviors and emotional
and defensive reactions, (2) review the psychological vulnerability
factors that contribute to the spreading of disease and emotional
distress, (3) discuss empirically supported methods for addressing
these psychological problems, and (4) outline the implications for
public health policy, including implications for risk communication.
Influenza pandemics are used as prototypic examples because they
have been the most common pandemics over the past century and
influenza is likely to be a source of future pandemics. Other disease
outbreaks are discussed where relevant
To achieve the aims of this volume, the author draws on sources
from multiple disciplines, including virology, epidemiology, public
health, sociology, history of medicine and, of course, psychology.
Numerous sub disciplines within psychology are drawn upon, including
clinical psychology, health psychology, and social psychology. In
addition to drawing extensively from the research literature, case
examples are included throughout this volume to highlight important
issues.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steven Taylor, Ph.D., is a Professor and Clinical Psychologist in the

Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia,
Vancouver, Canada. He received his B.Se. (Hons.) and M.Se. at the
University of Melbourne, and Ph.D. at the University of British
Columbia. Dr. Taylor's research and clinical work focuses largely on
anxiety disorders and related clinical conditions, including fears and
phobias, health anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and obsessive­
compulsive disorder. He has authored over 300 scientific publications
and more than 2 0 books, which have been translated into several
languages. His books include Understanding and treating panic disorder
(John Wiley & Sons), Treating health anxiety (Guilford Publications),
and Clinician 's Guide to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Guilford
Publications). Or. Taylor was a member of the anxiety disorders
committee for the text revision of the fourth edition of the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual ofMental Disorders. He has also served as Editor
or Associate Editor of several academic journals, including Behaviour
Research and Therapy, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, and the
Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. Dr. Taylor has
received a number of awards for his scholarly work, including awards
from the Canadian Psychological Association, Association for
Advancement of Behavior Therapy, and the Anxiety Disorders
Association of America. In addition to teaching and research, Or. Taylor
maintains a clinical practice in Vancouver, BC, specializing in mood and
anxiety disorders.
ACRONYMS USED THROUGHOUT THIS VOLUME

B1S Behavioral immune system

CBr Cognitive-behavior therapy
CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
HCW Healthcare worker
HIV Human immunodeficiency virus
PTSD Posttraumatic stress disorder
PVD Perceived vulnerability to disease
PVDS Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Scale
SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome
WHO World Health Organization
 CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS A PANDEMIC?

Overview

Despite the passage of decades, 96-year-old James S. vividly

recalled the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. He was 8 years old at
the time. The city had ground to a halt Schools and theaters were
closed, and dances and other social gatherings were banned.
James was not even allowed to go to the local playground
because his father feared he would fall ill. Church services were
banned, despite protests from the clergy. James recalled the pine
caskets in the front room of the family home, containing the
bodies of his mother and younger sister. It all happened so
quickly; people could fall sick in the morning and be dead by
evening. People were afraid to leave their homes, he recalled,
although it was necessary for the government to impose fines if
an infected person was out in public, because some sick people
refused to stay indoors.

Pandemic influenza is one of the leading health threats currently

facing the world (World Health Organization (WHO), 2019). The rise of
antimicrobial resistance, along with the emergence of new, highly
pathogenic viral strains, has fueled fears of another global outbreak of
infectious disease (Nerlich & Halliday, 2007). For pandemics in general,
the causal elements are manifold and complex. The essential elements
are an infectious agent (e.g., a virus or bacterium), a host (e.g., a
person), and the environment. The host's resistance to infection
depends on several factors including immunocompetence as well as
psychological factors that influence how the host copes with or reacts
to threatened or actual infection. Environmental factors are numerous
and multiform, including factors that promote or hamper the coping
strategies of the host.
2 Chapter 1

This book focuses on the psychological factors as they pertain to the

host and host-environment interactions in pandemics. Put simply,
pandemics of infectious disease are not just events in which some
infectious "bug" spreads throughout the world. Pandemics are events
in which the population's psychological reactions to infection play an
essential role in both the spreading and containment of the disease, and
influence the extent to which widespread emotional distress and social
disorder occur. When threatened with infection, people vary widely in
their reactions. The complexities of their reactions need to be taken
into consideration in order to understand the psychology ofpandemics.
The present volume aims to explore these issues through a review of
the scientific and historical literatures, supplemented by illustrative
case vignettes derived from various sources including historical
sources and the author's clinical case files. This book also considers the
public health implications for assessing and addressing pandemic­
related emotional distress, and for addressing pandemic-related social
or behavioral problems, such as vaccination nonadherence.
The focus of this book is on influenza pandemics because influenza
is the most likely source of the next pandemic. However, findings from
other pertinent outbreaks, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS), Bubonic Plague, Ebola virus disease, and others, are discussed
where relevant.

Definition

Pandemics are large-scale epidemics afflicting millions of people

across multiple countries, sometimes spreading throughout the globe
(WHO, 2010b). For a virus or bacterium to cause a pandemic it must be
an organism for which most people do not have preexisting immunity,
transmitting easily from person to person, and causing severe illness
(Kilbourne, 1977). Diseases causing pandemics are part of a group of
conditions known as emerging infectious diseases (Lederberg, Shope,
& Oakes, 1992), which include newly identified pathogens as well as
reemerging ones.

Notable Pandemics

The most famous pandemic was the Bubonic Plague (e.g., 1346-
1 3 5 3), attributed to Yersinia pestis, which killed an estimated 50 million
people worldwide Oohnson & Mueller, 2002). Over the past century,
 What is a pandemic? 3

there have been many other pandemics of varying degrees of

contagiousness and lethality. Examples include HIV/AIDS (1981 to
present), the Spanish flu (a strain of the Hi Ni influenza virus; 1918-
1920), Russian flu (H2N2 or H3N8, 1889-1 890), Asian flu (H2N2, 1957-
1958), Hong Kong flu (H3N2, 1968-1969), a second Russian flu
pandemic (H1Nl, 1977-1978), Swine flu (H1Nl, 2009-2010), and the
Zika virus pandemic (2015-2016) (Belshe, 2005; Crosby, 2003;
Doherty, 2013; Honigsbaum, 2014; Morens & Fauci, 2017; WHO,
2010b). Avian flu has been widespread in recent years but at the time
of writing has not reached pandemic proportions.

Nomenclature

The notation system for influenza, HxNx (e.g., H1Nl, H3N8) refers
to the virus's hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N) membrane
proteins. Terms such as "Swine flu" and "Asian flu" have become
standard labels for pandemics. Such names are used here because
readers will likely be familiar with them. However, as we will see later,
such terms should be used with caution. The terms "flu" and "influenza"
also can be sources of confusion. With the exception of the established
names for pandemics (e.g., "Swine flu"), the term "influenza" rather
than "flu" will be used throughout this book because "flu" is a vague,
broad term used to describe symptoms and signs that may or may not
be caused by an influenza virus (e.g., fever, cough, runny nose, muscle
aches; Doshi, 2013).

Pandemic Influenza

Pandemics are usually viral in nature, typically arising from animal

influenza viruses that spread to humans (WHO, 201 0b). It is difficultto
predict when the next influenza pandemic will occur.

Despite continuing progress in many areas, including enhanced human

and animal surveillance and large-scale viral genomic screening, we are
probably no better able today to anticipate and prevent the emergence
of pandemic influenza than 5 centuries ago, as shown by the completely
unexpected emergence of the 2009 novel HINl pandemic virus.
(Morens, Taubenberger, Folkers, & Fauci, 2010, p. 1444)

It has been speculated that future pandemics will arise from some
strain of Avian influenza (e.g., H5Nl or H7N9) or from combinations of
4 Chapter 1

Avian and other influenza strains (Kelland, 2017; Li et a!., 2010;

Webster & Govorkova, 2006; Wildoner, 2016). The next influenza
pandemic is inevitable and serious (Laver & Webster, 2001; Webby &
Webster, 2003).

The world's population would have no immunity to this "new" virus.

Because of today's crowded conditions and with modern rapid
transportation facilities, the epidemic would spread like wildfire,
reaching every corner of the globe. Many millions of people would
become ill and there would certainly be many deaths. (Laver & Webster,
2001, p. 1813)

The frequent genetic mutation and genetic reassortment of

influenza viruses make it difficult, if not impossible, to prevent
influenza pandemics from occurring (Kelland, 2017). Compounding the
problem, viral pandemics, just like comparatively smaller-scale
epidemics, are often followed by secondary bacterial infection (e.g.,
hospital-acquired pneumonia), thereby complicating treatment and
increasing the risk of mortality (Morens et a!., 2010). Indeed, 95% of
post-mortem samples from the Spanish flu pandemic showed bacterial
infection complications, and the majority of deaths likely resulted from
secondary bacterial pneumonia caused by common upper respiratory
tract bacteria (Morens, Taubenberger, & Fauci, 2008).
Influenza pandemics and seasonal influenza have some similarities
but important differences. Pandemic influenza can arise during the
usual influenza season-that is, the winter months in temperate
climates-but can also occur during the summer (Taubenberger &
Morens, 2006). Pandemic influenza, by definition, spreads globally (i.e.,
is more transmissible; Fraser et a!., 2009), is often (but not always)
more lethal (Doherty, 2013), and can differ from seasonal influenza in
terms of the people most severely afflicted. Seasonal influenza tends to
be most dangerous to the elderly and medically frail, whereas some
influenza pandemics have taken the greatest toll on other age groups.
To illustrate, consider the Spanish flu, which killed 20% of those
infected (Taubenberger & Morens, 2006), with an estimated death toll
of 35-100 million people worldwide, or 2-6% of the world's population
(Barry, 2009; Johnson & Mueller, 2002). The Spanish flu was most
lethal to children and young adults (Taubenberger & Morens, 2006).
Similarly, young adults were more susceptible to Swine flu than older
adults (Crum-Cianflone et a!., 2009).
 What is a pandemic? 5

Some pandemics killed with great rapidity. In the case of the

Spanish flu, there were numerous accounts of people waking up sick in
the morning and dying later that day, on their way to work, for example
(Crosby, 2003; Pettigrew, 1983). The deaths were sometimes gruesome.
Some victims of the Spanish flu developed pulmonary edema and
became so anoxic that their faces turned blue. Some of these patients
hemorrhaged from the mucous membranes, particularly the nose,
stomach, and intestines, and there was also bleeding from the ears and
petechial (skin) hemorrhages (Taubenberger, Reid, Janczewski, &
Fanning, 2001).

Pandemic- Related Stressors

Pandemics are "frequently marked by uncertainty, confusion and a

sense of urgency" (WHO, 2005, p. 1). Prior to, or in the early stages of a
pandemic, there is widespread uncertainty about the odds and
seriousness of becoming infected, along with uncertainty, and possible
misinformation, about the best methods of prevention and
management (Kanadiya & Sallar, 2011). Uncertainty may persist well
into the pandemic, especially concerning the question of whether a
pandemic is truly over. Pandemics can come in waves (Barry, 2005;
Caley, Philp, & McCracken, 2008; Herrera-Valdez, Cruz-Aponte, &
Castillo-Chavez, 2011). Waves of infection are caused, in part, by
fluctuations in patterns of human aggregation, such as seasonal
movements of people away from, and then into contact with, one
another (e.g., schools closing for the summer and then reopening), as
well as other fluctuations in social aggregation (Caley et aI., 2008;
Herrera-Valdez et aI., 2011). The Spanish flu, for example, came in three
waves (Barry, 2005). Accordingly, there may be uncertainty as to
whether a pandemic has truly run its course.
Pandemics are associated with a score of other psychosocial
stressors, including health threats to oneself and loved ones. There may
be severe disruptions of routines, separation from family and friends,
shortages of food and medicine, wage loss, social isolation due to
quarantine or other social distancing programs, and school closure
(Shultz, Espinel, Flynn, Hoffmann, & Cohen, 2008). Families may
become malnourished if no one in the house is well enough to shop or
cook (Schoch-Spana, 2004). Personal financial hardship can occur if a
family's primary wage earner is unable to work because of illness.
During the Spanish flu, for example, merchants suffered hardship
6 Chapter 1

because of staff absenteeism and because shoppers were either too ill
or too frightened to venture out to the stores (Pettigrew, 1983). The
personal financial impact of a pandemic can be as severe and stressful
as the infection itself, especially for people who are already
experiencing financial hardship. This is illustrated by the following
account of one American family during the Spanish flu pandemic.

In December 1918 influenza struck, infecting Mr. D. and then his wife
and five children. By late December he had been out of work for three
weeks due to his own illness and then that of his family. For the first few
weeks the family had managed on their meager savings and on money
sent from a relative. After that, the family became frantic and
approached the Society of the Friendless for aid. Mr. D. was unable to go
to work because he dared not leave his sick family unattended. The
situation became increasingly desperate. They had run out of coal for
heating and there was no food in the house. Having no money, Mr. D.
attempted to get credit at the grocery store but was declined.
Compounding his problems, Mr. D. lost his job because of his absence
from work. (Bristow, 2010, pp. 139-140)

During a pandemic, people may be exposed to the death of friends

and loved ones, including exposure to the death of children. The latter
can be especially traumatizing (Taylor, 2017). Caring for the sick can be
highly stressful, especially if this burden falls on children, as illustrated
by the following example from Britain, during the Spanish flu.

Writing from Coventry in 1973, Ethel Robson recalled how at the age of
nine she was suddenly thrust into the role of sole caretaker for her
family when her eight brothers and sisters, ranging in ages from 10
months to 15 years, contracted the flu together with her mother. For
some reason, Robson writes, "I was the only one out of all the family that
didn't have the virus." Although a doctor visited twice a day, no one else
was allowed into the house, "therefore I was doing my best to help the
others:· (Honigsbaum, 2009, p. 86)

Most of Robson's siblings recovered but her seven-year-old sister

and mother died. "It really was a terrible time not knowing who we
were going to lose next," she recalled (Honigsbaum, 2009, p. 86).
The following account from northern Labrador (Canada), during the
Spanish flu pandemic, was provided by the Reverend WaIter Perrett,
concerning an eight-year-old girl, whose parents and siblings had died
from influenza, leaving the young girl alone to fend for herself for five
weeks before being found.
 What is a pandemic? 7

The huskies (dogs) now began to eatthe dead bodies, and the child was
a spectator of this horrible incident. So mad did the beasts become,
upon taking human flesh, that they attacked the child herself, biting her
arm. ... It was thirty degrees below zero. The little girl had used the last
of the Christmas candles to melt snow for drinking water (Pettigrew,
1983, pp. 29-30).

A pandemic can impede a community's ability to bury the dead

according to accepted cultural and religious practices. During the
Spanish flu pandemic, there were shortages of coffins and insufficient
funeral staff to prepare and bury bodies (Johnson, 2006). Handling of
the deceased is an emotionally charged issue, and neglect of customary,
culturally prescribed, funerary practices can be experienced as
abhorrent and dehumanizing (Schoch-Spana, 2004).
Indirect exposure to trauma, such as graphic media depictions of
fatalities, can also contribute to distress (Neria & Sullivan, 2011). Other
stressors include the loss or destruction of possessions. When people
are forced to evacuate their homes, leaving their possessions behind,
looting can occur (Staino, 2008).
Cultural minorities residing within a larger mainstream culture,
such as new immigrants, may experience stressors that are not
encountered by people from the majority culture, such as unfamiliarity
with community support systems, difficulty accessing services due to
language difficulties, discrimination, and immigration status issues.
Thus, during times of pandemic, some ethnic minorities may
experience more adverse psychological consequences than members
from the majority culture (Shultz et aI., 2008).

Effects on the Healthcare System

Pandemics can exceed the capacities of healthcare systems to care

for the sick This is for various reasons including widespread infection,
lack of effective treatment, and breakdown of the healthcare system
due to healthcare workers (HeWs) becoming infected and unable to
care for the ill (National Academy of Medicine, 2016). Failure to manage
the surge of people into hospitals and clinics can create unnecessary
exposure to disease as infected and non-infected persons congregate to
seek services and treatments (Shultz et aI., 2008). Sick people may be
turned away from overcrowded, short-staffed hospitals, thereby
necessitating home care (Schoch-Spana, 2004). This can create a
financial burden in arranging home care for a sick family member.
8 Chapter 1

Economic Costs

Pandemics can have major effects on the broader economy and

societal infrastructure. As people become ill and unable to fulfill their
occupational roles, essential services may break down (Shultz,
Baingana, & Neria, 2015). In Baltimore during the Spanish flu, for
example, garbage piled up in the streets due to absenteeism of
sanitation personnel (Schoch-Spana, 2004). This created further public
health problems. Even with effective vaccines and antiviral medications,
it has been estimated that the next influenza pandemic could result in
economic losses of over US$34 billion in the United States (Prager, Wei,
& Rose, 2017). Worldwide, it has been estimated that the next
pandemic could cost over US$6 trillion in economic losses (National
Academy of Medicine, 2016).

How do Pandemics Spread?

Human networks are the major means of pandemic disease

transmission (Wald, 2008). Influenza is readily spread by inhaling
airborne cough or sneeze droplets, and by touching one's mouth, nose,
or eyes after touching fomites. The latter are contaminated surfaces in
public spaces, such as doors, railings, or tabletops, or contaminated
objects such as toys, doorknobs, and banknotes (Nicas & Jones, 2009;
Thomas et aI., 2008). Airborne transmission, combined with high
population densities in urban areas and the availability of modern
rapid transportation, makes it easy for influenza infection to spread
rapidly.
Some people disproportionately contribute to the spreading of
infection. These people are known as superspreaders (Galvani & May,
2005). In prototypic cases of superspreading as few as 20% of infected
people may be responsible for 80% of transmissions (Woolhouse et aI.,
1997). A superspreader is likely to be someone who (1) is not
immunized or is immunocompromised and therefore particularly
susceptible to infection, (2) does not engage in basic hygiene (e.g.,
covering coughs) and therefore likely to transmit influenza, (3) comes
into contact with a great many people, through some combination of
their social and occupational roles (e.g., a flight attendant, cafeteria
worker, or someone with a highly active social life), or comes into
regular contact with sick people that are particularly susceptible to
infection (e.g., a hospital worker that deals with patients but refuses to
 What is a pandemic? 9

be vaccinated) (Galvani & May, 2005; Shen et a!., 2004; Temime et a!.,
2009).
Superspreading is also shaped by other factors, including the nature
of the infectious agent and herd immunity. Herd immunity, also known
as community immunity, refers to the indirect protection from infectious
disease that occurs when a large proportion of the population becomes
immune to infection, which provides a degree of protection to people
who are not immune (Fine, Eames, & Heymann, 2011). This impedes
the spread of infection by disrupting the chains of contagion.
Superspreading is especially likely to occur for diseases that have
substantial incubation periods; that is, periods in which infected people
are contagious but asymptomatic, meaning that the person may be
unknowingly spreading disease to others. Incubation periods for
influenza may vary from person to person (Virlogeux et a!., 2016) and
may depend on the strain. During the 2009 Swine flu pandemic, the
incubation period was 1-4 days (Nishiura & Inaba, 2011; Tuite et a!.,
2010). A study conducted in China during the Avian flu epidemic found
thatthe median incubation period was 8 days (Huang et a!., 2014). Such
a long incubation period means that a person may infect many other
people before becoming symptomatic.
The 2003 SARS outbreak is an example in which superspreading
was well-documented (Shen et a!., 2004). SARS, which spreads in a
manner similar to influenza, can have an incubation period of2-10 days
(Shen et a!., 2004). In one case of SARS superspreading, a 62-year-old
woman was admitted to a Beijing hospital for treatment of diabetes
mellitus. While in hospital, her SARS symptoms became apparent (e.g.,
fever, headache) but were misdiagnosed as tuberculosis. Her clinical
condition deteriorated and she died. During her hospital stay, she had
74 close contacts, including 2 5 HCWs, 1 1 relatives, 36 co-patients in the
same ward, and 2 people who accompanied other patients on the ward.
Among these close contacts, SARS developed in 33 (45%) of the 74
people (Shen et a!., 2004). Superspreaders have also been reported for
many other outbreaks of infectious disease, such as the Middle East
Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (e.g., AI-Tawfiq & Memish, 2016;
Lau et a!., 2017).
Historically, the most famous superspreader was Mary Mallon,
dubbed "Typhoid Mary" by the news media (Soper, 1939). Typhoid is a
highly contagious infectious disease caused by Salmonella typhi. People
can be chronically asymptomatic carriers (Wain, Hendriksen, Mikoleit,
Keddy, & Ochiai, 2015). At the turn of the 20th century, typhoid
epidemics were commonplace, with no effective treatment (Soper,
10 Chapter 1

1939). From 1902-1909, Mallon, a chronic but asymptomatic carrier,

infected more than 50 people with typhoid before she was involuntarily
quarantined in a hospital for communicable diseases in New York
What made her case tragic was that she stubbornly refused to give up
working as a cook, despite being infected, which led to her involuntary
confinement. It was quite obvious that Mallon was infecting people.
Each time she moved to a new house to serve as a household cook, the
occupants became sick Never staying long, she moved from house to
house, gaining her employment through job placement agencies.
Mallon adamantly denied being infected, even after infecting so many
people and being involuntarily quarantined.

The authorities offered to release Mallon [from quarantine] if she would

agree to give up professional cooking or have her gall bladder removed,
since it was believed [erroneously] to be the site of her chronic
infection. She rejected both offers, and denied that she was responsible
for anyone's sickness or death. She refused to recognize the authority of
science or government to label her a menace to society. . "I never had
..

typhoid in my life, and have always been healthy," Mallon told one
reporter. 'Why should I be banished like a leper and compelled to live
in solitary confinement with only a dog for a companion?" (Brooks,
1996, p. 916)

Mallon was released on the proviso that she promised not to work
as a cook, not to handle the food of others, observe various other
precautions, and report to the New York City Department of Health
every three months (Soper, 1939). But on release, she promptly
disappeared, changed her name, and resumed working as a cook in
hotels, restaurants, and sanatoria. While working at a maternity
hospital she infected 25 people. She was later apprehended and
returned to the quarantine hospital, where she spent the remainder of
her life (Brooks, 1996).
The case of Typhoid Mary is relevant to a future influenza pandemic
in that it is possible that some people will be asymptomatic carriers of
influenza. As many as 36% of people infected with seasonal influenza
may be asymptomatic and never show symptoms, possibly due to
preexisting partial immunity (Furuya-Kanamori et aI., 2016). Such
people can inadvertently transmit the virus to other people, but not at
the same rate as symptomatic people (Bridges, Kuehnert, & Hall, 2003).
Mary Mallon adamantly denied that she was inflected with typhoid,
and so her spreading of typhoid did not appear to be intentional. But
what about the intentional spread of infection? There have been
 What is a pandemic? 11

numerous cases of people deliberately spreading infection during

pandemics, such as HIV-positive people deliberately or recklessly
infecting others (e.g., BBC News, 2001; Hammond, Holmes, & Mercier,
2016; Wainberg, 2008; Watt, 2017). Several writers have speculated
that influenza could be deliberately spread as part of a bioterrorist
attack (e.g., Krug, 2003; Lutz, Bronze, & Greenfield, 2003; Quick, 2018;
Ricks, 2003; Wiwanitkit, 2015). To date, however, there have been no
documented accounts of people deliberately spreading influenza.
Unintentional spreading of infection due to poor hygiene (e.g.,
neglecting to cover coughs) and lack of vaccination is a more likely way
in which influenza will be disseminated during the next pandemic.

Socioeconomic Factors

How do socioeconomic factors influence the odds of infection and

distress? Although some accounts of the Spanish flu claimed that the
poor succumbed as readily as the rich (Crosby, 2003), later research
suggests that the first wave of infection primarily affected the poor,
whereas people from the upper social classes were more afflicted by
the second wave (Mamelund, 2018). Something similar happened
during the Bubonic Plague in the 16th century. Wealthy citizens fled the
infected cities to their countryside villas (Cohn, 2010). This had two
effects. First, the poorer people who were left behind were
disproportionately more likely to be infected, at least initially, since
they remained in the infected cities. Second, the wealthy, by fleeing
from the cities, brought plague to the countryside.

The poor may have been among the first victims but the pestilence
eventually levelled populations equally ... Few saw the rich surviving
any better than the poor. (Cohn, 2010, p. 208)

There are several possible reasons why the poor were among the
first victims, including overcrowding, which increases the risk of
contagion, poor housing conditions, lack of access to clean water
(increasing the risk of secondary infection), and being in poor health
before they were struck by infection (O'Sullivan & Phillips, 2019).
People with greater economic resources have great opportunities for
seeking medical care and for avoiding infection, at least in the short
term, including fleeing infected areas until the pandemic catches up
with them. The same thing may happen during the next pandemic.
Depopulation of cities occurred in past pandemics and could occur
12 Chapter 1

during the next one. The historical record, although scant in details,
suggests that both wealthy and poor people will be at risk for
pandemic-related psychological distress.

Goals of this Volume

As is evident from this introductory chapter, this book contains

numerous case reports and historical descriptions. These are not
simply "stories"; they are important examples of how people have
reacted to pandemics and other outbreaks. People are often myopic in
their threat appraisals; focusing on immediate concerns, rapidly
forgetting the lessons of the past, and neglecting to anticipate long-term
potential dangers. Indeed, it has been observed that many people too
quickly forget things like epidemics or pandemics (Crosby, 2003; Quick,
2018). Case examples and historical depictions help to vividly portray
what it is like to live during times of pandemic. Armed with such
knowledge, we are better able to anticipate and prepare for the next
pandemic.
Contemporary guidelines and approaches to managing pandemics
have focused primarily on limiting the spread of infection. Health
authorities have devoted relatively little attention to identifying and
managing psychological factors likely to influence the spreading of
emotional distress and infection (Douglas, Douglas, Harrigan, &
Douglas, 2009; Shultz et aI., 2008). This is revealed in the lack of
attention to mental health issues in pandemic preparedness documents
(e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2007; Pan­
Canadian Public Health Network, 2016; WHO, 2005). This is a
remarkable omission given that vaccination nonadherence and related
issues are essentially psychological problems, driven by people's
beliefs and expectations. Psychological factors are relevant to
behavioral methods of disease containment (e.g., hygiene and social
distancing) and for managing emotional distress and maladaptive or
disruptive behaviors that can occur during times of pandemic.
Accordingly, these are the points of focus in the present volume.
In the remaining chapters we will (1) review the nature and
importance of psychological reactions during pandemics, including
emotional reactions and maladaptive behaviors, (2) examine the
theory and research relevant for understanding psychological
reactions to pandemics, at both an individual and societal level, (3)
discuss empirically supported methods for addressing these
 What is a pandemic? 13

psychological factors, and (4) describe the implications for public

health policy, including implications for risk communication and issues
for further investigation. As mentioned, the focus is primarily on
influenza pandemics, although other infectious disease outbreaks will
be discussed as relevant
 CHAPTER 2

CONTEMPORARY METHODS FOR MANAGING

PANDEMICS

Overview

Preparation for a pandemic involves considerable time and planning.

Contemporary influenza plans (e.g., CDC, 2007; WHO, 2005) begin with
disease forecasting and surveillance (e.g., influenza forecasting
programs) to track the occurrence of outbreaks. This is followed by an
assessment of the likely risks and probable need for resources, and
plans for the optimal allocation of resources (e.g., vaccine prioritization
to particular segments of the population). Four main methods are used
to manage the spread of infection: (1) Risk communication (public
education), (2) vaccines and antiviral therapies, (3) hygiene practices,
and (4) social distancing (WHO, 2008, 2012; WHO Writing Group,
2006). Psychological factors play an essential role in the success of each
of these methods.

Risk Communication

During a pandemic, the overriding public health goal is to bring the

outbreak under control as quickly as possible with minimal disruption.
Effective risk communication is essential for achieving this goal (Barry,
2009). Health authorities have been criticized for their lack of attention
to risk communication.

In the face of an epidemic, terror, blame, rumors, and conspiracy

theories, distrust in authorities, and panic can take hold simultaneously.
This is why establishing and maintaining trust through honest, clear
communication is paramount. History continues to show us that health
communication lies atthe heart of epidemic control, yet staffing for such
communication is usually tacked onto health budgets as an
afterthought, at woefully inadequate levels. (Quick, 2018, p. 150).
16 Chapter 2

Risk communication involves giving the public the information they

need to make well-informed decisions about how to protect their
health and safety. Important elements of the WHO (2005, 2008)
communication guidelines are as follows:

1. Announce the outbreak early, even with incomplete information,

so as to minimize the spread of rumors and misinformation.
2. Provide information about what the public can do to make
themselves safer.
3. Maintain transparency to ensure public trust
4. Demonstrate that efforts are being made to understand the
public's views and concerns about the outbreak.
S. Evaluate the impact of communication programs to ensure that
the messages are being correctly understood and that the advice
is being followed.

Although the WHO guidelines might appear sound and might seem
to address psychological issues in risk communication, there are
important issues that are not addressed. For example, is adherence to
health guidelines improved by messages that induce fear in the public,
or do such messages tend to backfire? Such psychological issues merit
careful consideration and are discussed later in this volume.

Pharmacological Treatments

Vaccines and antiviral medications are the primary pharmacological

methods for managing pandemic influenza. The development of
vaccines for infectious diseases is a time consuming, costly business,
with a more than 90% failure rate (Gouglas et aI., 2018). ln other words,
the overwhelming majority of experimental vaccines prove to be
ineffective. During the Spanish flu pandemic, experimental vaccines
were developed on the erroneous assumption that the Spanish flu was
bacterial in nature (Pettigrew, 1983). The availability of a plethora of
experimental vaccines during that pandemic created confusion for the
public, medical practitioners, and health authorities (Heagerty, 1919).
Today, even successful vaccines provide only partial protection against
infection. But that is better than no protection at all.
Antiviral medications are used to treat influenza and to provide
prophylaxis to exposed persons. Antivirals, particularly neuraminidase
inhibitors such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu), may be effective against the
 Contemporary methods for managing pandemics 17

next strain of pandemic influenza because of the track record of these

drugs in previous influenza outbreaks (Beard, Brendish, & Clark, 2018).
However, their efficacy in the next pandemic is by no means certain
because of the possible emergence of resistant strains. To complicate
matters, population-based simulation studies suggest that under
certain conditions, neuraminidase prophylaxis could have paradoxical
effects, promoting the occurrence and transmission of neuraminidase
resistant strains of influenza (Eichner et a!., 2009).
As noted in Chapter 1, evidence suggests that the majority of
Spanish flu fatalities were due to secondary bacterial pneumonia.
Therefore, antibiotics will likely play an important role in managing the
next pandemic. An issue of concern is the rise of antibiotic-resistant
bacteria. The growing prevalence of such bacteria could increase the
toll of future pandemics, even if those pandemics are viral in origin
(Megiddo et a!., 2019).
Although there has been some debate as to the safety and efficacy of
seasonal influenza vaccines (Alcalde-Cabero et a!., 2016; Babcock,
jernigan, & Relman, 2014; Doshi, 2013, 2014), health authorities
continue to emphasize the importance of vaccination for both seasonal
and pandemic influenza (CDC, 2018b; WHO, 2012). Vaccines might not
be suitable for all members of the population and there may be a risk of
adverse effects, such as Guillain Barn� Syndrome. However, such
complications are rare. It has been estimated that only one or two new
cases of Guillain Barn� Syndrome occur in every million doses of
influenza vaccine (CDC, 2018a). Some critics have argued that
vaccination for measles, mumps, and rubella increases the risk of
autism, but this has been debunked because the claim was based on
flawed and fraudulent research (Godlee, Smith, & Marcovitch, 2011).
Unfortunately, however, the link between this vaccine and autism,
although bogus, garnered a good deal of media attention, thereby
fueling fears about vaccines in general, including influenza vaccines.
A potential problem with influenza vaccines is that they might not
be available in the early stage of the next pandemic. Even if effective
vaccines are developed, there may be an insufficient supply due to
demand exceeding production capacity (Oshitani, 2006). Willingness to
be vaccinated is also a major issue affecting the success of vaccination
programs. Most people do not adhere to vaccination recommendations.
For example, only about 30% of US adults routinely receive vaccination
against seasonal influenza (Levi, Segal, St Laurent, & Lieberman, 2010).
During the Swine flu pandemic in 2009, fewer than 40% of people in
the US, UK, and Canada sought, or intended to seek, vaccination (CDC,
18 Chapter 2

2011; Statistics Canada, 2010; Steel Fisher et aI., 2012; Taha, Matheson,
& Anisman, 2013). In a study conducted in Switzerland during the same
pandemic, no more than 20% of the population sought vaccination
(Bangerter et aI., 2012). Psychological factors, as discussed later in this
book, are important for understanding seemingly self-defeating
behaviors such as vaccination nonadherence.

Hygiene Practices

Commonly recommended hygiene practices include handwashing

with soap or hand sanitizer, covering sneezes/coughs (e.g., sneezing
into the crook of one's arm), hand awareness (i.e., refraining from
touching one's eyes, nose or mouth), cleaning household surfaces, and
wearing facemasks (Aiello et aI., 2010; WHO, 200S). Research indicates
that the spread of respiratory viruses can be reduced by frequent
handwashing (Jefferson et aI., 2011). There is insufficient evidence to
determine whether efficacy is improved by using viricidals or
antiseptics instead of plain soap (Jefferson et aI., 2011).
Facemasks were widely used during the Spanish flu pandemic, and
indeed the wearing of protective facemasks was mandated by law in
many places (Arnold, 201Sb). Today, the evidence for the efficacy of
facemasks for the general public is mixed (Cowling et aI., 200S),
although N95 respirator facemasks might provide some degree of
protection against airborne pathogens (WHO, 200S). Facemasks are
more important in limiting the spread of infection in hospital settings
(Jefferson et aI., 2011).
Regarding acceptability, practices such as covering coughs,
handwashing, and using soap are typically acceptable to the general
public, whereas masks tend to be less acceptable, particularly in
Western countries (Aiello et aI., 2010; Stebbins, Downs, & Vukotich,
2009; Steel Fisher et aI., 2012). An unintended consequence of
facemasks is that the sight of people wearing masks might heighten
anxiety by serving as reminders of health-related threats (Wald, 200S).
Although handwashing is generally acceptable among people as a
means of reducing the spread of disease, this does not necessarily
translate into actual washing behaviors. Despite public health warnings,
people routinely fail to adhere to handwashing recommendations,
particularly if they are not being observed by others (Pfattheicher,
Strauch, Diefenbacher, & Schnuerch, 201S). For example, it is common
for people to fail to wash their hands after using the toilet. To illustrate,
 Contemporary methods for managing pandemics 19

a British study found thata quarter of rail and bus commuters had fecal
bacteria on their hands Oudah et a!., 2010). According to a systematic
review of 96 studies, a mean of 40% of people fail to wash their hands
after toilet use (Erasmus et a!., 2010). During the 2009 Swine flu
pandemic, people who viewed themselves as having a low risk of
infection were less likely to wash their hands (Gilles et a!., 2011). As
discussed later in this book, several psychological variables predict a
person's proclivity to engage in the hygiene behaviors necessary for
pandemic control.

Social Distancing

Social distancing refers to interventions, either recommended or

mandated by health authorities, to reduce the probability that infected
people will spread disease to others (Finkelstein, Prakash, Nigmatulina,
Klaiman, & Larson, 2010). Social distancing can include some or all of
the following, depending on the severity of an outbreak: Quarantine of
infected persons, school closure, workplace closure, cancelling mass
gatherings such as sporting events and concerts, closing recreational
facilities (e.g., community centers), closing non-essential businesses
(e.g., clubs and bars), cancelling non-essential domestic travel, self­
imposed isolation of uninfected people (e.g., remaining home, when
possible), and border and travel restrictions (Pan-Canadian Public
Health Network, 2016; WHO, 2010b). Increasing interpersonal space
has also been suggested; for example, keeping a distance of 1-2 meters
from people who show signs of infection (Pan-Canadian Public Health
Network, 2016; WHO, 2010a).
Social distancing must be applied immediately, rigorously, and
consistently to be effective (Maharaj & Kleczkowski, 2012). Social
distancing is especially important for children and teenagers (e.g.,
school closure and keeping children and teens at home), because these
age groups disproportionately contribute to the spread of infection
(Cauchemez et a!., 2009; CDC, 2007; Fraser et a!., 2009; Stebbins et a!.,
2009). According to the CDC (2007), "schools ... serve as amplification
points of seasonal community influenza epidemics, and children are
thought to play a significant role in introducing and transmitting the
influenza virus" (p. 27). Thus, schools and preschools are "hot spots"
for the dissemination of influenza (Cauchemez et a!., 2009).
School closures can be pre-emptive (i.e., before an impending
outbreak) or reactive (i.e., closure during the pandemic due to staff
20 Chapter 2

illness). Reactive closures may occur too late in an outbreak to have any
meaningful benefit (Davis et aI., 2015), whereas proactive closures can
slow the spread of infection (House et aI., 2011; Kawaguchi et aI., 2009;
Wu et aI., 2010). There has been a concern that students dismissed from
schools may congregate elsewhere, thereby undermining efforts aimed
at social distancing to mitigate disease transmission. However,
research suggests that school closure decreases the number of social
contacts among school children (Aiello et aI., 2010).
Potential adverse effects of school closure include (1) loss of access to
school nutrition programs (breakfast and lunch) for the underprivileged,
(2) lack of child-care for low-income working parents, (3) income loss
if parents have to stay home to look after their children, and (4)
disrupted learning (8erkman, 2008). These concerns are moot if
schools are simply unable to remain open during a pandemic because
of illness-related staff absenteeism. Nevertheless, if schools must be
closed then it is important to plan to mitigate the negative effects on
students and their caregivers.
As for social distancing in general, social isolation is a potential
adverse effect (Abeysinghe & White, 2010). Fortunately, however,
people can gain significant social contact and social support from social
media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat) (Trepte & Scharkow, 2017).
Therefore, physical isolation due to social distancing need not
necessarily lead to a significant erosion of social contact and social
support
The economic hardship associated with social distancing is a more
important problem. About 40% of American workers in the private
sector do not have paid sick leave (Levi et aI., 2010) and therefore suffer
economic hardship during work closure. This disproportionately
affects women, low wage-earners, and part-time workers (US Congress
Joint Economic Committee, 2010). People have also expressed
concerns about the closure of places of worship during pandemics,
citing the need for shared support and worship during times of crisis
(8aum, Jacobson, & Goold, 2009; Schoch-Spana, 2004). For these and
other reasons discussed later in this volume, many people fail to adhere
to social distancing recommendations during a pandemic. During the
2009 Swine flu pandemic, for example, a study of faculty and students
at the University of Delaware revealed that very few people (6-9%)
with acute respiratory infection actually stayed home when ill, and
many sick people (45%) attended social events even though they were
contagious (Mitchell et aI., 2011). A multinational study during the
same pandemic found that many respondents from the UK and US
 Contemporary methods for managing pandemics 21

(79% and 44%, respectively) made no effort to avoid being near

someone who had influenza-like symptoms (Steel Fisher et a!., 2012).
Most respondents (89% and 72%) made no attempt to avoid crowded
public places such as shopping centers or sporting events.
Although sick people may be advised to remain home during a
pandemic, forced isolation and quarantine may be ineffective and
impractical (WHO Writing Group, 2006). It has been well documented
that people often refuse to adhere to quarantine guidelines (e.g., BBC
News, 2003; Georges-Courbot, Leroy, & Zeller, 2002). Nonadherence to
social distancing occurs even during highly lethal outbreaks. During an
outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Africa, some family members
concealed sick relatives at home rather than sending them to
quarantine facilities (Shultz et a!., 2015). Another striking example of
defiance of quarantine laws was described during the Bubonic Plague
of 1630:

Health monitors were hired to patrol the streets watching for plague
victims. These monitors sent the plague victims to the pesthouses
[plague housesL had their belongings burned and their homes
disinfected and boarded up; very often with other family members still
inside. However, the people fought back by withholding reporting
plague cases to the authorities, risking strappado; a punishment of
having their hands bound behind their backs, and then being hung by
the wrists. People became adept at hiding their sick relatives or even co­
workers, in the hope that the victim may be spared the pesthouse.
(Staiano, 2008, p. 142)

Social distancing also can be undermined by competing government

interests. Governments sometimes attempt to deny the presence of
infection in an attempt to avoid the damaging effects that infectious
outbreaks have on foreign trade and on public anxiety. Moscow, for
example, denied the existence of Bubonic Plague in 1770, despite 4,000
deaths that year, in an attempt to maintain foreign trade (Staiano,
2008). During the 2003 SARS outbreak, health officials in China knew
about the outbreak well before it was publicly acknowledged (Cheng,
2004). Attempts to downplay the danger were also evident during the
Spanish flu. Governmental and health authorities attempted to
downplay the prevalence and seriousness of infection in an attempt to
quell public anxiety. To illustrate, in a 1918 memorandum sent from
the Canadian Department of Militia and Defence in Ottawa to the
assistant director of medical services in Toronto, it was advised that:
22 Chapter 2

Every effort must be made to control alarm, not only among the troops
but among the public and the Press. The daily publication of statistics is
very undesirable. (Pettigrew, 1983, p. 15)

Conclusion

Contemporary methods for managing pandemics include risk

communication, vaccines and antiviral medication, hygiene practices,
and social distancing. Psychological factors play an essential role in the
success or failure of each of these methods. Psychological factors are
important in the development of risk communication messages and
such factors determine the impact of such messages. Psychological
factors also play a vital role in adherence to vaccines, hygiene, and
social distancing. Nonadherence is a notorious problem. A deeper
understanding of the psychology of pandemics is needed to understand
why adherence to infection management programs can be so poor and
how it might be improved.
 CHAPTER 3

PSY CHOLOGICAL REACTIONS TO PANDEMICS

Importance of Psychological Factors

Contemporary methods for managing pandemics are largely

behavioral or educational interventions-that is, vaccination adherence
programs, hygienic practices, and social distancing-in which
psychological factors play a vital role. Excessive emotional distress
associated with threatened or actual infection is a further issue of
clinical and public health significance. Psychological factors are also
relevant for understanding and addressing the socially disruptive
behavioral patterns that can arise as a result of widespread, serious
infection.

Emotional Reactions to Threats of Harm, Loss,

and Change

Most people are resilient to stress, and many survivors of highly

stressful events will likely emerge psychologically unscathed (Shultz et
a!., 2008; Taylor, 2017). However, during the next pandemic, many
people will become fearful, some intensely so. The psychological
"footprint" will likely be larger than the medical "footprint" (Shultz et
a!., 2008). That is, the psychological effects of the next pandemic will
likely be more pronounced, more widespread, and longer-lasting than
the purely somatic effects of infection. This was seen during the 2014-
2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, in which the "epidemic offear" was
worse than the epidemic itself in terms of the number of people affected
(Desclaux, Diop, & Doyon, 2017). Excessive public fear of Ebola even
arose in the United States even though there was little or no risk of
contagion (Kilgo, Yoo, & Johnson, 2018; Parmet & Sinha, 2017). A
similar situation arose during the 2003 SARS outbreak. Although SARS
was dangerous to the elderly and medically frail (Lee, 2014), the
psychological impact of SARS was far greater than the medical impact
24 Chapter 3

in terms of the number of people affected and the duration for which
they were affected (Cheng, 2004; Washer, 2004). For some people, the
psychological effects of SARS persisted long after they had recovered
from the virus, as discussed below.
Although many people will probably experience emotional distress
during the next pandemic, the picture will be more complex. People
differ in how they react to psychosocial stressors such as the threat of,
or an actual occurrence of, a pandemic. Reactions can be diverse,
ranging from fear to indifference to fatalism (Honingsbaum, 2009;
Pettigrew, 1983; Wheaton, Abramowitz, Berman, Fabricant, & Olatunji,
2012). At one end of the spectrum, some people frankly disregard or
deny the risks, and fail to engage in recommended health behaviors
such as vaccination, hygiene practices, and social distancing. At the
other end of the spectrum, many people react with intense anxiety or
fear. A moderate level of fear or anxiety can motivate people to cope
with health threats, but severe distress can be debilitating.
Fear of an impending pandemic can precede any actual pandemic
and may have to be dealt with in addition to managing the pandemic
itself (van den Bulck & Custers, 2009). The surge of patients on
hospitals can occur even when an outbreak is only a rumor. During the
2009 Swine flu pandemic, for example, consider a study conducted in
Utah. At a time when there was heightened public concern about
influenza but little disease prevalence in Utah, emergency room
departments experienced substantial surges in patient volumes, with
the volumes comparable to the increases experienced when the disease
actually reached the state (McDonnell, Nelson, & Schunk, 2012). Most
of the surge was due to pediatric visits. Young children frequently
contract diseases with flu-like features (e.g., fever, cough, congestion),
which were likely misinterpreted by their parents as possible signs of
Swine flu.
Anxiety and fear become even more prevalent when the pandemic
actually arrives. During the early stages of the 2009 Swine flu
pandemic, for example, 24% of a UK community sample reported
significant anxiety about the outbreak (Rubin, AmI6t, Page, & Wessely,
2009). In a survey of American college students during the early stages
of the same pandemic, most (83%) reported at least some degree of
anxiety about becoming infected (Kanadiya & Sallar, 2011). Some
people may develop excessive fears of death and disability, while
others may express fears of being shunned by others if they were to
become ill (Cheng, Wong, Tsang, & Wong, 2004). Some people may
become so anxious that they experience clinically significant levels of
 Psychological reactions to pandemics 25

distress, avoidance, and functional impairment, to a level that they may

require treatment for their emotional disorder (Wheaton et a!., 2012).
Repetitive checking and reassurance seeking can occur in response
to the threat of infection (Taylor & Asmundson, 2004). During the early
stages of the Swine flu pandemic, a British government online
diagnostic website was unable to keep up with the demand for
information, with the site crashing as thousands of people simultaneously
tried to access the website (Bowcott & Carrell, 2009). Excessive
(medically unnecessary) checking and reassurance seeking are
characteristic features of people who are unduly worried about their
health (Taylor & Asmundson, 2017). Such behaviors can place a
significant burden on the healthcare system (Tyrer & Tyrer, 2018).
People who are highly anxious about being infected typically go to
great lengths to protect themselves. This may involve avoidance of
infection-related stimuli, including people, places, and things
associated with disease. People may refuse to go to work for fear of
coming in contact with infected others. During the Spanish flu
pandemic, there were reports of sick, bedridden people starving to
death because they were avoided by others (Barry, 2009). Avoidance
or fearful removal of perceived sources of infection can even extend to
animals. During the 2003 SARS outbreak in China there were
widespread reports of household dogs and cats being abandoned,
euthanized, or sometimes brutally killed (e.g., beaten to death), because
of fear that the animals might be carrying the SARS virus (Epstein,
2003).
People may go to great lengths to "decontaminate" perceived
sources of infection or to remove perceived contaminants from
themselves. This may involve behaviors that are more extreme than
mere handwashing. During the SARS outbreak, one woman in Beijing
microwaved banknotes that she had acquired from a bank, fearing that
the notes were infected. The outcome was predictable; the money burst
into flames and was incinerated (Cheng, 2004). People may engage in
all kinds of protective or safety behaviors. For example, some people
have been getting vaccinated twice in one flu season (i.e., receiving
trivalent and quadrivalent vaccines) when only one vaccination would
suffice (Saxena, 2018).
Mental disorders can be triggered or exacerbated by pandemic­
related stressors, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Shultz et a!., 2015; Wu, Chan, &
Ma, 2005). PTSD can be triggered by pandemic-related stressors such
as exposure to widespread mortality, and including the deaths of loved
26 Chapter 3

ones (Shultz et a!., 2008; Taylor, 2017). Although there are few data on
the incidence of PTSD from influenza pandemics, anecdotal reports
suggest that some survivors had repetitive, vivid, detailed recollections
of pandemic-related stressors, suggestive of PTSD reexperiencing
symptoms. Some of these occurred decades after the event, as
suggested by the following account from a 96-year-old woman who
described her repetitive, intrusive recollections of the funeral of her
mother, father, and brother in Britain during the 1918 Spanish flu
pandemic.

It's like a film in my head. There were the black horses with the plumes
made from ostrich feathers, then the gun carriage with my dad's coffin
covered with the union flag. My mother's coffin was in a big glass hearse
with Noel's coffin under the driver's seat. (Honigsbaum, 2009, p. 104)

Depression or severe grief can occur in people who have lost loved
ones during a pandemic. As recalled by one Spanish flu survivor, "Every
day there was someone we knew in the obituary columns" (Pettigrew,
1983, p. 16). Severe guilt may occur if a person believes they should
have saved loved ones or believes they were somehow responsible for
the spread of disease (Taylor, 2017).
As a pandemic unfolds, some people adapt to the threat and become
less anxious. However, in some cases the psychological effects can be
severe and long-lasting. Research on the SARS outbreak shows that the
psychological effects are not always short-lived, and that emotional
reactions can be severe and persistent
SARS arose from a novel strain of coronavirus, causing flu-like
symptoms with prominent respiratory distress, which in many cases
led to pneumonia. When SARS emerged in 2002-2003, little was known
about its course or optimal management Worldwide, SARS infected
over 8,000 people and about 10% died (WHO, 2004). SARS has been
described as a mental health catastrophe (Gardner & Moallef, 2015)
because of widespread psychopathology associated with the disease.
Various types of SARS-related fears predominated, including fear for
survival and fear of infecting others, and some patients developed
symptoms of PTSD. To illustrate the latter, a longitudinal (2-46 month)
study found that 44% of SARS patients developed PTSD (Hong et a!.,
2009). In another survey of Beijing hospital workers during the SARS
outbreak, about 10% developed PTSD symptoms (WU et a!., 2009).
Respondents who had been quarantined, worked at high-risk sites such
as SARS wards, or had friends or close relatives who contracted SARS,
 Psychological reactions to pandemics 27

were 2-3 times more likely to have PTSD symptoms than people
without these exposures (WU et a!., 2009). Quarantine can be
distressing for many people, with some experiencing anxiety for their
safety or anger about being involuntarily confined.
For many SARS patients, psychological distress, including PTSD
symptoms, persisted well after the infection had been treated, in some
cases for years after patients had recovered from the physical effects of
the SARS virus (Gardner & Moallef, 2015). What made SARS especially
distressing was that it was (1) a novel infection with an unknown
course and treatment, (2) infection was managed with social isolation,
and (3) there were fears of spreading this poorly understood infection
to others (Maunder et al., 2006). These issues raise concerns about the
long-term psychological consequences of the next pandemic.
SARS was also associated with psychotic symptoms during the acute
and early recovery phases (Gardner & Moallef, 2015). These symptoms
were linked to steroid treatments, which are used to manage the
cytokine release syndrome ("cytokine storm") that can arise from
severe infections (Channappanavar & Perlman, 2017). The occurrence
of SARS-related psychosis raises concerns that such symptoms might
occur during the next pandemic. Indeed, severe influenza can be
associated with the cytokine release syndrome (Liu, Zhou, & Yang,
2016), which would be managed with steroids, with short-term psychosis
being a potential adverse effect Psychosis is not simply distressing to
the individual; terrifying psychotic experiences can be traumatizing,
leading to, or exacerbating, symptoms of PTSD (Taylor, 2017).
It is important to understand what leads people to become
excessively distressed during outbreaks of severe infectious disease.
This can help predict who is likely to need psychological services when
the next pandemic arises. Understanding the causes of excessive
distress can also be useful in developing optimal psychological
treatments for affected individuals. There are various kinds of risk
factors, including personality factors discussed in Chapter S.

The Desperate Pursuit of Quack Cures and Folk

Remedies

When faced with danger, such as a serious health threat, people can
be highly irrational in their decision making (Ariely, 2014). If the next
pandemic proves to be highly lethal and refractory to available vaccines
and antiviral medications, people desperate to protect themselves and
28 Chapter 3

loved ones will increasingly turn to quack cures and dubious folk
remedies. There is a long history of such nostrums for influenza,
including wearing necklaces of garlic, inhaling carbolic acid vapors, and
consuming pine tar (Bristow, 2012; Petrovska & Cekovska, 2010;
Simpson, 1985). Similarly, during the 2003 SARS outbreak, there were
numerous folk remedies, all of which were ineffective. These included
diets of turnips, vinegar, kimchee, or spicy foods, and even smoking
cigarettes (Cheng, 2004).
During the Spanish flu of 1918, folk remedies included cotton bags
containing camphor, worn on a cord around the neck (Arnold, 2018b).
There were all sorts of recipes for poultices. A poultice is a soft, usually
heated, moist mass of material, usually consisting of plant material or
flour, that is placed on the body (e.g., on the chest) to relieve soreness
or inflammation, and held in place with a cloth.

Some people put their faith in violet-leaf tea, goose-grease poultices,

garlic buds, castor oil, salt water snuffed up the nose, or hot coals
sprinkled with sulphur or brown sugar and carried through the house
accompanied by clouds of billowing smoke. ... There were many
theories about the most effective mixtures for chest poultices: bran, as
hot as you could stand; lard mixed with camphor and chloroform; and a
half-and-half mix of lard and turpentine. (Pettigrew, 1983, p. 110)

In one instance a Canadian man drank hydrogen peroxide in the

hope of keeping himself safe from the Spanish flu:

Having heard that hydrogen peroxide was an effective germ-killer, [he]

thought he would take extra precautions, so he bought a bottle of the
liquid and drank as much of it as he could. Frothing and bubbling, he
was rushed to the infirmary and luckily survived the drastic self­
medication. Fortunately, too, he recovered from the influenza he caught
a week later despite the peroxide. (Pettigrew, 1983, p. 115)

During pandemics, people may engage in all kinds of superstitious

behaviors in the hope of keeping themselves or their loved ones safe.
Here is another Canadian example from the Spanish flu pandemic:

George H. Biddle, a Vancouver glazier and window washer who was in

constant contact with the public, and whose family was down with the
'flu, believed he kept himself safe by sprinkling a bit of powdered
sulphur into his shoes every morning before leaving the house.
(Pettigrew, 1983, p. 114)
 Psychological reactions to pandemics 29

As the Spanish flu spread, many manufacturers and retailers were

quick to turn it to their advantage (Pettigrew, 1983). Newspapers were
filled with advertisements for quack remedies, including mint lozenges
to be sucked whenever the person entered a crowded space (Arnold,
201 8a). Patent medicines, likely no better than placebos, were
advertised with wild claims of efficacy. Drug stores ran out of Vick's
VapoRub and other balms. Even bicycle dealers attempted to exploit the
pandemic for economic gain. During the Spanish flu pandemic, a
Toronto newspaper ran the following advertisement:

Get away from the stuffy, overcrowded street cars, with their danger of
contagion. Ride a bicycle through the pure, fresh air. With an easy­
running, long-lasting C.C.M. Bicycle, cycling will be a pleasure as well as
a benefit. (Pettigrew, 1983, p. 113).

The situation is no different in recent times concerning quackery

and folk remedies. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, there were reports
from China, an officially atheist country, that some people had hired
sorcerers, lit firecrackers, burned fake money, and practiced other
magical rituals to protect themselves (Lee, 2014). A rumor spread
about a miraculous child who could talk at birth and prophesied that
green bean soup would prevent infection. This led to a sharp increase
in the sale of mung beans (Lee, 2014).
Quack cures and folk remedies are widely available in stores and
readily offered on the Internet. People may try to cope with the threat
of infection by taking large doses of vitamins or herbal supplements in
the hope that this will somehow boost their immune system (Lee,
2014). Some anti-vaccination conspiracy theorists claim that large
doses of vitamin C are a cure-all (Pilkington & Glenza, 2019). Even
contemporary pharmacies are stocked with quack remedies for
treating influenza. To illustrate, Oscillococcinum® is widely sold in
Western pharmacies and touted by the manufacturer as a homeopathic
remedy for shortening the duration of flu symptoms (Lowrie, 2019).
There is no evidence that Oscillococcinum works, and indeed no reason
to expect it to work (Mathie, Frye, & Fisher, 2015). Oscillococcinum pills
are made by taking extracts from the heart and liver of ducks, and then
diluting the extracts until virtually no trace remains. Such homeopathic
remedies have no benefits beyond placebo effects (Antonelli & Donelli,
2018; Ernst, 2010).
What motivates people to seek out dubious or frankly bogus
treatments? Diverse motivations are likely to be at play, including
30 Chapter 3

imitation, conformity, desperation, and indiscriminate reliance on

authority figures. According to one survivor of the Spanish flu
pandemic:

My mother used goose grease and turpentine mixed like a salve,

sometimes she made a poultice out of it. I think it really helped. She told
me it did, so I had to believe it. (Pettigrew, 1983, p. 120)

People may try to hedge their bets by pursuing both mainstream

and fringe medicine. Some people apply salves or consume elixirs "just
to be one the safe side," as amply illustrated by accounts from the
Spanish flu, such as the following.

Alongside over-the-counter products, frightened families also turned to

folk remedies, traditional and reassuring cures familiar to their
heritage, whether this be onions, asafetida (a fetid-smelling herb
historically used for chest complaints), or opium. As the mortality rates
soared, so too did the willingness to try something, anything, to save
themselves and their loved ones from a horrible death. (Arnold, 2018a,
p. ll

Factors that play a role in anxiety proneness also likely play a role
in motivating the pursuit of quack cures. People who are prone to
excessive worry or anxiety, as discussed later in this volume, are likely
to desperately try a range of nostrums, no matter how dubious, to avoid
becoming infected. We can expect to see a rise of quack cures, folk
remedies, and superstitious health-related behaviors during the next
pandemic.

Civil Unrest, Rioting, and Mass Panic

Mass panic is a group phenomenon in which intensely frightened

people think only of themselves, causing harm to others as they
struggle to save themselves (Shultz et a!., 2008). Mass panic and
widespread antisocial behavior, such as rioting, looting. and the
destruction of property, sometimes but not usually occur during
pandemics (Shultz et a!., 2008). Affiliative, supportive, prosocial
behaviors are more common, where widespread sickness and debility
evoke acts of mutual aid among members of a community in crisis
(Dezecache, 2015; Pettigrew, 1983; Schoch-Spana, 2004). But even
then, people are cautious and fearful of helping others.
 Psychological reactions to pandemics 31

Often it was an agonizing decision: go to the aid of friends and relatives,

perhaps imperiling the safety of their own families, or keep away? The
moral decision to close the doors was frequently as difficult as that to
go out and help. (Pettigrew, 1983, p. 88)

Despite the occurrence of prosocial acts, riots have sometimes

erupted during times of pandemic and other infectious disease
outbreaks (Cohn, 2010). During the Bubonic Plague in 1587, for
example, a doctor in Rome's principal hospital in Santo Spirito opined
that "Beyond all doubt, plague gives rise to fights among the populace,
sedition, and revolt" (Cohn, 2010, p. 265). Indeed, historians have long
noted the rise offactional violence, criminality, and rioting during times
of plague (Cohn, 2010). This included looting and the pilfering of
possessions from the bodies of the deceased and the homes of plague
victims.
There are numerous examples, both historical and contemporary, in
which groups of citizens clashed violently with health authorities,
fearing that the authorities were harming rather than helping them.
H ere are some examples:

In September 2014, a team of eight health workers and journalists

disappeared shortly after arriving in the southern Guinean village of
Wome [in Africa], not far from the place where the Ebola outbreak first
erupted eight months earlier. .. They had come to teach Wome's
villagers how to protect themselves against Ebola. But instead of
welcoming their helpers, the villagers attacked them with stones, clubs,
and machetes, believing that the workers to be spreaders of the disease.
The attackers then slit the visitors' throats and dumped the bodies in
the village cistern where they were discovered three days later. (Quick,
2018, p. 149)

Villagers [in China] protesting the local government's SARS policy in

Zhejiang province stormed local offices, breaking windows and office
furniture and assaulting officials. (Lee, 2014, p. 25)

In 1894, people in a poor south-side community in Milwaukee,

Wisconsin, attacked police and ambulances during a city-wide smallpox
outbreak. ... Mobs wielded household items from baseball bats to potato
mashers, anything that would serve as weapons. People tossed pots of
scalding water on the horses pulling the ambulances. Rioting went on
for a month. Citizens were so fearful of health authorities that they hid
the sick, which naturally increased the rates of infection within
households. (Quick, 2018, p. 150).
32 Chapter 3

Economic hardship can also lead to civil unrest during pandemics.

During the 1575-1578 Bubonic Plague outbreak in Venice, cloth
merchants employed two-thirds of the city's workforce. When plague
broke out, merchants closed their shops and some fled to the
countryside, thereby depriving workers and artisans of their livelihood.
The closure of their shops led to widespread unemployment This, in
turn, led to fights for resources, including fights over the possessions of
the dead (Cohn, 2010).
There have also been many documented cases of panic buying.
During an outbreak of Avian flu, there was panic buying of food,
disinfectants, and the antiviral medication oseltamivir (Tamiflu)
(Cheng, 2004, 2005). In Baltimore during the Spanish flu pandemic,
"customers ravaged drug stores in search of products to prevent
influenza and relieve symptoms" (Schoch-Spana, 2004, p. 45). In
Winnipeg, Canada, during the same pandemic Dr. F. T. Cadham of the
Canadian Army Medical Corps, was running tests on an experimental
vaccine. "Or. Cadham had to have a police escort as he drove from his
home to his office, so anxious were people to get the vaccine"
(Pettigrew, 1983, p. 20). There was also panic buying and rioting during
the 1968 Hong Kong flu pandemic (Wilson et a!., 2009). During that
pandemic, in the city of Guangzhou, China, there was a lack of
medication due to the public's buying up and hoarding of pharmacy
supplies, along with rioting and looting of food from restaurants and
grocery stores (Wilson, lannarone, & Wang, 2009).
Rioting and civil protests can occur when it is widely believed that
some group, particularly a group in the position of authority, is
somehow to blame (Tufekci & Freelon, 2013). In the case ofpandemics
or other outbreaks, riots can be sparked by grievances against, or
perceived injustices from, health authorities. Bubonic plague outbreaks
led to rioting in India in the 1890s, arising from rumors that the British
were complicit in spreading the disease (Chandavarkar, 1992). For
similar reasons, cholera outbreaks in Europe in the 1830s led to rioting.

Popular opinion did not accept that cholera was a hitherto unknown
disease, but considered instead that an attempt was being made to
reduce the numbers of the poor by poisoning them. Riots, massacres
and the destruction of property took place across Russia, swept through
the Habsburg empire, broke out in Konigsberg, Stettin and Memel in
1831 and spread to Britain the next year. (Evans, 1992, p. 158)
 Psychological reactions to pandemics 33

Although many people are reluctant to seek vaccination, as

discussed elsewhere in this volume, many other people ardently seek
vaccination against seasonal influenza. Civil unrest and protests can
occur when people become frustrated by the lack of availability of
vaccines. For example, in the US in the winter of 2004-2005, there was
a shortage of seasonal influenza vaccine due to production problems at
one of the manufacturing plants.

As the shortfall materialized, federal and state health officials tried to

distribute the limited number of vaccine doses to individuals most at
risk, such as the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.
Nevertheless, there were incidents in which crowds of elderly and
infirm people waited for hours at clinics and health centers for the
vaccine, only to learn that there was none to be had. One New York City
clinic actually called in the police to stop a riot by mostly elderly people.
(Norkin, 2014)

Clearly, rioting is not an activity exclusively for young people.

Although pandemic-related riots have been well-documented, some
commentators have asked why riots don't happen more often
(Newburn, 2016). The actions of crowds are notoriously difficult to
forecast (Hoegh, Ferreira, & Leman, 2016). Social media and the 24-
hour news cycle in which events are unfolded in real-time can play a
role in rallying people toward social unrest (Hoegh et aI., 2016; Tufekci
& Freelon, 2013), especially because in times of crisis many people turn
to social media for information and guidance (Devine, Boluk, & Devine,
2017). It is an open question as to the extent to which panic buying,
rioting and other forms of civil dissent will occur during the next
pandemic. Some risk analysts have advocated that we prepare for the
worst.

If the pandemic is severe, the hardest job won't be coping with the
disease. It will be sustaining the flow of essential goods and services,
and maintaining civil order. ... Even though we hope riots, panics and
other sorts of civil disorder will not be common, it is important to be on
guard. (Sandman, 2009, p. 323)

In a 2005 report the WH 0 predicted that widespread panic could

occur during the next pandemic if supplies of antiviral drugs are
severely limited or ineffective and a suitable vaccine is not yet available
(WHO, 2005). Shultz and colleagues (2008) pointed out that food
shortages could lead to widespread panic and civil disruption could
34 Chapter 3

occur during the next pandemic:

The possibility of extreme food shortages due to hoarding, border

closures, and the rapid evaporation ofjust-in-time inventories (without
options for re-supply) may create some of the most grievous
consequences of a global pandemic. Much of the world population is
now living in urban areas, completely dependent upon food and
essential supplies that are produced elsewhere and must be
continuously transported to urban markets. Food shortages may create
chaos and completely upend public health measures intended to keep
people apartto minimize infection risks. The imperative of seeking food
and vital supplies could place many at risk for influenza infection.
(Shultz et aI., 2008, p. 222).

During the next pandemic, truck drivers and other food service
delivery agents may refuse to enter infected cities, thereby leading the
inhabitants to either starve or flee. Indeed, something similar happened
during the Bubonic Plague, in which farmers refused to deliver their
produce to infected cities (Cohn, 2010).
There are several other plausible scenarios in which, during the
next pandemic, panic and civil unrest could arise because of the spread
of unfounded rumors via social media (Walker, 2016):

• An unfounded rumor sends tens of thousands of citizens to local

pharmacies in dozens of major cities, overwhelming them and
triggering riots or looting as panicked people demand a drug the
stores don't carry or that is irrelevant to the pandemic disease.
• In cities that serve as major airport hubs, a handful of cases of a
disease are filmed and sensationalized, generating enough fear
to cause tens of thousands of people to flee those cities and
effectively cripple them. Business, industry, and air travel would
quickly become disrupted.
• An unfounded rumor persuades enough health workers not to
show up to the leading hospitals in a handful of major cities,
effectively shutting them down. A chain reaction ensues
whereby hundreds of other hospitals are quickly inundated and
then overwhelmed.
 Psychological reactions to pandemics 35

Immunologically Induced Psychological Reactions

So far, we have focused mainly on emotional reactions that occur in

people who have not yet been infected. There is another class of
psychological reactions that are the direct physiological consequence
of infection. People infected by viral or bacterial agents may experience
a syndrome called sickness behavior (Dantzer, Q'Connor, Freund,
Johnson, & Kelley, 2008). Symptoms include nausea, fatigue, sleep
disturbance, depression, irritability, and mild cognitive impairment
(problems with memory and attention). Sickness behavior is not simply
a reaction to the discomfort of fever; sickness behavior and fever are
distinguishable reactions to infection (Corrard et a!., 2017). Sickness
behavior is triggered by pro inflammatory cytokines such as tumor
necrosis factor-a, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1p (Shattuck &
Muehlenbein, 2016). Immune reactions can involve neuroinflammation,
which may lead to sickness behavior (Dantzer, 2009; Zhu, Levasseur,
Michaelis, Burfeind, & Marks, 2016).
Little is known about whether some people are especially prone to
sickness behavior, although it has been speculated that people with a
predisposition to emotional disorders may be particularly vulnerable
(Dantzer, 2009). Reactions suggestive of sickness behavior have been
observed during pandemics (e.g., Honigsbaum, 2014), although it can
be difficult to determine whether emotional reactions (e.g., irritability,
depression) are due to an immune response (sickness behavior) or
whether they are reactions to psychosocial stressors (e.g., physical
hardships due to food shortages, crowding at hospitals, or loss of loved
ones). Treatments for emotional disorders-including drugs such as
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and cognitive-behavior therapy
(CBTJ-can be efficacious even if, say, depression is part ofthe sickness
behavior syndrome (Dantzer, 2009).

Interactions Between Stress and the Immune System

Decades of research in the field of psychoneuroimmunology have

shown that negative emotions and stressful life events can lead to some
degree of suppression of the immune system, thereby enhancing
susceptibility to infection and dampening the beneficial effects of
vaccines (lrwin & Slavich, 2017; Kiecolt-Glaser, 2009). To illustrate, a
series of studies has shown that immune responses to viral and
bacterial vaccines, including influenza vaccines, are delayed, substantially
36 Chapter 3

weakened, or shorter-lived in people who are distressed or exposed to

stressors (Glaser & Kiecolt-Glaser, 2005; Kiecolt-Glaser, 2009). These
effects tend to be greatest in people who are prone to experience
frequent negative moods (i.e., negative emotionality; see Chapter 5)
(Phillips, Carroll, Burns, & Drayson, 2005). The mechanisms of these
effects are still under investigation, although stressors and negative
emotions have been found to influence the production of lymphocytes
and proinflammatory cytokines (lrwin & Slavich, 2017; Kiecolt-Glaser,
2009).
Psychoneuroimmunology research suggests that pandemic-related
stressors may compromise the immune system, thereby making people
more vulnerable to infection. People who are prone to frequently
experience intense anxiety or other negative emotions (see Chapter 5),
compared to people who experience these emotions less frequently
and less intensely, may be more susceptible to pandemic influenza
infection, and may benefit less from vaccination. But even if pandemic­
related stress and distress do significantly dampen the immune system,
psychological interventions such as CBT (see Chapter 11) can reduce a
person's stress proneness and negative emotions, thereby offsetting
any stress-related immunosuppression (Moraes, Miranda, Loures,
Mainieri, & Marmora, 2017).

Conclusion

The patterns of psychological reactions to pandemics are complex.

Whereas some people are resilient to stress, other individuals become
highly distressed when confronted with threatening events such as
pandemic infection. Thus, people vary widely in their reactions to
threatened or actual pandemics. Some react with indifference or
resignation while others become highly fearful or anxious, and some
develop emotional disorders such as PTSD. Some people recover from
these emotional problems once the pandemic threat passes, while
other people have enduring emotional reactions. Social disruptive
behaviors such as rioting can also occur under particular circumstances,
although prosocial behaviors appear to be more common during times
of pandemic. Immune reactions may explain some of the emotional
responses in infected people but these fail to account for widespread
fear and social disruption in people who have not yet been infected. To
better understand the reasons behind these diverse psychological
 Psychological reactions to pandemics 37

reactions it is important to understand their motivational roots and

vulnerability factors. These are the topics of the following chapters.
 CHAPTER 4

PERSONALITY TRAITS AS EMOTIONAL

VULNERABILITY FACTORS

Vulnerability to Emotional Distress

There is no single theory for understanding the various emotional

and other reactions to pandemics. There are, however, several
mutually complementary domains of theory and research that are
relevant: (1) Research on particular personality traits as vulnerability
factors for experiencing distress in response to a range of stressors; (2)
cognitive-behavioral models of health anxiety; (3) the concept of the
behavioral immune system, which focuses specifically on motivational
responses to perceived risk of infection; (4) analyses of social
psychological factors in the spreading of fear, distress, and disease; (5)
research on vaccination attitudes; and (6) studies on risk
communication. The first domain is discussed in this chapter. The
others are covered in later chapters.

Personality Traits

Personality refers to a constellation of traits possessed by a person

that define how she or he tends to think, feel, and behave across various
situations. The traits are dimensional in that a person may possess
varying degrees of a given trait. People with high scores on the trait of
extraversion, for example, tend to be highly outgoing and sociable.
People scoring low on this trait are less likely to be interested in
socializing.
Several personality traits have been linked to the proneness to
experience negative emotions in response to stressors. These traits are
interrelated and transdiagnostic in that they are associated with a
range of emotional problems (Kring & Sloan, 2 0 1 0; Norton & Paulus,
2 0 1 7). Theoretically, people scoring high on one or more on scales
measuring these traits, compared to people with low scores, are most
40 Chapter 4

likely to become distressed in response to a wide range of threatening

events, including the threat of an influenza pandemic. The following is
a review of relevant traits, including those traits that have been
investigated in relation to infectious outbreaks and appear most
promising for understanding psychological reactions to future
pandemics. Such traits can be measured by any of several empirically
validated questionnaires (e.g., Buhr & Dugas, 2002; Cloninger, 1994;
Frost & Steketee, 2002; Spielberger, 1979; Taylor et aI., 2007; Watson
& O'Hara, 2017).

Negative Emotionality

Negative emotionality, also known as neuroticism, is the general

tendency to become easily distressed by aversive stimuli. People
scoring high on this trait tend to frequently experience aversive
emotions such as anxiety, irritability, and depression in response to
stressors (Costa & McCrae, 1987). Negative emotionality is a risk factor
for various kinds of mood and anxiety disorders (Watson & Q'Hara,
2017). Negative emotionality is also associated with anxiety about
one's general health (Asmundson, Taylor, & Cox, 2001; Boelen &
Carleton, 2012; Fergus, Bardeen, & Orcutt, 2015; van Dijk et aI., 2016).
This is because people scoring high on negative emotionality tend to
misinterpret bodily sensations as indications of serious disease
(Ferguson, 2000). Therefore, it is not surprising that the severity of a
person's negative emotionality predicts their likelihood of becoming
distressed by the threat of infection. During the 2003 SARS epidemic,
for example, negative emotionality predicted the level of distress
experienced by HeWs who were responsible for caring for patients
with suspected SARS (Lu, Shu, Chang, & Lung, 2006). A study of college
students similarly found that negative emotionality predicted the level
of distress in response to the threat of Avian flu infection (Smith, Kay,
Hoyt, & Bernard, 2009). People with high levels of negative
emotionality are also less likely to be satisfied with their interactions
with their doctors (Ferguson, 2000), which could be a factor in
persistently seeking medical reassurance or "doctor shopping" (see
Chapter 5).
 Personality traits as emotional vulnerability factors 41

Trait Anxiety and Harm Avoidance

Negative emotionality is a higher-order trait that is made up of

several narrower traits, including two conceptually overlapping traits:
Trait anxiety and harm avoidance. Trait anxiety is the proneness to
experience anxiety. People scoring high on trait anxiety tend to view
the world as dangerous and threatening (Spielberger, 1979). Harm
avoidance refers to the tendency to avoid potential risk People with
high levels of harm avoidance tend to be fearful and worry excessively
(Cloninger, 1994). Harm avoidance and trait anxiety are both
correlated with anxiety disorders, mood disorders, obsessive­
compulsive disorder, somatoform disorders, and with health anxiety
(e.g., Ecker, Kupfer, & Gbnner, 2014; Huang et a!., 2016; Melli, Chiorri,
Carraresi, Stopani, & Bulli, 2015). Trait anxiety also predicted the level
of SARS-related anxiety during the SARS outbreak (Cheng & Cheung,
2005).

Overestimation of Threat

Just as negative emotionality is made up of numerous narrower

traits, so too is trait anxiety. Trait anxiety is composed of various lower­
order traits including a trait known as the overestimation of threat
People who score high on the overestimation of threat tend to
overestimate the cost ("badness") and probability (likelihood) of
aversive events, and see themselves as being especially vulnerable to
threats (Frost & Steketee, 2002; Moritz & Pohl, 2009). People scoring
high on the overestimation of threat are likely to endorse statements
such as the following: "I believe that the world is a dangerous place,"
"Bad things are more likely to happen to me than to other people," and
"Small things always seem to turn into big ones in my life" (Frost &
Steketee, 2002). The overestimation of threat is associated with a range
of clinical conditions, particularly anxiety disorders and obsessive­
compulsive disorder (Frost & Steketee, 2002; Green & Teachman,
2013; Obsessive-Compulsive Cognitions Working Group, 2005).
Studies have shown that the overestimation of threat predicts anxiety
in response to outbreaks of SARS, Swine flu, Avian flu, and Ebola virus
disease (e.g., Bish & Michie, 2010; Blakey, Reuman, jacoby, &
Abramowitz, 2015; Lau, Kim, Tsui, & Griffiths, 2008; Wlieaton et a!.,
2012; Xie, Stone, Zheng, & Zhang, 2011). During the next pandemic,
people who score high on the overestimation of threat are likely to
42 Chapter 4

become highly worried and anxious because their estimates of being

harmed tend to be inflated compared to the estimates of people scoring
lower on these traits.

Intolerance of Uncertainty

The intolerance of uncertainty is another facet or sub-trait of trait

anxiety that can contribute to the tendency to experience anxiety and
fear (McEvoy & Mahoney, 2013). People with high levels of intolerance
of uncertainty have a strong desire for predictability and tend to
strongly endorse statements such as "You should always look ahead to
avoid surprises". When faced with important uncertainties, these
people might feel paralyzed with indecision (Birrell, Meares, Wilkinson,
& Freeston, 2011). They often endorse statements such as "The
smallest doubt stops me from acting". Such people are unable to act or
make decisions either because they worry they don't have all the
information they need, or because they lack confidence in the
soundness of their decisions. Such people tend to procrastinate about
making important decisions.
A high degree of intolerance of uncertainty is associated with a
range of disorders, including mood and anxiety disorders, obsessive­
compulsive disorder, and other clinical conditions (Gentes & Ruscio,
2011; Rosser, 2018; Shihata, McEvoy, Mullan, & Carleton, 2016).
Intolerance of uncertainty is associated with the tendency to worry
excessively about a range of issues (Lauriola et al., 2018; Vander
Haegen & Etienne, 2016), and is associated with health anxiety (Fergus
et a!., 2015; O'Bryan & McLeish, 2017; Shihata et a!., 2016; Thibodeau
et a!., 2015).
People with high levels of intolerance of uncertainty try to reduce
uncertainty by behaviors such as checking and reassurance-seeking
(Dugas & Robichaud, 2007; Shihata et a!., 2016). In the case of health­
related uncertainty, this might involve repeatedly checking the Internet
for medical information, and persistently seeking reassurance from
doctors (Bottesi, Ghisi, Sica, & Freeston, 2017; Fergus, 2015; Lauriola
et a!., 2018; Norr, Albanese, Oglesby, Allan, & Schmidt, 2015).
During the next pandemic, the intolerance of uncertainty is likely to
be a particularly important contributor to pandemic-related anxiety and
distress. To understand the significance of this claim it is important to
consider the range of uncertainties associated with pandemics.
 Personality traits as emotional vulnerability factors 43

Pandemics are associated with all kinds of uncertainties, such as the

following: Uncertainty about getting infected, uncertainty about the
seriousness of infection, uncertainty about whether the people around
you are infected, uncertainty about whether objects or surfaces (e.g.,
money, doorknobs) are infected, uncertainty about the optimal type of
treatment or protective measures, and uncertainty about whether a
pandemic is truly over. Recall that pandemics come in waves, so the end
of a wave of infection does not necessarily signal the end of the
pandemic. There could be another wave, and the next wave could be
more serious than the one before. The news media can fuel
uncertainties with speculative articles about what "might" happen
during an outbreak of infectious disease (Kilgo et a!., 2018).
Such uncertainties are common sources of distress during
pandemics (Taha, Matheson, Cronin, & Anisman, 2014). In the case of
the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, for example, it was not simply the high
mortality rate that led to the fear of infection. The unpredictability of a
swift, lethal infection was a major source of fear (Graves, 1969). As one
survivor recalled, "We never knew where it would strike next"
(Pettigrew, 1983, p. 13). The Spanish flu often struck with little or no
warning, and some people, even seemingly healthy people, rapidly and
unexpectedly perished. To illustrate:

Two Woodstock, Ontario, girls, working in the town of Paris [in Ontario]
shared a room at the YWCA. One evening when the epidemic was at its
height they attended a lecture together and then returned to their room.
In the morning Claire Hunter called to her friend, "Vera, I'm going
downstairs to breakfast." There was no reply so she went ahead. After
eating she went back upstairs to get her purse and called her roommate
again. There was still no answer. "I pulled down the sheets. She was
dead and cold. The doctor said she had died around tvvo in the
morning-the 'flu had got to her quick." (Pettigrew, 1983, p. 18)

During times of pandemic, people need to be able to tolerate or

accept a certain degree of uncertainty. People who are unable or
unwilling to accept uncertainty are likely to experience considerable
distress. People with a high degree of intolerance of uncertainty tend to
become highly anxious about the threat of infectious disease, especially
if they perceive themselves as having limited control over the threat
(Taha et a!., 2014). To illustrate, during the 2009 Swine flu pandemic,
people with a high degree of intolerance of uncertainty, compared to
people with lower levels, were most likely to become anxious about
contracting the virus (Taha et a!., 2014). Such people tend to endorse
44 Chapter 4

statements such as "Even though there is a one in a million chance of

me dying from the flu, so long as there is a chance, no matter how small,
I'm worried that it could happen." During the same pandemic, the
likelihood of seeking vaccination was greater in people with high levels
of intolerance of uncertainty (Ashbaugh et a!., 2013). However, during
the next pandemic, the likelihood of seeking vaccination in people with
high intolerance of uncertainty will likely depend on the availability of
information about the safety of vaccines. If there are widely publicized
doubts about vaccine safety, then it is likely that people who are
intolerant of uncertainty will worry and procrastinate about whether
to seek vaccination. Excessively high levels of intolerance of
uncertainty can be effectively treated with eBr (Dugas & Robichaud,
2007).

Monitoring versus Blunting

People differ in the way they seek or avoid information about

potential health threats. Some people tend to have a "monitoring"
cognitive style, whereas other people tend to have a "blunting" style
(Miller, 1989). Monitoring is characterized by collecting information
and scanning for cues to health threats. Blunting involves distraction
from, and minimizing of, threatening information (Miller, Fang,
Diefenbach, & Bales, 2001). Monitoring and blunting can be measured
with the Monitor-Blunter Style Scale (Miller, 1987), which is widely
used in research on these cognitive styles.
Both styles have their shortcomings as coping strategies. Although
blunting is generally associated with less health-related worry and
distress, blunters are at risk for ignoring important health-related
threats and failing to take precautionary measures (Miller, 1996).
Monitors, compared to blunters, tend to perceive a given health threat
as riskier and more dangerous and tend to be more vulnerable to
everyday stress, especially when they perceive that their health is
threatened (Miller et a!., 2005). Monitors are more likely to engage in
worrying than blunters, and this relationship between monitoring and
worry was found to be independent of levels of trait anxiety (Davey,
Hampton, Farrell, & Davidson, 1992; Miller, 1996).
During the next pandemic, monitors may experience significant
levels of fear and anxiety, along with intrusive thoughts about threats,
all of which may merit psychological treatment Stress management
training and other forms of eBT, as discussed later in this book, may be
 Personality traits as emotional vulnerability factors 45

helpful (Miller, 1989). Monitors may benefit from interventions that

help them learn how to monitor in a way that decreases the salience of
threat and that instead focuses them on the positive and reassuring
aspects of the situation, and in some cases on the things that they can
do to effectively cope with and solve problems (Miller, 1996).
The distinction between monitoring and blunting also has
implications for risk communication. Monitors can be motivated to
engage in health behaviors by detailed information about risks and
risk-reduction strategies (Kim & Choi, 2017). Blunters, in comparison,
are likely to avoid such messages. Short, simple messages might be
more effective for blunters (Kim & Choi, 2017). Monitors and blunters
also appear to differ in how they respond to risk messages that involve
logical versus emotional appeals (see Chapter 9).

Unrealistic Optimism Bias

Unlike the above-mentioned traits, which are associated with

negative beliefs or expectations, the unrealistic optimism bias is
associated with persistent and unrealistically positive beliefs about
one's future (Taylor & Brown, 1988). Optimism-defined as the hope
that something good is going to happen (Carver, Scheier, & Segerstrom,
2010)-can be a state variable or an enduring personality trait Trait
optimism, which is our focus here, is negatively correlated with
negative emotionality, although the correlation is far from perfect.
There is debate as to whether optimism is the opposite of pessimism or
whether they are two different constructs (Kam & Meyer, 2012).
Regardless of these theoretical debates, people scoring low on traits
such as negative emotionality generally tend toward optimism.
Many people, although the precise prevalence is unknown, have an
unrealistic optimism bias (Makridakis & Moleskis, 2015; Shepperd,
Waters, Weinstein, & Klein, 2015). This is the strong tendency to
believe that positive events are more likely to happen to themselves
than to others, and that negative events are more likely to happen to
other people than themselves (Weinstein, 1980). Such people tend to
undervalue dangers such as diseases and other hardships, whose
existence they accept but cannot believe will happen to themselves
(Makridakis & Moleskis, 2015). People with a strong unrealistic
optimism bias tend to see themselves as impervious to infection (Ji et al.,
2004; Kim & Niederdeppe, 2013). During the SARS outbreak, for
example, many people unrealistically thought that they were less
46 Chapter 4

susceptible to infection than the average person (Ji, Zhang, Usborne, &
Guan, 2004).
In the event of a pandemic, the unrealistic optimism bias can have
deleterious effects. It may lead people to underestimate their
susceptibility to risk, thereby reducing attention to risk information
and leading them to neglect to perform preventive health behaviors
such as seeking vaccination (Kim & Niederdeppe, 2013). During the
Swine flu outbreak in 2009, the unrealistic optimism bias was
associated with lower intentions to perform hand washing and hand
sanitization (Kim & Niederdeppe, 2013). The unrealistic optimism bias
can be resistant to change in the face of disconfirming information
(Sharot, Korn, & Dolan, 2011), although this is not invariably the case
(Jefferson, Bortolotti, & Kuzmanovic, 2017).
Related to the unrealistic optimism bias is the sense of
invulnerability. That is, the sense that one is unlikely to be affected by
threats such as serious infectious disease. People with an inflated sense
of invulnerability are (1) less likely to experience anxiety in response
to stressful life events (Kleiman et a!., 2017); (2) more likely to take up
smoking or drug use (Hill, Duggan, & Lapsley, 2012; Morrell, Lapsley, &
Halpern-Felsher, 2016; Ravert et a!., 2009); (3) more likely to drink and
drive (Chan, Wu, & Hung, 2010; Ravert et a!., 2009); and (4) less likely
to intend to seek vaccination, even for pandemics such as Swine flu
(Taha et a!., 2013).
During the next pandemic, people with strong unrealistic optimism
bias or a strong sense of invulnerability will probably be less worried
than other people and possibly more likely to spread infection by failing
to seek vaccination and by neglecting to perform basic hygiene
behaviors such as handwashing.

Other Personality Traits

Other traits are also correlated with pandemic-related anxiety.

These include perfectionism, which has some similarities to intolerance
of uncertainty in that it entails the search for solutions for avoiding
danger. However, perfectionism is a trait that more broadly applies to
achievement motivation (e.g., task performance) and other areas in life
in which a person is judged against others (e.g., physical appearance)
(Stoeber, 2018). For our aims, intolerance of uncertainty is more
relevant than perfectionism for understanding the psychology of
pandemics.
 Personality traits as emotional vulnerability factors 47

Another trait of potential relevance to pandemic-related anxiety is

bodily vigilance, which is the tendency to notice or focus on anxiety­
related sensations (Schmidt, Lerew, & Trakowski, 1997). A related
concept is anxiety sensitivity, which is the fear of arousal- or anxiety­
related bodily sensations (Taylor, 2019). People with high levels of
anxiety sensitivity tend to be frightened of arousal- or anxiety-related
bodily sensations (e.g., palpitations, shortness of breath) because they
fear that the sensations will have harmful consequences. A person with
a high level of anxiety sensitivity might hold the belief that "Palpitations
lead to heart attacks" or that "If I become short of breath while I
exercise, it means I could suffocate". Elevated anxiety sensitivity is
associated with a range of different disorders, particularly panic
disorder and other anxiety disorders (Taylor, 2019), and is correlated
with fear or anxiety about becoming infected during a pandemic
(Wheaton et a!., 2012) and other outbreaks of infectious disease
(81akey et a!., 2015). Conceptually, anxiety sensitivity (and body
vigilance) overlaps with the concept of health anxiety, which is the topic
of the following chapter. Both refer to the fear of bodily changes or
sensations, and both can be treated with eBT.

Conclusion

Research indicates unrealistic optimism and related traits­

including the sense of invulnerability and the blunting cognitive style­
may be associated with low levels of pandemic-related anxiety and
nonadherence to hygiene and other health recommendations. People
who score highly on such traits would be particularly likely to spread
contagion during a pandemic. Other personality traits, in comparison,
are likely to be associated with high anxiety during the next pandemic.
That is, various personality traits are vulnerability factors for high
levels of emotional distress and therefore relevant to understanding
pandemic-related worry and distress. A broad vulnerability factor is
negative emotionality (neuroticism), which is composed of numerous
narrower traits, including trait anxiety, the overestimation of threat,
and intolerance of uncertainty. People with high scores on these traits
are likely to become highly distressed when threatened with infection
during a serious pandemic. These people, and people who have a
monitoring coping style, are likely to exhibit worry or anxiety about
their health. This has been termed health anxiety. We turn to the topic
of health anxiety in the following chapter in order to gain a more
48 Chapter 4

detailed understanding of the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that

characterize health-anxious people.
 CHAPTER S

COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL MODELS
OF HEALTH ANXIETY

What is Health Anxiety?

Over the past few months I've been under a lot of stress because of my
job. I haven't been feeling well. I feel achy all over and sick in my
stomach. I don't sleep well. I sweat at night and feel tired all the time. I
wony that I've got that bird flu evetyone's been talking about. I went to
the doctor but he wasn't any help. He said it was just nerves and told me
to relax. I also have pain on my right side around my ribs. The doctor
said it's just a strained muscle. I'm scared that he doesn't take me
seriously. I couldn't stop worrying so I went to a walk-in clinic but the
doctor told me the same thing as the other doctor. She said that I should
try not to wony so much and gave me a prescription for pills to help me
relax. I'm frightened of taking pills because I always get bad side effects.
When I got home, I checked my symptoms on Google. That really
terrified me. I learned that people some people die from the flu. I've
been monitoring my temperature throughout the day. I might have a
fever but I can't be sure. My throat feels scratchy. I'm too scared to get a
flu shot because I heard it can make you sick. I live alone but I've been
wearing a protective facemask and gloves around the apartment, just to
be on the safe side. I wash my hands a lot with hand sanitizer. I'm afraid
to go out. With all this talk of flu, I'm getting too scared to ride the bus
to work because there are germs everywhere from people coughing into
their hands and then touching things.

Health anxiety refers to the tendency to become alarmed by illness­

related stimuli, including but not limited to, illness related to infectious
diseases (Abramowitz & Braddock, 2011; Taylor & Asmundson, 2004).
Health anxiety ranges on a continuum from mild to severe, and can be
a state or a trait. The latter is a relatively enduring tendency. Our focus
is on trait health anxiety.
Some people have very low levels of health anxiety. Their lack of
concern about health risks can be maladaptive (e.g., neglecting to take
50 Chapter 5

necessary health precautions). Excessively low health concerns can be

associated with an unrealistic optimism bias, as discussed in the
previous chapter. People who are unconcerned about infection tend to
neglect to perform recommended hygienic behaviors, such as washing
their hands after using the washroom (Gilles et a!., 2011) and tend to
be nonadherent to social distancing (Goodwin, Gaines, Myers, & Neto,
2009; Jones & Salathe, 2009; Rubin et a!., 2009; Williams, Rasmussen,
Kleczkowski, Maharaj, & Cairns, 2015; Wong & Sam, 2011).
Excessively high health anxiety is characterized by undue anxiety or
worry about one's health. That is, a disproportionate concern, given
one's objective level of health. People with excessively high levels of
health anxiety, compared to less anxious people, tend to become unduly
alarmed by all kinds of perceived health threats, and overestimate the
likelihood and seriousness of becoming ill (Hedman et a!., 2016; Taylor
& Asmundson, 2004; Wheaton, Berman, Franklin, & Abramowitz,
2010). Excessive health anxiety is associated with high levels of
functional impairment and high levels of healthcare service utilization,
even after controlling for physical comorbidities (Bobevski, Clarke, &
Meadows, 2016; Eilenberg, Frostholm, Schroder, Jensen, & Fink, 2015;
Sunderland, Newby, & Andrews, 2013). Vulnerability factors discussed
in the previous chapter can contribute to the development of excessive
health anxiety.
Excessive health anxiety-as seen in psychiatric disorders such as
hypochondriasis, illness anxiety disorder, and somatic symptom
disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2000, 201 3)-is common,
with an estimated lifetime prevalence of 6% in the community
(Sunderland et a!., 2013). People prone to excessive health anxiety are
likely to become particularly anxious during a threatened or actual
epidemic or pandemic, as illustrated by the vignette at the beginning of
this chapter. Such people may misinterpret somatic stress reactions
(e.g., sweating, hot flushes, increased muscle tension) as signs of
infection. The vignette also illustrates the nocebo effect, which occurs
when negative expectations about treatment (e.g., a vaccination
injection) cause the patient to experience negative side effects (Data­
Franco & Berk, 2013; Kennedy, 1961; Petrie, Moss-Morris, Grey, &
Shaw, 2004). Traits such as negative emotionality (neuroticism) may
predispose people to experience the nocebo effect (Data-Franco &
Berk, 2013).
Cognitive-behavioral models of health anxiety were developed in
order to better understand various issues concerning healthcare
utilization and medically unexplained physical symptoms (Leventhal,
 Cognitive-behavioral models of health anxiety 51

Phillips, & Burns, 2016; Salkovskis & Warwick, 2001; Taylor &
Asmundson, 2017). These models are also relevant to understanding
other emotional reactions to pandemics. Such models propose that
several cognitive and behavioral factors play a role in shaping the
severity of health anxiety: Misinterpretations of health-related stimuli,
maladaptive or distorted beliefs, memory and attention processes, and
maladaptive behaviors.

Misinterpretations of Health-related Stimuli

Cognitive-behavioral models propose that excessive anxiety about

one's health is triggered by the misinterpretation of health-related
stimuli. Such stimuli include (1) bodily changes or sensations, which
may or may not be indications of disease (e.g., fatigue, muscle aches),
(2) direct health-related observations of other people (e.g., observing
other people coughing or sneezing, or observing others becoming
alarmed about being ill), and (3) more abstract forms of health-related
information, such as warnings from one's doctor, advice from friends
or family members, and information from social and mass media (e.g.,
newspaper reports about particular diseases).
Misinterpretations of the meaning of bodily changes or sensations
include appraisals about the causes, time-course, seriousness, and
control of the sensations (e.g., "My aching muscles mean that I'm getting
the flu"). Evidence indicates that such appraisals influence a person's
emotional reactions (e.g., anxiety, fear) and behavioral reactions (e.g.,
coping responses such as seeking out medical care) (Gautreau et al.,
2015; Hagger, Koch, Chatzisarantis, & Orbell, 2017). People with
excessive health anxiety tend to misinterpret harmless bodily
sensations as dangerous. They may misinterpret bodily changes or
sensations as signs of influenza, depending on their previous
experiences with influenza and the information they have about any
current strain of infection. Highly publicized disease outbreaks can lead
medically healthy individuals, especially those with high levels of
health anxiety, to misinterpret benign bodily changes and sensations
(e.g., misinterpreting benign fatigue) as indicating that they have
become infected, causing them to become unduly anxious (Taylor &
Asmundson, 2004; Wheaton et a!., 2012).
52 Chapter 5

Beliefs about Health and Disease

Interpretations of health-related stimuli are influenced by memory

processes such as recollections of past experiences (e.g., "My muscle
aches in the past almost always meant I was getting sick") and by
longstanding beliefs (e.g., beliefs such as "Chest tightness is always a
sign of serious illness") (Salkovskis & Warwick, 2001; Taylor &
Asmundson, 2004). Learning experiences (e.g., experiences of being
hospitalized as a child) can lead some people to mistakenly believe that
their health is fragile (Taylor & Asmundson, 2004).
People with excessive health anxiety tend to believe that all bodily
sensations or bodily changes are potential signs of disease (Taylor &
Asmundson, 2004). In the case of influenza, grossly inaccurate beliefs
can contribute to excessive health anxiety. Such beliefs are
unfortunately commonplace. To illustrate, in a survey of American
college students conducted in the early stages of the 2009 Swine flu
pandemic (Kanadiya & Sallar, 2011), 25% wrongly believed that Swine
flu could be transmitted via water sources, 18% wrongly believed that
Swine flu could be spread by insect bites, and 9% wrongly believed that
Swine flu could be transmitted by eating cooked pork

Focus of Attention

Attentional processes are important cognitive factors in shaping the

intensity of health anxiety (Norris & Marcus, 2014; Witthbft et a!.,
2016). People with excessive health anxiety tend to be hypervigilant to
bodily changes and sensations; that is, they pay a lot of attention to
their bodies and therefore are likely to notice benign bodily
perturbations (Tyrer & Tyrer, 2018). Consider, for example, a person
who focuses attention on her breathing because she believes she might
have a chest infection. This selective attention increases the odds of
noticing bodily changes or sensations. During the 2014-2015 Ebola
outbreak in West Africa, the fear of infection led people to persistently
focus on their bodies, leading many people to misinterpret benign
bodily changes or sensations as the first symptoms of Ebola virus
disease (Desclaux et a!., 2017).
Selective attention to bodily states is influenced not only by internal
factors (i.e., sensations, beliefs, expectations), but also by external
stimuli. People are more likely to detect bodily sensations if they are in
environments in which there are few or no distractions (e.g., a
 Cognitive-behavioral models of health anxiety 53

windowless, undecorated hospital waiting room), as compared to an

environment with numerous stimuli that attract the person's attention
(e.g., a clinic waiting area with a window, wall hangings, and television)
(Taylor & Asmundson, 2004).

Adaptive and Maladaptive Coping

People's interpretations influence whether or not they seek

treatment, and whether they seek appropriate treatment. People can
hold erroneous beliefs about what is an effective treatment Some
people believe that they only need symptomatic relief (e.g., cough
suppressant medications), which may be insufficient if the underlying
disease needs to be treated (Leventhal et aI., 2016). People's appraisals
of risk are often inaccurate. Indeed, there is only a weak correlation
between people's anxiety about a particular risk and objective
probability of death or harm (Frost, Frank, & Maibach, 1997; Young,
Norman, & Humphreys, 2008).
People with high levels of health anxiety sometimes regard clinics
as a source of sickness rather than a resource for help. This is illustrated
in the following verbatim account provided by one health-anxious
person:

I'm afraid to go to the clinic, like if you are sick, like if you have colds,
you would avoid going to see the doctors, because who knows,
somebody before you has seen the doctors and left something, and then
you go to see the doctors and you might [get] SARS. (Lee, 2014, p. 130)

People with excessive anxiety about infection tend to engage in

maladaptive safety behaviors (i.e., behaviors intended to keep
themselves safe) such as excessive hand washing and repeatedly
seeking reassurance from medical professionals (Wheaton et aI., 2012).
Excessive handwashing can impair functioning in other areas of life
(e.g., occupational functioning), especially when people devote hours
per day to unnecessary handwashing. Excessive reassurance-seeking
(e.g., repeatedly and unnecessarily seeking assurances that one is not
sick) can add an unnecessary burden on the healthcare system.
Excessive reassurance-seeking also can perpetuate health anxiety
because (1) it increases the risk that the person will obtain conflicting
medical information, (2) increases the risk of iatrogenic interventions,
and (3) reinforces the person's view that their health is at risk
(Salkovskis & Warwick, 2001; Taylor & Asmundson, 2004). The latter
54 Chapter 5

can occur, for example, when unnecessary medical tests (e.g.,

laboratory tests) are given in an attempt to reassure the anxious
patient The testing can be misinterpreted by the patient (e.g., "My
doctor wouldn't be doing all these tests if she didn't think something
was wrong")' Reassurance-seeking can consist of persistent searching
the Internet for medical information ("cyberchondria"; Mathes, Norr,
Allan, Albanese, & Schmidt, 2018), which increases the odds that the
person will be exposed to alarming, false information (Taylor &
Asmundson, 2004). People with excessive health anxiety also tend to
engage in "doctor shopping"; that is, seeking consultations with
multiple physicians so as to reassure themselves that they are not
suffering from a serious disease. Doctor shopping places an undue
burden on the medical system and increases the chances that the
patient will receive seemingly conflicting or confusing medical advice
(Taylor & Asmundson, 2004).

Treating Health Anxiety

Cognitive-behavioral models suggest that excessive health anxiety

can be addressed by targeting dysfunctional beliefs and maladaptive
behaviors. Consistent with this, randomized, controlled trials have
shown that CBT is beneficial for people who suffer from excessive
health anxiety (Cooper, Gregory, Walker, Lambe, & Salkovskis, 2017;
Taylor, Asmundson, & Coons, 2005). Details of how to treat health
anxiety with CBT are described elsewhere (e.g., Taylor & Asmundson,
2004). Other therapies have been used to treat excessive health
anxiety, such as particular medications (e.g., selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitors). However, such treatments have not been
extensively evaluated in controlled studies. Bibliotherapy is another
promising and sometimes useful intervention that requires further
evaluation in randomized controlled trials (Tyrer & Tyrer, 2018). Here,
CBT is present in booklet form, including information about the nature
of health anxiety and various types of written and other exercises that
the person can do to reduce his or her health anxiety (see, for example,
Asmundson & Taylor, 2005). CBT, as conducted by a therapist, is
currently the first-line treatment for excessive health anxiety (Taylor &
Asmundson, 2017; Tyrer & Tyrer, 2018).
 Cognitive-behavioral models of health anxiety 55

Conclusion

Health anxiety, defined as an enduring tendency or trait, varies on a

continuum. Some people tend to have very low health anxiety, and
therefore may fail to engage in basic hygiene or other recommended
health measures (e.g., handwashing) because they do not perceive their
health to be at risk During times of pandemic, these people are liable
to spread infection unless they can be persuaded to adhere to the health
guidelines described in Chapter 2.
At the other end of the continuum, some people tend to have
recurrent episodes of excessive health anxiety, despite being physically
healthy. Such people are likely to become highly anxious during a
pandemic and are likely to engage in maladaptive behaviors such as
excessive avoidance (e.g., remaining, unnecessarily, secluded at home,
away from perceived sources of contagion) and are likely to engage in
persistent, repetitive, and unnecessary seeking of medical reassurance.
During a pandemic, this would place an added burden on an already
over-taxed healthcare system. Excessive health anxiety can be
effectively treated with CBT.
 CHAPTER 6

THE BEHAVIORAL IMMUNE SYSTEM

Detection and Avoidance of Sickly Others

Complementing the cognitive-behavioral approach to health

anxiety, which focuses largely on dysfunctional beliefs and their effects,
the concept of the behavioral immune system (BlS) focuses on basic
motivational aspects of disease avoidance, whereby emotional states
such as disgust are important motivators. The concept of the B1S
further complements cognitive-behavioral models in that the B1S
provides important insights into the social consequences of disease
avoidance mechanisms.
Infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses are too small to be
directly observed. Accordingly, a person's biological immune system is
insufficient for avoiding exposure to pathogens. It is necessary to use
perceptible cues to detect the presence of potentially harmful agents.
Such cues include noxious smells and visual cues like the presence of
people coughing or sneezing. The B1S is conceptualized as a system for
detecting and reacting to such cues. The B1S is a complex suite of
cognitive, affective, and behavioral mechanisms that help prevent
pathogen transmission in the face of recurrent infectious disease
threats (Ackerman, Hill, & Murray, 2018; Schaller & Park, 2011). The BlS
consists of conscious and non-conscious psychological mechanisms
that detect cues to the presence of infectious pathogens in the
immediate environment, and trigger disease-relevant emotional
responses (e.g., fear, disgust) and other responses that motivate disease
avoidance (Schaller & Park, 2011).
The BlS is said to have evolved to minimize potentially fatal failures
to detect pathogens. Such failures are minimized if the system is biased
towards false positives (false alarms) in detecting pathogens. This is
similar to an overly sensitive biological immune system that triggers an
immune response to harmless agents (e.g., allergic reactions triggered
by dust or pollen). Thus, the BlS is sensitive to cues that only
58 Chapter 6

superficially resemble environmental signs of infection. The B1S is

proposed to be especially sensitive when people perceive themselves
to be vulnerable to infection. Here, the person becomes especially
attentive to cues that indicate that pathogens may be present, and these
cues trigger responses such as disgust, fear, and the urge to escape
(Schaller & Park, 2011).

Perceived Vulnerability to Disease

There are individual differences in BlS sensitivity (Duncan &

Schaller, 2009; Duncan et a!., 2009), as indicated by research on two
correlated traits, which are markers of B1S sensitivity: Perceived
vulnerability to disease (PVD) and disgust sensitivity. PVD refers to an
individual's sense of personal vulnerability to infectious disease.
Perceived vulnerability may be accurate or inaccurate, as compared to
objective measures of the person's immunocompetence. When
considering a person's emotional and behavioral reactions to the threat
of pandemic infection, it is not so much the objective risk that is
important but rather the person's perceived vulnerability to disease,
because perceptions of threat determine the person's emotional and
behavioral responses.
PVD is assessed by the Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Scale
(PVDS), which consists of two correlated dimensions (subscales): (1)
Perceived vulnerability to infectious disease (perceived infectability),
and (2) avoidance and discomfort in situations in which a person is
liable to be infected (germ aversion) (Duncan et a!., 2009). The PVDS is
a short (lS-item) questionnaire that has performed well on tests of
reliability and validity. As such, it is a promising means of identifying
people at risk for adverse emotional reactions in response to the threat
of pandemic infection. The dimensions of PVD, as measured by the
PVDS, are uncorrelated with age, gender, or education, but are
significantly correlated with various indices of psychopathology (e.g.,
negative emotionality) and with the tendency to worry about one's
general health (e.g., Clay, 2017; Diaz, Soriano, & Belena, 2016; Duncan
et a!., 2009; Magallares, Fuster-Ruiz De Apodaca, & Morales, 2017).
During the 200S Avian flu outbreak, scores on the PVDS germ aversion
scale predicted fears of contracting Avian flu (Green et a!., 2010).
Overall, the findings suggest that people with high levels of PVD are at
risk of becoming highly distressed during a pandemic.
 The behavioral immune system 59

Disgust Sensitivity

Another marker of B1S sensitivity is disgust sensitivity, which is the

degree of emotional distress and revulsion a person tends to
experience when confronted with disgust-evoking stimuli, such as
stimuli related to disease, contamination, or the bodily products of
other people or animals (e.g., mucus, saliva, or fecal matter; Goetz, Lee,
Cougle, & Turkel, 2013). Research suggests that there is a universal set
of disgust cues. These include bodily wastes, body contents, sick,
deformed, dead or unhygienic people, some sexual behaviors, dirty
environments, certain foods-especially if spoiled or unfamiliar-and
particular animals (Curtis, de Barra, & Aunger, 2011). Objects that have
contacted any of the above can also be experienced as disgusting.
People are disgusted not only by things that pose a real risk ofpathogen
infection (e.g., dog feces), they also are disgusted by things that pose no
risk at all but that simply bear some superficial resemblance to real
risks (e.g., chocolate fudge sculpted into the shape of dog feces; Oaten,
2009; Rozin, Haidt, & McCauley, 2008).
Disgust sensitivity varies between individuals as a trait and within
individuals as a state (Curtis et a!., 2011). Here, we focus on disgust
sensitivity as a trait Research conducted during the 2009 Swine flu
pandemic found that disgust sensitivity predicted a person's fear of
acquiring influenza (Brand, McKay, Wheaton, & Abramowitz, 2013;
Wheaton et a!., 2012). Disgust sensitivity is also correlated with
contamination-related obsessive-compulsive disorder and with various
phobias, including phobias of blood, injury, or injections (Ludvik,
Boschen, & Neumann, 2015; Olatunji, Cisler, McKay, & Phillips, 2010).
This suggests that some people who become highly anxious during a
pandemic-that is, those people with elevated disgust sensitivity-are
also likely to have other, preexisting types of anxiety-related
psychopathology.

Pathogens and Prejudice

A common way of contracting infection is from other humans,

especially when foreign groups intermingle, in which one group
introduces a disease which the other group has never encountered and
has no immunity against (Navarrete & Fessler, 2006). European
explorers to the Americas, for example, brought smallpox, influenza,
and other viruses, which decimated the indigenous inhabitants
60 Chapter 6

(Pringle, 2015). Given that many infections are transmitted through

interpersonal interactions, the B1S is said to have evolved to influence
social attitudes and interactions, including ethnocentrism and negative
attitudes toward immigrants and other foreigners (Schaller & Park,
2011). Consistent with this, many studies have shown that when people
feel threatened about becoming infected with some pathogen, they
tend to avoid or stigmatize out-groups (i.e., groups which a person does
not belong to, or identify with) (Ackerman et aI., 2018; Faulkner,
Schaller, Park, & Duncan, 2004; Joffe, 1999; Makhanova, Miller, &
Maner, 2015). Thus, out-groups are blamed for causing or spreading
diseases, such as being blamed for lack of hygiene, education, self­
control, or other factors such as cultural practices (Gilles et aI., 2013).
Moreover, people who feel especially vulnerable to infection-that is,
people who perceive themselves as highly vulnerable to disease (i.e.,
high scores on the PVDS)-are most likely to avoid foreigners and have
negative attitudes toward such people (Aar0e, Petersen, & Arceneaux,
2017; Duncan, Schaller, & Park, 2009; Faulkner et aI., 2004; Green et aI.,
2010; Navarrete & Fessler, 2006; Schaller & Park, 2011). Perceived
threat of infection is also associated with prejudice toward people who
display superficial characteristics correlated with poor health, such as
a physical disability, obesity, and old age (Duncan & Schaller, 2009;
Park, Faulkner, & Schaller, 2003; Park, Schaller, & Crandall, 2007;
White, Johnson, & Kwan, 2014).
If a population is threatened with severe infection, the BIS will be
activated in almost everyone, with some people having particularly
intense levels of activation. This suggests that during times ofpandemic
there will be a general increase in stigmatization and xenophobia,
where foreigners and other out-groups are blamed for being sources of
infection (Murray & Schaller, 2012). Indeed, this was observed during
the SARS epidemic, in which the British media erroneously attributed
SARS to unhygienic Chinese cultural habits, such as dirty markets,
living in close proximity to animals, and the habit of spitting on the
ground (Washer, 2004). Similarly, stigmatization occurred during the
Bubonic Plague in Italy. In 1576 in Milan, for example, the homes of
Jews were subjected to health inspections because of prejudicial beliefs
that these people were sources of contagion (Cohn, 2010).
Visible minorities are not the only people that may be stigmatized
during outbreaks of infectious disease. HCWs who care for patients
with serious infectious diseases are commonly stigmatized because of
their disease exposure. To illustrate, about 20% of HCWs involved in
the SARS outbreak in Taiwan reported feeling stigmatized and rejected
 The behavioral immune system 61

by their neighbors (Bai et a!., 2004). During the SARS outbreak in

Singapore, 49% of HCWs experienced stigmatization because of their
jobs (Koh et a!., 2005). Even survivors of SARS were stigmatized; for
example, shunned by co-workers, even though they had fully recovered
(Cheng, 2004).
Infection-related prejudice against out-groups can be associated
with the belief in conspiracy theories (see Chapter 7) about the role of
foreigners or healthcare authorities in the spreading of disease (Atlani­
Duault, Mercier, Rousseau, Guyot, & Moatti, 2015). The Ebola
conspiratorial beliefs in West Africa were discussed in Chapter 1,
where rumors spread that foreigners (HCWs and journalists) were
deliberately harming patients in treatment facilities (Quick, 2018). An
analogous situation arose in 2010 in Haiti, during an unexpected
outbreak of cholera, the first in many decades. Some Haitians believed
that the disease was deliberately spread by foreigners and other
malevolent agents (Grimaud & Legagneur, 2011).
Disease-related stigma is important for many obvious reasons.
Stigma is a mark of social disgrace (Goffman, 1963). During outbreaks
of serious infectious disease, stigma against particular groups (e.g.,
visible minorities) can have several effects: (1) Stigma is stressful and
distressing; (2) it creates barriers to healthcare (e.g., concerns about
discrimination from healthcare providers may dissuade people from
seeking care); (3) stigma can lead to social marginalization, which can
lead to poverty and neglect, thereby reducing early detection and
treatment and furthering the spread of disease; (4) stigmatized people
may distrust health authorities and resist cooperation during a public
health emergency; and (5) stigma may distort public perceptions of
risk, resulting in undue anxiety, avoidance, and economic costs (e.g.,
fear and avoidance of Asian stores and Asian areas of town during the
SARS outbreak, as discussed above) (Barrett & Brown, 2008; Crocker,
Major, & Steele, 1998; Schibalski et a!., 2017).

Implications for Naming Diseases

The concept of the BlS has important implications for the naming of
diseases. Terms such as "Swine flu" and "Asian flu" have become
standard labels for pandemics. However, such labels should be used
with caution because of the important psychological implications of
naming pandemics after animals, geographic regions, or nationalities.
Such naming conventions can lead to misconceptions among the public
62 Chapter 6

and can amplify discrimination and stigmatization during times of

pandemic.

Conclusion

The concept of the BI5 is useful for understanding emotional and

motivational reactions when people perceive themselves to be
threatened with infection. The BI5 is particularly useful in understanding
societal reactions to the threat of infection, particularly discrimination
against out-groups (e.g., foreigners) and people who appear to be in
poor health or appear to have been somehow associated with an
infectious agent As predicted by the concept of the BI5, when
threatened with infection, people may react with xenophobia and may
stigmatize particular groups. Stigma and discrimination can be an
added source of distress to people struggling to cope with pandemic
infection.
eBT can reduce PVD (Taylor & Asmundson, 2004), and can reduce
associated features such as disgust sensitivity (Ludvik et aI., 2015;
OIatunji & McKay, 2009). eBT might also reduce the downstream
effects of PVD such as the tendency to discriminate against out-groups.
If this is the case then eBT would be doubly important during the next
pandemic for reducing both health anxiety and discrimination. eBr
would not be sufficient on a community-wide scale, however, because
there would not be sufficient resources to deliver this therapy on such
a wide scale. Future research is needed to determine how the findings
concerning the B1S and PVD can be translated into community
programs for reducing discrimination.
 CHAPTER 7

CONSPIRACY THEORIES

What are Conspiracy Theories?

To think of all conspiracy theorists as cranks is not helpful-there are

just too many (Weigmann, 2018, p. 2).

During the next pandemic, we can expect to see the emergence of

various conspiracy theories about the source or cause of the infectious
agent and about the vaccines (if available) used to treat it As for
conspiracy theories in general, they are attempts to explain the causes
of significant events by claiming they are due to secret plots by powerful
actors (Douglas, Sutton, & Cichocka, 2017). Conspiracy beliefs refer to
beliefs in a specific conspiracy theory or set of theories. The belief in
conspiracy theories is remarkably widespread. About 60% of
Americans believe President John F. Kennedy was killed in a conspiracy
involving the Mafia, CIA, or the government (Swift, 2013). More than a
third of Americans believe in the conspiracy theory that climate change
is a hoax, perpetrated by vested interest groups such as climate
scientists in need of research funding (Douglas et a!., 2019). Belief in
conspiracy theories appears to be a culturally universal phenomenon
(van Prooijen & van Vugt, 2018).

Medical Conspiracy Theories

Disease outbreaks are commonly the subject of conspiracy theories,

especially when the nature of the disease is poorly understood.
Regarding the AIDS pandemic, for example, there have been several
unsubstantiated conspiracy theories contending that HIV/AIDS is a
bioengineered weapon intended to wipe out homosexuality or to
commit racial genocide by eliminating African Americans (Helier, 2015;
Parsons, Simmons, Shinhoster, & Kilburn, 1999). In Padua, Italy, during
the Bubonic Plague outbreak of 1 57 6, a pamphlet was circulated widely
64 Chapter 7

in the city, proclaiming the conspiracy theory that "wicked ones

(sciagurati) were spreading the disease intentionally with infected
clothing and poisonous ointments (untioni) rubbed on door handles
and knockers" (Cohn, 2010, p. 119). During the Spanish flu pandemic,
which occurred during World War I, there was a conspiracy theory that
the virus was being spread by a pharmaceutical company:

Such was the virulence of anti-German fanaticism in 1918 that the

USPHS [United States Public Health Service] was obliged ... to test Bayer
Aspirin tablets to counteract rumors that Bayer, producing aspirin
under what had originally been a German patent, was poisoning its
customers with flu germs. The tablets proved to be uninhabited [by
germs]. (Crosby, 2003, p. 216)

Conspiracy theories were also raised about the Zika virus.

According to one unsubstantiated theory, the virus was the inadvertent
creation of a biotech company that had been raising genetically
modified mosquitoes to combat dengue fever Oacobs, Perpetua,
Sreeharsha, McNeil, & Tavernise, 2016). Another unsubstantiated
theory asserted thatZika was part of a plot by global elites-a shadowy
organization known as the New World Order-to depopulate the
planet and install a one-world government (Jacobs et a!., 2016). There
is no evidence that this organization ever existed but it has,
nonetheless, been the focus of numerous conspiracy theories.
According to one theory, the New World Order was responsible for the
SARS outbreak (Lee, 2014). Early in the SARS outbreak, Australian
health officials were forced to quell conspiracy theories about SARS
being an act of terrorism or biological warfare conducted by some
malevolent country or agency (Lee, 2014). During the 2009 Swine flu
pandemic various conspiracy theories arose, including the theory that
terrorists were using infected Mexicans immigrating to the United
States as "walking germ warfare weapons" (Smallman, 2015, p. 5).
A survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,351 American
adults revealed that a sizable minority of people believe in medically
unsubstantiated conspiracy theories (Oliver & Wood, 2014), as
indicated by the proportion of US adults agreeing with the following
conspiracy theories:

• The Food and Drug Administration is deliberately preventing

the public from getting natural cures for cancer and other
diseases because of pressure from drug companies: 37% agreed.
 Conspiracy theories 65

• Health officials know that cell phones cause cancer but are doing
nothing to stop it because large corporations won't let them:
20% agreed.
• The global dissemination of genetically modified foods by the
Monsanto corporation is part of a secret program, called Agenda
21, launched by the Rockefeller and Ford foundations to shrink
the world's population: 12% agreed.
• Public water fluoridation is really just a secret way for chemical
companies to dump dangerous byproducts of phosphate mines
into the environment: 12% agreed.
• Doctors and the government still want to vaccinate children
even though they know these vaccines cause autism and other
psychological disorders: 20% agreed.

Causes and Correlates of Conspiratorial Thinking

Conspiracy theories are most likely to arise during times of

uncertainty about important events, especially if the events are
threatening and personally relevant (Wood, 2018). Conspiracy theories
typically emerge in marked opposition to particular mainstream or
official accounts. Such theories can provide a simple, understandable
picture of a personally relevant threatening. uncertain situation: Why
something happened, who benefits from it, and who should be blamed
(Weigmann, 2018; Wood, 2018). Conspiracy theories are resistant to
falsification in that they postulate that conspirators use stealth and
disinformation to cover up their actions, which implies that people who
try to debunk conspiracy theories may, themselves, be part of the
conspiracy (Douglas et aI., 2017).
People differ not only in the degree to which they believe in specific
conspiracy theories, but also in their susceptibility to such theories in
general (8ruder, Haffke, Neave, Nouripanah, & lmhoff, 2013). People
who believe in one conspiracy theory tend to believe in others (Douglas
et aI., 2019; Galliford & Furnham, 2017; Lewandowsky, Oberauer, &
Gignac, 2013). For example, people who believe that the Zika virus is
spread by Monsanto also tend to believe that 9/11 was an inside job,
that NASA faked the moon landings, and that governments are covering
up evidence of extraterrestrial contact
Conspiracy theories, as promulgated on social media (e.g., Twitter,
Facebook, YouTube) and through other avenues, have several common
features: (1) The proponents typically go to great efforts to cite
66 Chapter 7

supposedly authoritative sources to support their claims, even if such

claims might be vague (e.g., "Research at Harvard has shown that...");
(2) the theories themselves are often vague; and (3) the proponents
frequently use leading questions; a "just asking" style in which they
raise rhetorical questions to challenge mainstream views (e.g., "If
vaccines are so safe, then how do you explain the increase in disease X
in country when people received the vaccine Z?") (Wood, 2018).
Evidence suggests that the tendency to believe in conspiracy
theories is driven by motives that can be characterized as epistemic
(needing to understand one's environment), existential (needing to feel
safe and in control of one's environment), and social (needing to
maintain a positive image of oneself and one's in-group) (Douglas et al.,
2017). Conspiracy theories tend to be particularly appealing to people
who find the positive image of their self or in-group to be threatened
(Cichocka, Marchlewska, Galee de Zavala, & Olechowski, 2016; Douglas
et aI., 2017).
A large number of studies have investigated the individual
difference variables that predict a person's tendency to believe in
conspiracy theories (e.g., Bruder et aI., 2013; Cichocka, Marchlewska, &
Golecde Zavala, 2016; Craft, Ashley, & Maksl, 2017; Douglas et aI., 2017,
2019; Galliford & Furnham, 2017; lmhoff & Lamberty, 2018; Lahrach &
Furnham, 2017; Lantian, Muller, Nurra, & Douglas, 2017; Marchlewska,
Cichocka, & Kossowska, 2018; Moulding et aI., 2016; Swami, Voracek,
Stieger, Tran, & Furnham, 2014). Research shows that the tendency to
believe in conspiracy theories is correlated with the following:

• Suspiciousness, magical thinking. and the tendency to believe

in the paranormal.
• Narcissism (i.e., an inflated view of oneself that requires
external validation) and the need to feel unique that can be
fulfilled by believing that one has special knowledge about
conspiracies.
• Worry about one's health and mortality, for people who
believe in medical conspiracy theories.
• Gullibility, lower media literacy (i.e., poorer ability to critically
analyze the source and contents of news stories, as indicated,
for example, by the tendency to believe in fake news), lower
intelligence, lower education, and poorer skills in analytical
thinking.
 Conspiracy theories 67

• Rejection of conventional scientific findings or theories (e.g.,

the theory of evolution) in favor of pseudoscience (e.g., the
belief that prayer is effective in curing terminal disease).

Overall, the research suggests that conspiracy theories appeal to

people who seek accuracy or meaning about personally important
issues, but lack the cognitive resources or have other problems that
prevent them from finding the answers to questions by more rational
means (Douglas et aI., 2019). Conspiracy theories may also allow
people to feel that they possess rare, important information that other
people do not have, making them feel special and thus boosting their
self-esteem.

Methods for Reducing Conspiratorial Thinking

In some cases, it may be very difficult, if not impossible to persuade

people to abandon their conspiratorial beliefs, such as beliefs about the
causes of a given virus. However, research suggests that people can be
inoculated against conspiracy theories by being exposed to arguments
that refute conspiracy theories, before the person is exposed to pro­
conspiracy arguments Oolley & Douglas, 2017). Techniques that
stimulate analytical thinking also can reduce the belief in conspiracies
(Swami et aI., 2014). But once the belief in a conspiracy theory is firmly
established, it can be difficult to correct Oolley & Douglas, 2017).
Motivational interviewing and related approaches such as motivational
enhancement therapy can be used to target conspiratorial thinking
(Hornsey & Fielding, 2017; Miller & Rollnick, 2013). These methods are
applied on an individual basis, such as during therapy. Itis unclear how
they could be applied on a community-wide basis.

Conclusion

Conspiracy theories arise during times of uncertainty in order for

people make sense of threatening events. People differ in their
tendency to embrace conspiracy theories and there are various reasons
why people engage in conspiratorial thinking. Medical conspiracy
theories may lead to vaccine nonadherence and may fuel pandemic­
related anxiety. Therefore, conspiracy theories would be important to
address in the next pandemic. However, a person need not believe in
conspiracy theories in order to be anxious during a pandemic. Their
68 Chapter 7

anxiety might be realistic or might arise from an exaggerated estimate

of the degree of threat, without engaging in conspiratorial thinking. For
such pandemic-related distress, emotional vulnerability factors may be
more important, including trait anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty.
These traits are not consistently related to the belief in conspiracy
theories (Grzesiak-Feldman, 2013; Moulding et a!., 2016; Swami et a!.,
2014) but predict who will become distressed when threatened with
infection, such as pandemic influenza. So, although conspiratorial
thinking is an important issue, there are other issues of equal and
perhaps greater importance.
 CHAPTER 8

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS

How do Beliefs and Fears Spread Through Social

Networks?

Beliefs and fears about diseases, just like diseases themselves,

spread through social networks. Beliefs also influence the spread of
infection. If there is widespread belief in the importance of
handwashing. for example, then this will curtail the spread of disease.
In general, beliefs and fears are spread in three main ways: (1)
Information transmission, such as by media reports (e.g., text, images)
or verbal information received from other people (e.g., rumors); (2)
direct personal experiences, including conditioning events (e.g.,
exposure to trauma); and (3) observational learning (e.g., witnessing
other people acting frightened in response to some stimulus) (8arlow,
2004; Goumon & S pinka, 2016). Information transmission and
observational learning are particularly relevant to the spread of beliefs
and fears through social networks.

Rumors

A rumor, as the term is defined in the social sciences, refers to a

"story or piece of information of unknown reliability that is passed from
person to person" (Vandenbos, 2007, p. 808). Rumors are "improvised
news" (Shibutani, 1966), spreading rapidly when the demand for
information exceeds the supply, as is the case during times of
uncertainty about important issues. Rumors may be spread if they help
people make sense of an ambiguous situation, such as the possible
threat of infection, and if rumors offer guidance about how to cope with
the perceived risks (DiFonzo & 8ordia, 2007; Rosnow, Esposito, &
Gibney, 1988).
Rumors can arise from anonymous sources, causing uncertainty
about the veracity of the information. Traditionally, rumors were
70 Chapter 8

spread by word-of-mouth but now are spread by the mass media and
social media. Rumors, as they pass with retelling, tend to become
shorter and simpler (e.g., details are omitted), sharpened (e.g., some
details are accentuated or exaggerated), and altered in a way that
matches cultural stereotypes, expectations and biases (All port &
Posttnan, 1947; DiFonzo & Bordia, 2007). Rumors and their management
are issues of practical importance because unchecked rumors can lead,
for example, to widespread fear, hostility and suspicion, and social
disruption.
Rumors may be true, false, or somewhere in between. Some rumors
may involve urban myths or stories that might seem highly plausible.
An urban myth is illustrated in the following incident, which occurred
during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which occurred during World
War I.

In the context of the raging war in Europe, residents of Baltimore like

many Americans expressed their anti-German sentiments by
characterizing the disease as an immoral, murderous "Hun of a disease"
and by entertaining rumors that German spies were infiltrating the
country and spreading the sickness. The local incarnation of this rumor
took the form of a "nurse of German extraction" who was caught
distributing germs in the hospital wards of Camp Meade and later
executed. (Schoch-Spana, 2004, p. 47)

There was no documented evidence of any such nurse. During the

same pandemic in England, The Times erroneously reported a rumor
that the Spanish flu was "directly traceable to the German use of poison
gas, the after-effects ofwhich have induced the growth ofa new type of
streptococcus" (Johnson, 2006, p. 186). Again, there was no evidence to
support this rumor.
A similarly false rumor was spread about the prevalence of SARS in
New York City's Chinatown (Eichelberger, 2007). Even without a single
case of SARS in Chinatown, the area was quickly identified as a hotspot
of contagion and risk. "The American public, including Chinatown, had
become infected with an epidemic of fear, not of disease" (Eichelberger,
2007, p. 1285).
Rumors can be spread maliciously and to promote prejudice. During
the 2003 SARS epidemic, for example, a hoaxer in Hong Kong posted a
bogus news item on a faux news site, claiming that Hong Kong would
soon be declared an infected region and sealed off from the rest of the
world. Such a rumor quickly spread around the city, causing frightened
people to rush to stores to purchase supplies (Cheng & Cheung, 2005).
 Social psychological factors 71

Note that there are many similarities between rumors and conspiracy
theories. In some ways, a conspiracy theory is an extreme, highly
specific form of rumor. Methods for managing rumors are discussed in
Chapter 9.

Observational Learning

Emotional contagion, including the spread of fear, is a basic building

block of human interaction, allowing people to understand and share
the feelings of others by "feeling themselves into" another person's
emotions (Hatfield, Carpenter, & Rapson, 2014). Research shows that
observational learning is an important way in which emotions,
including fears, are spread (Bandura, 1986; Debiec & Olsson, 2017).
Observational learning involves the acquisition of information, skills, or
behavior by watching the performance of others. Fears may be
acquired via observational learning, such as by seeing or hearing
people express fear about some issue, such as a possible pandemic.
Observational learning can include seeing fearful faces or bodily
postures and hearing frightened voices. Studies show that exposure to
social cues signaling threat, such as the sight or sound of a scared
person, can trigger or amplify fear, which is a phenomenon known as
fear contagion (Debiec & Olsson, 2017). Research also shows that
people can also "smell fear"; that is, people can detect olfactory fear
cues given offby the sweat of frightened individuals. Experiments show
that these olfactory cues can elicit fear in other people (de Groot, Semin,
& Smeets, 2014).
The perception of a common threat can lead to behavioral mimicry
of fear reactions, thereby promoting the spreading of fear (Gump &
Kulik, 1997). This is not unique to fear. Research suggests that humans,
being social animals, tend to spontaneously and automatically mimic
the behavior of other people, including facial expressions, body
movements, and vocal expressions (Hatfield et aI., 2014). Afferent
feedback from such facial or postural mimicry can induce, in an
attenuated form, the corresponding emotions (e.g., behaving in a
frightened way can induce the emotion of fear) (Hatfield, Cacioppo, &
Rapson, 1994; Hatfield et aI., 2014).
Evidence suggests that some combination of observational learning
and information transmission plays a role in pandemic-related fear.
Research conducted during the 2009 Swine flu pandemic, for example,
showed that children's fear of Swine flu was predicted by their parent's
72 Chapter 8

fear of Swine flu (Remmerswaal & Muris, 2011). The parent's

transmission of threat information was positively correlated with
children's fear. This link remained significant even after controlling for
other sources of information (i.e., from media, friends, and school) and
direct experience with the disease.

News Media

News media outlets attempt to deal with a vast quantity of news

information by filtering it into a few columns in the daily newspapers
or into a few sound bites on the nightly news. News reports both reflect
and reinforce community anxieties and concerns (Bird, 1996). The
news media has been long accused of exaggerating dangers, thereby
creating undue public fear (Kilgo et a!., 2018). During the 2002-2003
SARS outbreak, for example, the media exaggerated the dangerousness
and contagiousness of the virus, leading to widespread but short-lived
public anxiety and xenophobia (Muzzatti, 2005).

News coverage in the United States saturated viewers with images of

East and Southeast Asians wearing masks and creatively-framed
camera angles provided footage of deserted Chinatowns in American
urban centers, further fueling the stigma. (Muzzatti 2005, p. 123)

Noticeably absent from most media coverage was the fact that SARS
was not easily communicable, nor was it fatal in the majority of cases
(Muzzatti, 2005). As a side note, the SARS outbreak was curiously self­
limiting. The coronavirus causing SARS disappeared from the human
population as abruptly as it had arrived, before a vaccine or cure could
be found (Lee, 2014).
During the 2004-2007 outbreak of Avian flu, the news media was
criticized for exaggerating the risk and lethality of infections by using
emotionally toned language, making misleading comparisons between
the Avian flu and the deadlier Spanish flu, the misuse (selective use) of
statistics, along with questionable estimates of death toll and cost of
infectious outbreaks (Abeysinghe & White, 2010).
When the 2009 Swine flu pandemic proved to be not as lethal as
initially feared, some commentators blamed the media (and health
officials) for exaggerating the threat (Bonneux & Van Damme, 2010;
Keil, Schbnhbfer, & Spelsberg, 2011). However, an analysis of media
reports suggests a more nuanced interpretation. Klemm, Das, and
Hartmann (2016) conducted a systematic review of previously
 Social psychological factors 73

published content-analytic studies of media reports concerning the

Swine flu pandemic. Klemm et a!. developed a coding scheme specifying
three indicators of dramatized media coverage: (1) The volume of
media coverage (i.e., extensive coverage may serve as risk amplifier,
regardless of whether the risk is portrayed accurately), (2) the media
content presented, particularly an overemphasis of threat while
neglecting measures of self-protection, and (3) the tone of coverage.
Tone refers to dramatic or sensational use of emotion-laden
descriptions (e.g., discussion of worst-case scenarios of what "might"
happen) and use of particular attention-grabbing production features
such as special effects (e.g., sound effects, fast cutting of some scenes,
slow-motion effects for others), which can exaggerate factual content
(Klemm et a!., 2016). Results indicated that media attention was
immense, that news content stressed threat over precautionary
measures, while there was inconsistent evidence for the use of an
overly dramatic or sensational tone. This led Klemm and colleagues to
conclude that the media may have contributed to heightened risk
perceptions primarily through a high volume of coverage and an
unbalanced emphasis on the threat of Swine flu.
Experts interviewed for the media can also add to the sensationalism
in news reports. When commenting on the Avian flu outbreak, for
example, a prominent British virologist was quoted in The Guardian as
saying "Forget al-Qaeda, the biggest terrorist threat we face today is
Mother Nature" (Nerlich & Halliday, 2007, p. 59). Thus, itis not possible
to blame the media entirely for fueling fears about pandemics. Even so,
the media may exaggerate the messages that experts or health
authorities want to convey.
Complicating matters, exaggerated media reports lead to diverse
reactions among the public. Some members of the public react with
excessive fear, while others dismiss the new reports as gross
exaggerations. Both types of reaction are common. To illustrate, a study
of 1,027 Canadians found that, regarding the Swine flu pandemic, 45%
believed that the media reports were reasonably accurate, 36%
believed the reports were exaggerated, and the remaining 19% found
the media reports to be contradictory or confusing (Taha et a!., 2013).
People who are skeptical of media reports are less likely to engage in
health behaviors recommended by health authorities (Rubin et a!.,
2009).
Mass media fatigue can undermine efforts to curb the spread of
infection (Collinson, Khan, & Heffernan, 2015). Although sensationalized
news articles can promote anxiety, the pervasive media coverage of
74 Chapter 8

social problems can lead to desensitization; that is, a diminished

emotional response to negative news reports (Collinson et aI., 2015).
People may follow the recommended health precautions during the
initial phases of an outbreak but then become lax over time as they
become desensitized to news reports. Little is known about the factors
influencing mass media fatigue, beyond the finding that the sheer
volume of exposure to news reports can influence mass media fatigue.
There may be individual differences in proneness to such fatigue
although this remains to be investigated.
It is unrealistic to expect reporters to avoid or remove all the
journalistic devices used to sensationalize a news story. Responsible
journalistic reporting is not devoid of reporting anxiety-inducing
details. However, solutions, interventions, useful information for the
public, and other anxiety-reducing elements are as important to cover
as warnings and speculations. News reporters can reduce public fear
by accentuating solutions and successful efforts to control and contain
a health crisis (Kilgo et aI., 2018).

Social Media

The use of social media-such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and

YouTube-is ubiquitous. Social media involve web and mobile-based
technologies and platforms that enable the content creation,
collaboration and sharing of information by members of the public.
About two-thirds of US adults have a Facebook account, for example,
and about half of those users obtain their news information from
Facebook (Sharma, Yadav, Yadav, & Ferdinand, 2017). Social media
have become a major source of health information for people
worldwide and have become a global platform for outbreak and health
risk communication (Adebayo, Neumark, Gesser-Edelsburg, Abu
Ahmad, & Levine, 2017).
Traditional news services, such as newspapers and radio and
television broadcasts, offer a one-way dissemination of information.
Journalists and broadcasters simply deliver information to a receiving
public. Social media have dramatically changed the way that news is
spread. Social media users play an important gatekeeping role in
information dissemination; users make decisions about what
information to share and where to share it, may selectively share
(amplify) some types of media coverage and ignore others, and may
create their own content (Kilgo et aI., 2018). Users who express interest
 Social psychological factors 75

in a particular news story, for example, by liking a post on Facebook,

create social cues that signal the value of information to others
(Strekalova, 2017). When sharing news articles, users who post to
social media or social news sites can choose traditional media news or
alternative (non-mainstream) news outlets. Thus, sharing provides the
opportunity for user-generated content or alternative media sites to
receive increased attention (Kilgo et aI., 2018). Anyone can widely
disseminate their opinion about almost anything.
Social media are a two-edged sword. They can rapidly disseminate
information and misinformation. They can fuel or quell fears, and they
can influence the spreading of disease by influencing people's behavior.
This potentially raises problems with the spreading of excessive fear.
The same can be said for modern communication technologies in
general, including the Internet

When the next major pandemic strikes, it will be accompanied by

something never before seen in human history: an explosion of billions
of texts, tvveets, e-mails, blogs, photos, and videos rocketing across the
planet's computers and mobile devices. Some of these billions of words
and pictures will have useful information, but many will be filled with
rumors, innuendo, misinformation, and hyper-sensational claims. ... As
a result, hundreds of millions of people will receive unvetted and
incorrect assertions, uncensored images, and unqualified guidance, all
of which, if acted on, could endanger their own health, seriously damage
their economies, and undermine the stability of their societies. (Walker,
2016, p. 43)

A large volume of misleading information is posted on social media.

Research indicates, for example, that about 20-30% of YouTube videos
about emerging infectious diseases contain inaccurate or misleading
information (Tang, Bie, Park, & Zhi, 2018). A survey of You Tube videos
during the Zika virus pandemic found that 24% contained misleading
information (Bora, Das, Barman, & Borah, 2018). An analysis of
Facebook posts during the Zika pandemic further revealed that
misleading posts were far more popular than posts presenting
accurate, relevant public health information about the disease (Sharma
et aI., 2017). An analysis of Reddit posts during the 2014 Ebola
outbreak in West Africa similarly revealed that news shared on Reddit
was more sensational and tended to amplify anxiety and uncertainty,
as compared to information presented in traditional newspaper
coverage (Kilgo et aI., 2018). Such findings are important because social
media posts can influence people's emotions and behaviors.
76 Chapter 8

How might social media be better used for health promotion during
times of pandemic? Sharma et al. (2017) called for better curation of
public health-related social media posts during times of health crises;
that is, refraining from passing on sensational, speculative, or
misleading information. But this would work only if the public
voluntarily agreed not to circulate such news items. Imposed
censorship of such material by moderators of social media sites would
likely contribute to the spread of conspiracy theories. Sharma et al.
(2017) suggested that misleading health information could be tagged
(e.g., Facebook posts can be tagged) to indicate that it contains
misleading, questionable, or unverified health information. Whether
this would be feasible or successful remains to be seen.
Some researchers have recommended that health campaigns focus
on recruiting influential Twitter accounts for retweeting accurate,
health-promoting information (Yun et aI., 2016). Tang et al. (2018)
suggested enlisting alternative spokespersons such as celebrities. This
seems problematic. The majority of media celebrities are not content
experts and might just as easily pass on misleading information. There
is also concern that the reliance on celebrities could undermine health
literacy among some members of the general public. Health literacy
refers to a person's knowledge, motivation, and competence to access,
understand, critically appraise, and apply health information for their
healthcare (S0rensen et aI., 2012). People should be encouraged to seek
out authoritative, reliable information sources rather than blindly
accepting someone's advice simply because that person is some kind of
celebrity.

Social Media and Vaccination Attitudes

Social media may contribute to the anti-vaccination movement by

providing a vehicle for recruiting members and garnering media
attention. Facebook anti-vaccination groups provide a form of "echo­
chamber" where people can mutually support their anti-scientific
views (Pilkington & Glenza, 2019). However, the relationship between
social media and vaccination attitudes is more complex. Although the
Internet makes it easy to spread and reinforce anti-vaccination beliefs
and conspiracy theories, the Internet equally makes it easy to criticize
such beliefs and theories. Conspiracy theory websites are not highly
visited by the general public and have a far smaller audience than
mainstream news sources (Douglas et al., 2019). There is some
 Social psychological factors 77

evidence, however, that some "vaccination skeptical" websites may be

more effective in their methods of communication than pro-vaccination
websites. One study, for example, compared two vaccination skeptical
and two pro-vaccination websites and found that the former had links
to both pro- and anti-vaccination information, creating the appearance
that both sides of the issue were being presented openly (Grant et a!.,
2015). Unlike the pro-vaccination websites, the vaccination skeptical
websites were highly interactive, providing a forum for community
discussion. This suggests that the vaccination skeptical websites were
more effective in fostering community building. Pro-vaccination
websites provided limited interaction, focusing on imparting
knowledge, which conspiracy theorists may view as aloof and
dictatorial (Douglas et a!., 2019). Indeed, research from a randomized
controlled trial suggests that vaccination acceptability can be improved
by including an interactive component in websites, such as an
interactive social media component (Daley, Narwaney, Shoup, Wagner,
& Glanz, 2018; Glanz et a!., 2017). Further research is needed to
determine the optimal methods for presenting evidence-based
vaccination information on the Internet Issues concerning vaccination
adherence in general are discussed in Chapter 10.

Conclusion

Beliefs, rumors, misinformation, and fear can readily spread

through social networks, particularly through social media. The news
media can further heighten fears. Researchers and commentators have
made various suggestions about how the news media and social media
might be reined in, to limit the spread of sensational or inaccurate
information. The feasibility and effectiveness of such suggestions
remain to be seen. Ultimately, the onus is on the individual to critically
examine the sources of information that he or she receives.
 CHAPTER 9

IM PROVING RISK COMMUNICATION

Goals of Risk Communication

The purpose of risk communication is to provide the public with the

information they need to make well-informed decisions about
appropriate actions to take to protect their health and safety. Risk
communication should contain more than just tips about good hygiene
and the need for vaccination. Ideally, risk communication should
contain information about "coping methods, strategies for dealing with
stigma, guidance on managing stress when assuming new roles in the
family, guidance on building resilience, and psycho-educational
materials on grief, anxiety, depression, helplessness, apathy,
frustration, anger, and volatility" (Shultz et aI., 2008, p. 227).
For risk communication to be effective, the information must be
perceived as credible and presented in such a way as to encourage
adherence to the recommendations in the message. Research suggests
that people are more likely to adhere to health-related recommendations
if the following conditions are met: (1) The person believes that the
disease is severe and that the recommended behaviors are effective in
reducing the risk of infection; (2) the person is worried about
contracting the disease and believes that they are susceptible to
infection; (3) health authorities are perceived as trustworthy and
provide clear, sufficient information; (4) there are few perceived
barriers to implementing the recommended health behaviors
(Kanadiya & Sallar, 2011).
As we saw earlier, nonadherence to advice from health authorities
is a widespread problem. This includes problems with nonadherence
to vaccination, hygiene, and social distancing. The topic of risk
communication specifically for vaccination is addressed in the
following chapter. In the present chapter, we focus on general issues in
risk communication, and consider how risk communication might be
improved for the next pandemic.
80 Chapter 9

Logical versus Emotional Appeals

Efforts to persuade people to adopt particular behaviors, such as to

adopt hygienic practices or to seek vaccination, can involve logical or
emotional appeals. Logical appeals refer to facts and statistics, whereas
emotional appeals aim to evoke emotion to motivate change (Kim &
Choi, 2017). To elicit the desired emotion, emotional appeal messages
often include vivid, concrete, image-evoking, and personal elements
(Slovic, Finucane, Peters, & MacGregor, 2004). People are more likely
to be swayed in their opinions if they are presented with vivid
narratives or case examples, as compared to bland statistics about risk
(Haase, Betsch, & Renkewitz, 2015). Research indicates that emotional
appeals, compared to logical appeals, are more memorable and more
likely to stimulate people to seek out health-related information
(Betsch, Ulshbfer, Renkewitz, & Betsch, 2011; janssen, van Osch, de
Vries, & Lechner, 2013; Kim & Choi, 2017). Emotional appeals appear
to exert their power because induced emotions such as fear are used by
people as cues for estimating risk (Slovic, Finucane, Peters, &
MacGregor, 2007). Thus, an emotional appeal that elicits fear will tend
to increase the person's perceived risk of a particular hazard. But is this
the best way to induce adaptive behaviors?

Promoting Adherence by Evoking Fear?

Frightening people into changing their behaviors is a widely used

tactic in health promotion campaigns (Muthusamy, Levine, & Weber,
2009). A concern is that such messages might induce widespread
anxiety, which can create problems of its own. Some commentators
have argued that risk communications should contain a balance of
assuring and fear-inducing information (Nerlich & Halliday, 2007).
Other commentators have argued that the public should be presented
with worst-case scenarios. According to Sandman (2009), a risk­
communication consultant, the government must help the public to
"visualize what a bad pandemic might be like" (p. 322). Regarding the
2009 Swine flu pandemic, Sandman asserted that "the CDC's biggest
failure [was] in not doing enough to help people visualize what a bad
pandemic might be like so they can understand and start preparing for
the worst" (p. 322).

[A] reason for the wariness of officials is a fear of being seen to

overreact. Critics are already accusing officials of over-warning the
 Improving risk communication 81

public, and ifthe virus recedes and a pandemic never materializes, these
critics will consider themselves proved right - as if the fact that your
house didn't burn down this year proved the foolishness of last year's
decision to buy insurance against fire. (Sandman, 2009, p. 323)

Preparations recommended by Sandman include stocking up on

food, water, prescription medicines, and other key supplies. Sandman's
(2009) points are that, in terms of preparedness planning: (1) People
need to be educated as to how they can protect themselves rather than
being treated as passive individuals who have little to do except wash
their hands and use facemasks, and (2) people need to err on the side
of caution.

Fundamentally, officials need to ask themselves whether they see the

public as potential victims to be protected and reassured, like young
children, or as pandemic fighters-grown-ups-who can play an active
part in the crisis that might be ahead . ... Having things to do gives people
a sense of control. It builds confidence, and it makes them more able to
bear their fear. ...... Urging people to prepare can calm those whose
concern is excessive and rouse those whose concern is insufficient.
(Sandman, 2009, p. 323)

Fear appeals, such as those made in media announcements, and

those recommended by Sandman (2009), can be effective in achieving
persuasive goals, but their effectiveness depends on a variety of factors,
including features ofthe message and the target audience (Muthusamy
et a!., 2009; Witte & Alien, 2000). Important factors include the severity
of the perceived threat (i.e., perceived severity and personal
susceptibility) in relation to what the person believes can be done to
cope with the threat (i.e., perceived efficacy) (de Hoog, Stroebe, & de
Wit, 2007; Witte, 1992).
Adherence to the guidelines presented in a fear-evoking message is
expected to occur if (1) the threat is perceived as severe, (2) an effective
coping response is perceived to be available, and (3) the person
believes they are capable of executing an effective coping response
(Peters, Ruiter, & Kok, 2013). Points (2) and (3) refer to perceived
efficacy. When threat is high but perceived efficacy is low, defensive
reactions are likely, such as denying the severity of, or susceptibility to,
the threat (e.g., disparaging government health warnings) (Goldenberg
& Arndt, 2008). The risk needs to be perceived as credible (i.e., not over­
or understated) and the preventive or protective measures also need to
be perceived as credible. Research suggests that fear appeals are most
82 Chapter 9

likely to be effective in promoting health behaviors if (1) the threat is

perceived as high and (2) efficacy is also perceived as high (Peters et
aI., 2013).
Fear appeals can sometimes be counterproductive. Telling people
that they are at risk of contracting a disease increases their vigilance to
disease cues (Duncan & Schaller, 2009; Park et aI., 2003, 2007). On the
one hand, this can increase the chances of correctly identifying
infection and taking appropriate action, such as staying at home so as
to prevent spreading disease to others. But on the other hand, it
increases the chance that people will misinterpret benign bodily
sensations as indications of disease and therefore become unduly
anxious and needlessly seeking medical attention and potentially over­
taxing the healthcare system. Fear-evoking messages need to be crafted
with this issue in mind.
The distinction between monitoring and blunting (Chapter 5) also
has implications for the use of fear-evoking messages. People who are
monitors, compared to those who are blunters, are more sensitive to
fear-evoking messages; that is, their appraisals of risk are more
strongly influenced by these messages and they are more likely to
remember them (Kim & Choi, 2017). Monitors and blunters do not
appear to differ in the impact of logical appeals on risk perception (Kim
& Choi, 2017). The research by Kim and Choi suggests that when
targeting monitors, fear-evoking messages would be most effective in
conveying the seriousness of the risk In contrast, blunters are likely to
distract themselves from such messages. Blunters may benefit from
messages that involve logical appeals, which are less likely to trigger
avoidance than fear-evoking messages. This suggests that community­
wide risk communication programs should consider circulating more
than one type of message, with different messages targeting different
groups of people such as monitors and blunters.

Psychological Distance Influences Perceived Risk

The concept of psychological distance refers to the perceived

distance between the self and an object or experience. For a given
health threat (e.g., a particular virus), the shorter the perceived
psychological distance, the greater is the perceived threat (and the
greater are the odds of triggering the behavioral immune system).
Psychological distance varies along four key dimensions (Trope &
Liberman, 2010; White et aI., 2014):
 Improving risk communication 83

1. Spatial distance. That is, the physical proximity of the disease

threat to the person.
2. Temporal distance. This refers to two temporal parameters: How
soon the threat might arrive, and the temporal origin or newness of the
threat More recently discovered diseases (e.g., the virus causing SARS)
tend to be perceived as more dangerous, compared to diseases that
have long been present (e.g., viruses causing seasonal influenza),
because the former are novel and their pathophysiology may be
unknown or unclear (White et aI., 2014).
3. Social distance. This is defined by the nature of social
relationships. People may be more likely to contract pathogens from
people who are socially close to them, because they are more frequently
in contact (White et aI., 2014). A cue to social closeness is the name of
the disease. Consistent with this, White et al.'s research indicated that
virus names that referenced socially close targets (humans) were
perceived as more dangerous by the lay public than diseases that
referenced socially distant targets (animals).
4. Probability distance: This refers to the chance of encountering an
infectious agent, which is determined by factors such as the agent's
prevalence in the environment The perceived probability of an event
is influenced by a range of factors, including the cognitive process
known as the availability heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973). That
is, the greater the ease of recalling something (e.g., recalling that a given
disease has arisen in the community), the greater is its perceived
probability of occurring in the future. Consistent with this, research
conducted by White et al. (2014) found that the frequency with which
a person encounters a virus's name was associated with greater
perceived danger.
The concept and findings concerning psychological distance have
important implications for risk communication in the media. Health
authorities and news agencies must be careful in how-and how
often-they publicly discuss disease outbreaks because cues of
psychological distance can, on the one hand, lead to undue anxiety or,
on the other hand, negatively influence healthcare decisions such as the
willingness to seek vaccination (White et aI., 2014). Continuous
reporting on novel diseases and the repetition of their names may
artificially increase perceptions of danger, at least in the short term.
lfthe goal is to frighten people into adopting health behaviors, then
public announcements could emphasize that infection is close at hand,
looming in terms of time to impact, and that people have a high
probability of infection unless precautionary measures are taken.
84 Chapter 9

Infections that are described as novel (i.e., having newly arisen or

newly spread to humans), named after humans (e.g., Asian flu), and
continuously reported in the media (i.e., the availability heuristic), will
increase the perceived threat of infection. But there are several
problems with increasing risk by these means. First, such an approach
might undermine the credibility of the risk communication message
because some people might think the risks are exaggerated. Second,
such messages might truly exaggerate the risk, thereby leading to
excessive distress and needless protective behaviors (e.g., needlessly
stockpiling food or medication). The naming of outbreaks after humans
also runs the risk of leading to discrimination against groups of people,
as discussed earlier.
Timing and repetition of risk communication messages are
important People may be initially diligent to adherence to health
recommendations but become lax over time. This has been dubbed "flu
fatigue" (Levi et a!., 2010), which is a form of mass media fatigue
described earlier in this volume. Unduly prolonged warning of a future
pandemic can lead to flu fatigue in the public (Li et a!., 2014; Liao,
Cowling, Lam, & Fielding, 2011). Further research is needed to
determine the optimal frequency and spacing of messages so as to
reduce the chances of flu fatigue.

Managing Rumors

Risk communication is important in the management of rumors.

Widespread rumors, including widely disseminated fake news, should
not be ignored by health authorities, and if the rumors are true they
should be confirmed quickly, along with a factual description of the
situation or incident Rumor surveillance by health authorities is
important for the early detection and correction of misinformation and
misunderstanding. In such surveillance, healthcare authorities need to
actively monitor rumors and misinformation in news media reports
and social media. Effective refutation of false rumors reduce
uncertainty by offering a clear, point-by-point refutation with solid
evidence (DiFonzo & Bordia, 2007). The person or agency doing the
refuting should ideally be a trusted party and explain the context in
which the refutation is being issued.
Because rumors are sometimes sensational and therefore
potentially newsworthy, the news media often contribute to the
spreading of rumors (Rosnow & Fine, 1976). And yet, the news media
 Improving risk communication 85

are indispensable for providing the public with information that refutes
unfounded rumors (DiFonzo & Bordia, 2007). An unintended and
perhaps unavoidable side effect of rumor refutation initiatives is that
formal efforts to debunk rumors may, in fact, communicate rumors to
people who have not yet heard them.
What can members of the general public do to prevent their
perceptions from being biased by rumors circulated by the news media
and in the social media? One option is to limit one's exposure to news
coverage, to avoid sensational sources, and to give more credence to
warnings and advice available from the websites of health authorities
such as the WHO and CDC. Warnings and unsubstantiated rumors
forwarded from friends or colleagues should be regarded with
skepticism.

Conclusion

Several recommendations for effective risk communication were

examined in this chapter. Although backed by varying degrees of
evidence, even seemingly effective risk communication strategies can
backfire under certain conditions. As we saw earlier in this book, the
cognitive coping style of monitoring versus blunting can influence a
person's receptivity to risk communication. The risk communication
recommendations the evoke fear might work for people who have a
monitoring cognitive style, but might not be as effective for people who
have a blunting cognitive style and therefore are likely to tune out such
messages. For people with a blunting cognitive style, other forms ofrisk
communication may be more effective.
Risk communication and programs involving community adherence
also need to be conducted with cultural sensitivity in mind. This
includes things like training risk communication staff in cultural
competency, distributing information in various languages, and
involving cultural community leaders in the planning and dissemination
of information.
More research is needed to determine the optimal format for
pandemic-related risk communication messages. For example, if fear­
evoking messages are used, then how can the messages be crafted so as
to limit the likelihood of people misinterpreting benign bodily changes
or sensations? This is an important issue because misinterpretations
can lead to undue anxiety and needless medical consultations, thereby
placing undue burden on the healthcare system.
86 Chapter 9

Research is also needed to evaluate the effectiveness of risk

communication on people who adhere to conspiracy theories. Do such
people tend to reject fear-evoking messages? In the following chapter
we will conduct a more detailed examination of the role of attitudinal
factors, with a particular emphasis on the important issue of
vaccination adherence.
 CHAPTER 1 0

IM PROVING VACCINATION ADHERENCE

Negative Beliefs about Vaccination

Vaccination plays a vital role in managing seasonal influenza and

may play an important role in managing the next influenza pandemic.
A person's decision to be vaccinated diminishes not only their own risk
of infection but also reduces the risk to people with whom they interact
Conversely, anti-vaccination attitudes can contribute to the spread of
infection. To illustrate the latter, in December 2014 there was a large
outbreak of measles-over 500 cases-centered around Disneyland in
Anaheim, California (Zipprich et aI., 2015). The outbreak was attributed
to parental anti-vaccination beliefs (Haase et aI., 2015). Later outbreaks
of measles have similarly been attributed to the failure of parents to
vaccinate their children (e.g., Lambert, 2019).
The reluctance or frank refusal to have oneself or one's dependents
vaccinated-euphemistically known as "vaccine hesitancy"-has been
identified by the WHO (2019) as one of the top ten global health threats.
People who are vaccination hesitant express concerns about the value
or safety of vaccination (Yaqub, Castle-Clarke, Sevdalis, & Chataway,
2014). A review of the literature suggests that hesitant attitudes
toward vaccination are widespread and possibly increasing in recent
years (Yaqub et aI., 2014). Yaqub and colleagues noted that healthcare
professionals report increasing challenges in building trustful
relationships with patients concerning vaccination, through which they
might otherwise allay concerns and assure hesitant patients.
Vaccination hesitancy among HeWs is also growing problem
(Maltezou, Theodoridou, Ledda, Rapisarda, & Theodoridou, 2018).
Research suggests that fewer than 50% of HCWs, including those
involved in direct patient contact, get vaccinated (Antommaria &
Prows, 2018; Gruben, Siemieniuk, & McGeer, 2014; Knowler, Barrett, &
Watson, 2018). Even during the 2009 Swine flu pandemic, many HCWs
were unvaccinated. Ata 1,000-bed hospital in Switzerland, for example,
88 Chapter 10

only 52% of HCWs were vaccinated (Dorribo, Lazor-Blanchet, Hugli, &

Zanetti, 2015).
Conventional programs for improving vaccination rates include
public education about the importance of vaccination along with
making vaccination easy to obtain and affordable (Levi et aI., 2010).
Despite these programs, many people fail to seek vaccination. In terms
of influenza, people are unlikely to seek vaccination if they (1) believe
(accurately or not) that they are unlikely to be exposed to an influenza
virus, (2) see themselves as being impervious to infection, (3) do not
perceive the infection to be a serious problem, (4) perceive that there
are significant inconveniences or barriers to adherence, and (S) have
misgivings about the safety and efficacy of vaccination (Ashbaugh et aI.,
2013; Betsch et aI., 2018; Brewer et aI., 2007; Holmes, Hughes, &
Morrison, 2014; Setbon & Raude, 2010; Yaqub et aI., 2014). People with
very strong beliefs about negative side effects may refuse to be
vaccinated even though they might also acknowledge that the infection
is potentially dangerous (Ashbaugh et aI., 2013).
Remarkably, many people believe that vaccinations are ineffective
or that the risks outweigh the benefits (Betsch et aI., 2018; Setbon &
Raude, 2010). According to one American survey, a sizable minority
(9%) believed that vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they
are supposed to prevent (Newport, 2015). Other surveys have reported
even higher figures. In a study conducted in Switzerland during the
2009 Swine flu pandemic, almost half (49%) of the respondents did not
think the vaccine would be useful, and most (72%) thought the vaccine
could have potentially harmful side effects (Bangerter et aI., 2012). In a
survey of US college students conducted during the early stage of the
same pandemic, only 34% believed that the vaccine was safe (Kanadiya
& Sallar, 2011). Research conducted in Canada during the same period
found that the decision to not seek vaccination was associated with
negative beliefs about the vaccine, such as beliefs about negative side
effects (Ashbaugh et aI., 2013). Some people refuse vaccination because
of beliefs that vaccines are unhealthy because they are "unnatural"
(Biss, 2014). According to one poll, more than 20% of US respondents
believed that there is a link between childhood vaccination and autism
(Public Policy Polling, 2013) even though this claim has been debunked
(see Chapter 2). The reasons for HCWs refusing vaccination tend to be
similar to those mentioned above (PIe ss, McLennan, Nicca, Shaw, &
EIger, 2017).
 Improving vaccination adherence 89

Factors Contributing to Vaccination Hesitancy

Aversive past experiences with vaccination may contribute to

vaccination hesitancy. Other factors are also important. People with
high levels of negative emotionality tend to misinterpret common
symptoms or bodily sensations as negative effects of vaccination; that
is, the nocebo effect (Data-Franco & Berk, 2013; Petrie et a!., 2004).
People with high PVD, compared to those with lower levels of PVD, are
more likely to engage in hygienic practices such as handwashing
(Karademas, Bati, Karkania, Georgiou, & Sofokleous, 2013).
Paradoxically, people with high PVD also tend to have negative
attitudes towards vaccination (Clay, 2017; Clifford & Wendell, 2016;
Hornsey et a!., 2018). In other words, heightened aversion to perceived
sources of disease predicts more negative attitudes toward vaccines.
Clay (2017) offered an evolutionary explanation for the findings:
Vaccines have: (1) only recently become a feature of the human
environment, (2) are typically administered via common routes of
pathogenic transmission (e.g., skin puncture), and (3) intentionally
trigger a biological immune response, which is something the B1S aims
to minimize.
Belief in conspiracy theories is also associated with vaccination
refusal (Cassady et a!., 2012; Hornsey et a!., 2018). Even exposure to
conspiracy theories can cause increase a person's reluctance to seek
vaccination (Jolley & Douglas, 2014). Relatedly, mistrust of health
authorities is also associated with negative attitudes toward vaccination
(Bangerter et a!., 2012; Gilles et a!., 2011; Yaqub et a!., 2014).
Psychological reactance may also play a role in vaccination
nonadherence. Psychological reactance is a motivational response to
rules, regulations, or attempts at persuasion that are perceived as
threatening one's autonomy and freedom of choice (Brehm, 1966;
Rosenberg & Siege!, 2017). The perceived threat motivates the person
to assert their freedom by rejecting attempts at persuasion, rules,
regulation, and other means of control. People vary in the degree to
which they are prone to reactance. For a person prone to intense
reactance, attempts at persuading them to accept a particular view can
paradoxically strengthen their beliefs against the view. A person might
endorse anti-science beliefs in an attempt to establish their self-image
as a nonconformist; that is, as someone skeptical of consensus views
and intolerant of people telling them what to think. Thus, a message
that threatens the person's freedom-such as a health warning to get
immunized-can induce psychological reactance, which in turn can
90 Chapter 10

motivate the person to restore freedom by such means as derogating

the source or by adopting a position that is the opposite of that
advocated in the message (Brehm & Brehm, 1981; Rains, 2013).
Consistent with this, Hornsey et a!. (2018) found that people who
scored high on a measure of psychological reactance were less likely to
seek vaccination.

Changing Vaccination Attitudes

Public education is the typical method used to improve vaccination

adherence (CDC, 2018b), and sometimes simple information and
assurance about vaccine safety and efficacy suffice to improve
adherence. However, this is not always the case. Messages emphasizing
the severity of pandemic influenza and the benefits of vaccination
sometimes fail to be persuasive (Godinho et a!., 2016), for reasons
discussed in this and the previous chapter. Myth-busting messages in
favor of vaccination can even lead to a paradoxical strengthening of
anti-vaccination attitudes in people with high levels of psychological
reactance and in people who subscribe to conspiracy theories (Hornsey
et a!., 2018).
An alternative approach is to target the person's motivations for not
seeking vaccination. That is, targeting factors such as psychological
reactance, conspiratorial thinking, and PVD. Hornsey and colleagues
(Hornsey & Fielding, 2017; Hornsey et a!., 2018) offer several practical
suggestions for improving vaccination adherence in people who have
high levels of psychological reactance and hold anti-vaccination
attitudes. These methods are derived from motivational interviewing
(Chapter 7) and involve working with people's underlyingworldviews;
for example, to acknowledge the possibility of conspiracies, but to show
how vested interests can conspire to obscure the benefits of vaccination
and to exaggerate the dangers. Anti-vaccination movements are high­
pressure, highly conformist organizations in which dissenting views
are discouraged. To the extent that people reject science because they
wish to present a self-image as critical and skeptical, it can be useful to
communicate to them the inherently skeptical nature of science and to
portray antiscientific thinking as an example of unthinking conformity
(Hornsey & Fielding, 2017).
People with high levels of PVD are reluctant to seek vaccination, as
discussed earlier, and tend to be conformist in their attitudes (Murray
& Schaller, 2012; Murray & Schaller, 2016; Wu & Chang, 2012). Such
 Improving vaccination adherence 91

people may be particularly susceptible to anti-vaccination rhetoric.

People with high levels of PVD may also be more likely to pursue quack
remedies if such remedies are popular within one's reference group. It
is unclear as to how PVD is related to the persuasive effects of pro­
vaccination educational campaigns. If PVD plays a causal role in
vaccination nonadherence, then the odds of vaccination might also be
improved by treating PVD with CBT, as discussed in Chapter 6.
These interventions are best suited on an individual or small group
basis. The question arises as to how problems such as psychological
reactance could be addressed on a wider, community-based level.
Regarding reactance, it may be useful to screen for people prone to
psychological reactance and tailor informational messages in a way
that makes vaccination seem more appealing. Health messages that are
loss focused can be effective. That is, messages that warn recipients of
the consequences they will face if they fail to engage in a given
protective behavior (e.g., "If you're self-employed and you don't get
vaccinated, you could lose income if you get sick") (Gibbons, Gerrard, &
Pomery, 2004). Hall and colleagues (2017) developed and validated a
brief (3-item) questionnaire of reactance in health settings, which
could be adapted to assess a person's psychological reactance to
pandemic-related warnings. In this questionnaire, the person is asked
to rate their responses to the following items on a S-point scale (1 =
strongly disagree, S = strongly agree): "This warning is trying to
manipulate me," "The health effect on this warning is overblown," "This
warning annoys me." Such a scale could be used as a screening measure.
Brief interventions based on motivational interviewing (as discussed
earlier) could be used to encourage high-reactance individuals to seek
vaccination.

Do it for the Herd

Herd immunity refers to indirect protection from infectious disease

that occurs when a large proportion of the population becomes
immune to infection, which provides a degree of protection to people
who are not immune (Fine et a!., 2011). This impedes the spread of
infection by disrupting the chain of infection; infection is less likely to
spread to non-immune people if they are surrounded by more people
who are immune. Herd immunity is important because not all people
have access to immunization and some people have medical
contraindications to receiving a vaccine. The vaccination rate needed
92 Chapter 10

to achieve herd immunity depends on various factors, including

population density and the transmissibility of the disease.
Herd immunity can be attained (i.e., the collective population
becomes essentially immune) when a sufficient proportion of the
population is immune. Estimates vary widely, from 13% to over 90%,
depending on the type of influenza virus (Plans-Rubio, 2012). It has
been proposed that 80% of healthy persons and 90% of high-risk
persons (e.g., HCWs) should be vaccinated (Plans-Rubio, 2012).
Although complete herd immunity may be an unattainable goal,
methods of boosting the vaccination rate should have a beneficial
impact in stemming the spread of infection.
It may be possible to encourage vaccination by appealing to
altruistic motives. Many people in the general public are unaware of the
importance of herd immunity. For examine, in one survey of 554
American adults, 37% were unfamiliar with the concept of herd
immunity, and those unfamiliar with the concept were less likely to
seek influenza vaccination (Logan et aI., 2018). Public education
programs have typically neglected to inform people about herd
immunity. Programs are needed to educate people about (1) the
concept of herd immunity, (2) the benefits to people who are unable to
be vaccinated (i.e., appealing to altruistic motives), and (3) the social
undesirability of being a "free rider" (i.e., someone who fails to get
vaccinated even though they are medically fit to receive a vaccine). One
promotional campaign used the slogan "Do it for the herd" to promote
free influenza vaccination (Logan et aI., 2018).
A growing body of research suggests that educating people about
the collective benefits of vaccination can improve actual herd immunity
by increasing the number of people who seek vaccination (Arnesen,
Baefl'le, Cappelen, & Carlsen, 2018; Bbhm, Meier, Grog, Korn, & Betsch,
2018; Hakim et aI., 2019; Logan et aI., 2018; Vietri et aI., 2011). Thus,
raising a person's concerns for other people can influence the decision
to be vaccinated, providing that people have trust in the health
authority's claims about the efficacy and safety of vaccination (Arnesen
et aI., 2018). There are web-based informational programs about herd
immunity, but little is known about their efficacy (Hakim et aI., 2019).
These web-based representations show people what herd immunity is,
and how it is achieved.
 Improving vaccination adherence 93

Targeting Superspreaders

Recall from Chapter 1 that superspreaders are people who

disproportionately contribute to the spreading of infection. Obvious
ways of reducing superspreading are to encourage people to seek
vaccination and perform basic hygiene, and to encourage infected
people to stay at home and away from public places (including
hospitals) if they are contagious. To this end, hospitals often have signs
posted advising people to not visit hospitals if they are suffering from
flu-like symptoms.
Ithas been argued that vaccination programs that specifically target
superspreaders are likely to be more effective than indiscriminate mass
vaccination programs (Lloyd-Smith, Schreiber, Kopp, & Getz, 2005;
Skene, Paltiel, Shim, & Galvani, 2014). This is because, by definition,
superspreaders, compared to the general population, have a greater
impact on the spread of infection. The concept of targeted vaccination
raises questions about how such people could be identified and how
they might be specifically encouraged to seek vaccination. Proxy
measures could be used to identify people who have a strong potential
for superspreading, such as persons who have high levels of contact
with other people. In terms of pandemic management, if an effective
vaccine is available, it may prove useful to strongly encourage
vaccination for people who work at jobs in which they have high levels
of contact with the general public (e.g., hospitality industry workers),
or frequent contact with the medically frail (e.g., HCWs). Administration
of vaccines to high-contact people might involve vaccination at schools,
workplaces, and at public venues (Skene et aI., 2014).
Little is known about the possible benefits of public education
campaigns that specifically discuss the topic of superspreading. Such
campaigns could educate the public about the concept of superspreading
and provide advice about how to avoid superspreading. Such a campaign
could include simple statements such as "Don't be a superspreader:
Prevent the spread of infection by getting vaccinated, being hygienic,
and staying away from public places if you have flu-like symptoms." The
potential benefits of such a campaign remain to be investigated.

Treating Injection Phobia

Although people may avoid vaccinations for various attitudinal

reasons, as discussed earlier (e.g., safety concerns, distrust of health
94 Chapter 10

authorities), some people avoid vaccinations primarily because affear

of injections (Yaqub et aI., 2014). Indeed, people with injection phobia
tend to avoid vaccinations (Ritz et aI., 2014). According to one survey
of 883 adults and 1,024 children, sampled from the general population,
fear of injections was the primary reason for immunization refusal in
7% of adults and 8% ofchildren (Taddio et aI., 2012). Even 10% ofHCWs
in roles involving direct patient contact avoided vaccination because of
an aversion to injections (Knowler et aI., 2018). Accordingly,
vaccination adherence during times of pandemic may be improved by
treating injection phobia.
Injection phobia-also known by the more cumbersome diagnostic
label, blood-injury-injection phobia-refers to a severe (i.e., impairing)
fear and avoidance of injections (American Psychiatric Association,
2013). People who have injection phobia typically fear and avoid
stimuli associated with blood or injury. In many cases of injection
phobia, the person may become Iightheaded and faint when exposed to
injections or to stimuli associated with blood or injury. The person may
feel faint, turn pale, and start to sweat and tremble, and in some cases
may lose consciousness. These episodes usually resolve within minutes
although there is a risk of embarrassment and injuries from falls.
People with injection phobia may fear and avoid the fainting reaction,
or they may have a strong fear and avoidance of the pain associated
with injections (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Ritz, Meuret,
& Alvord, 2014). Anticipatory anxiety is a feature of injection phobia
and phobias in general (8arlow, 2004). Indeed, sometimes the most
distressing aspect of injection phobia is the worry or anxiety that
occurs before a person is scheduled to receive an injection, which can
motivate the person to avoid or flee.
Various methods can be used to treat injection phobia. Distraction
at the time of injection is commonly implemented by people who
administer injections, with some evidence of efficacy (Birnie, Noel,
Chambers, Uman, & Parker, 2018; Riddell, Taddio, McMurtry,
Chambers et aI., 2015). For example, asking patients to imagine some
pleasant event (e.g., asking them to describe their last vacation), video
or music distraction, deep breathing exercises, or asking patients (e.g.,
children) to focus on some distracting stimuli during the injection (e.g.,
using props blowing on a pinwheel as they are being injected (e.g.,
Andrews & Shaw, 2010). One group of HCWs developed a "Vaccination
Comfort Menu" (Kuntz et aI., 2019), consisting of a poster offering
various options for alleviating the distress associated with injections
 Improving vaccination adherence 95

(e.g., offering distractions such as a squeeze ball, pinwheel or

headphones).
Although useful, these methods are of limited value for people with
severe injection phobia, because such people, due to their strong
anticipatory anxiety, avoid attending clinics for injections. In such
cases, more intensive interventions may be needed. CBT protocols,
such as those employing a method known as applied tension C Ost &
Sterner, 1987) can be useful in as few as 1-5 sessions and has
demonstrated efficacy in treatment outcome studies (McMurtry et al.,
2016; Meuret, Simon, Bhaskara, & Ritz, 2017). Applied tension involves
tensing the torso, legs, or non-injected arm during exposure to blood,
injury, or injection stimuli, as a means of offsetting the decline in blood
pressure (i.e., the fainting or vasovagal reaction) that can occur in
injection phobia.
During times of pandemic in which effective vaccinations are
available, it is important that people with injection phobia are informed
thatthere are quick, effective ways of treating their phobia and thereby
making it easier for them to be vaccinated. Public awareness
announcements could provide people with information and resources
for coping with injection-related distress. These could include
handouts, websites with instructional videos about how to use
distracting imagery, and instructional videos devoted to illustrating
ways of self-implementing eBT for injection phobia, such as applied
tension CMeuret et aI., 2017; Riddell, Taddio, McMurtry, Shah et aI.,
2015).

I s Mandatory Vaccination a Viable Option?

Even if an effective vaccine is available for the next pandemic, it

would likely be necessary to provide some sort of incentives for people
to seek vaccination. This is because, as we saw earlier in this volume,
many people do not seek vaccination during seasonal influenza and
even during pandemic influenza. Incentives may come in the form of
"nudges"; for example, public service announcements about the
importance of "doing it for the herd" by getting vaccinated. Vaccination
may also be mandated, although this raises a host of ethical and other
issues.
Many clinics or hospitals require HCWs to receive influenza
vaccination as a condition of employment (Antommaria & Prows, 2018;
Born, lkura, & Laupacis, 2015). This is important because, as noted
96 Chapter 10

earlier, a remarkably high percentage of H CWs fail to seek vaccination,

even though they come into contact with medically frail patients, for
whom even seasonal influenza could prove lethal. Mandatory
vaccination programs have also been implemented in schools and
preschools as a condition of enrollment because these settings tend to
be hot spots for the spreading of infection (see Chapter 2). Computer
simulations suggest that a policy of sending home unvaccinated
students can significantly stem the spread of infection (Getz et aI.,
2016).
The pros and cons of mandatory vaccination programs have been
debated extensively in the healthcare literature (e.g., Behrman & Offley,
2013; Born et aI., 2015; Lukich, Kekewich, & Roth, 2018). One argument
is that mandatory programs unduly infringe on their liberties and right
to autonomy. In response, it has been shown that mandatory
vaccination programs can be useful in stemming the spread of infection
and its effects (Antommaria & Prows, 2018; Born et aI., 2015; Frederick
et aI., 2018; Wang, ling, & Bocchini, 2017). Accordingly, influenza
vaccination should be mandatory for front-line Hews because these
individuals have a duty of care to patients (Cortes-Penfield, 2014;
lanes-Berry, 2018). When individuals make the decision to work in the
medical field, they are expected to put the safety of their patients ahead
of their own interests, and the minimal discomfort that may result from
a vaccine is not enough to negate the responsibilities that H CWs have
toward their patients (Lukich et aI., 2018).
If mandatory vaccination is useful for HCWs and school children,
then what about other segments of the population? Should mandatory
vaccination be implemented, for example, for people who come into
frequent contact with other people, such as workers in the hospitality
industry? Some restaurants and food services have required their
workers to be vaccinated for Hepatitis A (e.g., EHS Today, 2000). The
same could be done for influenza.
For mandatory vaccination programs, people can apply for
exemptions under special circumstances, such as on medical grounds.
For example, vaccination may be contraindicated in people who have
severe allergies to egg proteins, which are contained in some vaccines
(Gruenberg & Shaker, 2011). Vaccination may also be refused on
religious grounds. In Western countries, the rates of refusal for
religious reasons seems unlikely to be high. In a study of over 15,000
Cincinnati hospital employees, for example, found that only 0.08% (n =
12) refused vaccination on religious grounds (Antommaria & Prows,
2018). Most of these refusers identified themselves as Christian and
 Improving vaccination adherence 97

most expressed purity concerns; that is, concerns that the vaccine or its
mode of administration was impure, or receiving the vaccine would
make the person impure. Two individuals, for example, believed
(erroneously) that the influenza vaccine contained cells derived from
aborted human fetuses. Although all the exceptions were approved by
the hospital, the study pointed to an opportunity to improve
vaccination uptake in these refusers. This could be done by correcting
misconceptions, and by consulting with religious leaders on issues of
whether vaccination is a source of impurity (Antommaria & Prows,
2018).
What proportion of the general population would adhere to
mandated but unenforced (and unenforceable?) vaccination? As we
saw earlier in this volume, some people react to threats against their
autonomy with intense psychological reactance, and as noted earlier in
this chapter, some people have strongly held anti-vaccination beliefs.
Such individuals are likely to resist any efforts at forcing them to be
vaccinated. In comparison, other people are conformists in regard to
healthcare in that they are obedient to authority and/or seek approval
by adhering to the norms of their peer groups. Multiple factors are at
play in shaping conformity versus reactance, and little is known about
the prevalence of conformity versus reactance to the guidelines
presented by healthcare authorities. However, research shows that the
introduction of mandatory vaccination for HCWs leads to an increase
in vaccination rate (Antommaria & Prows, 2018; Frederick et aI., 2018;
Leibu & Maslow, 2015). Barriers to getting vaccinated, such as injection
phobia, can be overcome by the methods described earlier.
Attitudes toward mandatory vaccination are not static, they may
change over time. Although some people may be initially resistant to
the idea of mandatory vaccination, they may come to gradually accept
the idea. In North America, most HeWs appear to be in favor of
condition-of-service influenza vaccination policies (Gruben et al.,
2014), although a small study suggested that mandatory vaccination
would not be strongly supported in the UK (Stead et aI., 2019).
Ultimately, "nudges" or incentives (e.g., in the form of public education
programs) may be the optimal way of increasingvaccination adherence
in the general population, whereas mandated vaccination-assuming
there is an effective vaccine-may be important and even necessary for
people such as HCWs and perhaps workers in other sectors.
98 Chapter 10

Conclusion

Vaccination hesitancy is a widespread, important problem, even

among HeWs and even during times of pandemic. Various types of
negative attitudes and other psychological factors appear to play a role,
such as psychological reactance, PVD, and injection phobia. Treating
the attitudinal and motivational roots of the problem may be vital
during the next pandemic. Public education campaigns show promise
as do interventions targeting particular problems such as injection
phobia. Mandatory vaccination as a requirement for employment may
be viable for Hews and workers in other sectors. It is unclear whether
mandatory vaccination would be viable on a community-wide level.
 CHAPTER 1 1

TREATING PANDEMIC- RELATED EMOTIONAL

DISTRESS

A Screen -and-Treat Approach

In the event of disaster such as a pandemic, a lack of mental health

and social support systems and a lack of well-trained mental health
professionals can increase the risk that people will develop emotional
and other forms of psychological disorders (Shultz et aI., 2015). A
proactive response is required, involving a rapid assessment of
outbreak-associated psychological stressors, for both civilians and
H eWs. But even at the best of times, busy medical practitioners, such as
primary care physicians, often fail to detect psychological disorders
(Cano-Vindel et aI., 2018; Rubin & Wessely, 2013). The situation is even
more challenging during a pandemic, where there is an increase in the
number of sick people and likely staff shortages due to illness.
Accordingly, there need to be efficient procedures for identifying
people who are at risk for, or actually suffering from, clinically
significant distress. Procedures are also needed for selecting optimal
interventions. The screen-and-treat method is one such approach.
One of the best recent examples of the screen-and-treat approach
was one implemented by Brewin and colleagues in the aftermath of the
2005 London terrorist bombings (Brewin et aI., 2008). The program,
which was designed primarily to treat PTSD, was widely advertised to
health professionals and the general public, and treatment was offered
free of charge. A dedicated 24-hour helpline was established that
provided general advice and to refer callers to a screening team. People
contacting the program were screened using validated measures.
Those people screening positive were invited to complete a more
detailed assessment with a clinician. People with preexisting mental
health problems were either referred back to their treatment provider
or referred for appropriate treatment Those people with mental health
problems arising since the bombings were assessed for suitability for
100 Chapter 11

trauma-focused treatment The goal was to target cases in which

symptoms were likely to be persistent. Based on the self-reported
trajectory of symptoms, a clinical decision was made to either refer the
patient for immediate treatment or to continue monitoring. with the
expectation that the symptoms would resolve with time. For those
patients referred for treatment, the intervention consisted primarily of
eBT, which led to significant reductions in symptom severity.
This program serves as a model that could be adapted to treat
mental health problems arising in the event of a pandemic. Important
considerations in adapting such a program are: (1) Limiting the burden
on healthcare providers to assess for mental health problems, (2)
implementing triaged or stepped-care interventions that are efficient,
economically viable to the healthcare system (given other, competing
priorities for pandemic control) and readily accessible by large
numbers of people, and (3) limiting the risk of infection being spread to
the front-line clinicians who would be responsible for assessing and
treating mental health problems arising from a pandemic. A flowchart
outlining such a program appears in Figure 11-1.
One of the lessons learned from previous outbreaks, such as the
Spanish flu and the SARS outbreak, is that patient care can be
compromised, sometimes severely so, if healthcare providers become
infected. The odds of infection are high if healthcare providers are in
continuous face-to-face contact with many potentially sick people. In
the next pandemic, much of the assessment and treatment of mental
health problems could be conducted by video conferencing, such as
through one of the many video conferencing software programs
available on the Internet (e.g., Skype'"). This is a viable option because
most (>56%) of the world's population and most (89%) of the
developed world has Internet access (https://www.internet
worldstats.com/stats.htm, accessed May 16, 2019).
 Treating pandemic- related emotional distress 101

Figure 1 1 -1. Screen-and-treatflowchartfor targeting emotional distress.

Pftnriemic
onset

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of screen a n d t reat
program and 1 1 h r
t c lellhone hc l llline

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102 Chapter 11

Screening Methods

Brief screening tools for mood and anxiety disorders are important
for improving mental healthcare in medical settings, such as in primary
care, because HeWs typically do not have the time or training to
administer diagnostic interviews. Thus, the use of validated screening
instruments is an important first step in integrating care for mood and
anxiety disorders into existing primary healthcare services (Ali, Ryan,
& De Silva, 2016). Efficient screening is the cornerstone for treating
pandemic-related emotional problems. Brief screening instruments
have been developed for use in primary health clinics. For example, the
4-item, computer-administered Patient Health Questionnaire-4 has
good levels of reliability and validity for assessing depression and
general anxiety, and has established cut-off scores for identifying
patients in need of a more detailed evaluation (Cano-Vindel et al.,
2018). A brief, psychometrically sound screen for PTSD is the 4-item
Primary Care PTSD screener (Breslau, PetersOll, & Schultz, 2008;
Spoont et a!., 201S).
An issue for further investigation is whether it is clinically useful to
assess maladaptive avoidance. This refers to the avoidance of places,
people, or activities that is excessive, given the objective danger, and
leads to impairments in functioning. An example is avoiding the
workplace even though it is not currently a place of infection and is not
considered hazardous by health authorities.
Another question for further investigation concerns the value of
screening for vulnerability factors that may lead to pandemic-related
distress. People with high levels of PVD, for example, are at heightened
risk of becoming distressed during a pandemic. This vulnerability can
be measured by the 1 S-item PVDS. The merits of including this scale in
a screening battery remain to be examined.

Interventions for Treating Pandemic-Related Distress

Pandemic-related distress may fade without intervention, just like

the emotional effects of other stressors can fade over time (Rubin &
Wessely, 2013). Accordingly, people who are merely worried or mildly
distressed about a pandemic, without any sign of impaired functioning
because of their worry, might be provided with education about how to
deal with stress, as described in the following section. For people who
experience severe levels of pandemic-related distress, more intensive
 Treating pandemic-related emotional distress 103

interventions would be required. Examples of disorders meriting

clinical attention include major depressive disorder and PTSD
triggered by the loss of loved ones or other traumatic events, and
generalized anxiety disorder that may be triggered (or exacerbated) by
the uncertainty associated with a pandemic. Such people could be
referred for CBT or treatment with particular medications (e.g.,
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). There are various empirically­
supported CBT protocols and forms of pharmacotherapy for treating
emotional distress (Nathan & Gorman, 2015).
Psychological interventions can be useful in the early stages of a
pandemic, when anticipatory anxiety and worry are likely to be high,
and in later stages, especially where people are exposed to traumatic
events such as witnessing the death of friends and loved ones.
Psychological interventions can be useful even after the pandemic has
passed. Some people, for example, experience protracted, clinically
severe, protracted grief reactions when loved ones die (Mauro et al.,
2018). CBT or other empirically supported interventions can help these
individuals (Doering & Eisma, 2016; Shear & Gribbin Bloom, 2017).
Community memorial services and other symbols of remembrance can
also be beneficial in improving social support for people who have lost
loved ones.
As we saw in the case of SARS, PTSD can persist well after the
infectious epidemic has passed. People with persistent pandemic­
related PTSD would likely benefit from empirically supported
treatments such as trauma-focused CBT (Taylor, 2017). Therapy could
be delivered over the Internet (e.g., via Skype) if severe social
distancing restrictions are in place. If quarantine is implemented,
people can be prepared to cope with the experience in various ways;
for example, by being provided with means of remaining in contact with
loved ones (e.g., computer or cellphone access) and being provided
with information about the nature and likely duration of quarantine.

Stress Management Advice for the General Public

Several organizations have developed factsheets offering advice

about how people can cope with stress during a pandemic (e.g.,
American Psychological Association, 2004, 2011; American Red Cross,
2009; Canadian Psychological Association, 2009). They include the
following recommendations about emotional and physical self-care:
104 Chapter 11

• Stay informed about how to keep safe. Seek out information from
a credible source such as the WHO or CDC, or a local health
agency. Follow the guidelines of public health agencies. This
might involve staying at home or avoiding public gatherings. Be
wary of unsubstantiated rumors. Remember that the media tend
to sensationalize things, such as by focusing on the bad news
(e.g., people who become sick) and neglecting the more
mundane good news (e.g., the many people who didn't get sick).
Limit your exposure to websites or TV programs that fuel your
fears.
• Keep things in perspective. For centuries people have survived
hardships. Most people are resilient; most people bounce back
and adapt to changes. Do not dwell on worst-case scenarios.
Remember, things will get better.
• Stay healthy. A healthy lifestyle, including proper diet, exercise,
sleep, and rest, is a good defense against illness. Avoid alcohol
and other intoxicating substances. Practicing good hygiene, such
as handwashing and covering coughs, will minimize the spread
of infection to you and others. Get vaccinated. A healthy body can
have a positive impact on your thoughts and emotions, enabling
you to make better decisions and help you deal with the flu's
uncertainties. Take time to relax. Maintain your normal routine
as far as you can.
• Build resilience. Resilience is the process of adapting and coping
in the face of adversity. Draw on skills that you have successfully
used in the past to cope with life's challenges. Use those skills to
help manage your concerns about the flu's uncertainties.
• Have a plan. Having a plan to cope with hardships can lessen
your anxiety. In case health officials recommend that you stay at
home, keep at least a two-week supply of non-perishable, easy
to prepare food, water, and other important household and
other supplies, including medical supplies. Consider options for
working from home. Plan for how you might care for sick family
members. Establish an emergency family communication plan.
Plan on how you might spend your time if schools or businesses
are closed. Plan to stay at home if you are ill.
• Communicate with your children. Discuss the flu in an open, age­
appropriate manner with your children. Address your children's
concerns. Remember that children take their cues from adults; if
they see that you're upset then they will become upset As far as
 Treating pandemic-related emotional distress 105

possible, try to maintain your children's routines and schedules.

If you do notice that your child's behavior has changed
significantly at home or at school, discuss the situation with
them.
• Keep connected. Maintaining social networks can be a valuable
way of sharing feelings and relieving stress. You can stay
connected via social media if health authorities recommend that
you limit face-ta-face social contacts. But remember to take
breaks from thinking and talking about stressful things in your
life.
• When to seek help. Some degree of fear or anxiety about the flu is
normal, but sometimes people need help to cope with stress.
Look for warning signs such as the following: (1) Persistent
anxiety, worry, insomnia, irritability, or depression, (2) avoiding
social contacts to the point that you have become isolated, (3)
persistently checking one's body (e.g., taking your temperature)
or persistently seeking reassurance about your health from
doctors, friends, family, or the Internet, (4) engaging in excessive
or unnecessary hygiene precautions, such as wearing a facemask
at home or repeatedly washing your hands when there is no
need to do so, or (5) abusing alcohol or drugs, or overeating, as
a way of coping with stress.
• Where to seek help. If any of the warning signs apply to you, then
you may benefit from seeing a licensed mental health professional
such as a psychologist, family physician, or counselor. Sometimes
a consultation can be conducted via the Internet Consulting with
a healthcare professional can help you devise a plan for coping
with stress.

Helping the Helpers

During the next pandemic, HCWs are likely to experience various

kinds of job-related stressors, including (1) a heightened risk of
personal infection, sickness, and death, due to their frequent contact
with pandemic patients, (2) overwork and fatigue, (3) exposure to the
death of others, including exposure to deaths on a mass scale, including
the death of children, (4) the inability to save others despite great
efforts, (5) threats of violence from people seeking scare or limited
medical resources, (6) separation from family, loved ones, and social
supports during the pandemic response, and (7) the stress of
106 Chapter 11

inadvertently spreading infection to others, including friends, family

and loved ones (Gardner & Moallef, 2015; Shultz et a!., 2008). Thus, in
addition to the interventions discussed earlier in this chapter, it would
be useful to provide training to HeWs, such as hospital nursing and
medical staff, in the psychological aspects and management of
pandemic-related distress. Treatment resources particularly for front­
line Hews would also be useful, such as collaborative pandemic
planning and organizational preparedness training. increasing
emotional resilience by promoting adaptive coping (training in stress
management, encouraging self-care such as taking regular breaks),
provision of peer support, identifying those at high risk and providing
intervention, and offering long-term support after the event to assist
with residual effects (Gardner & Moallef, 2015). For front-line
healthcare teams, it would be important to build team cohesion and
morale so as to combat fear, helplessness, and burnout (Shultz et al.,
2008). HeWs also would likely need support if they or their families
being threatened or ostracized because people fear exposure to
disease.

Conclusion

A screen-and-treat approach is a promising method for identifying

and treating people who suffer from significant pandemic-related
distress. This approach has proved successful for treating other forms
of community-wide distress although its efficacy for pandemic-related
distress remains to be evaluated. Patients with severe psychiatric
disorders that are induced or exacerbated by a pandemic might benefit
from a combination of CBT and particular medications.
An issue for further research is whether pandemic-related distress
should be managed with a symptom-focused approach (i.e., treating
cases as they arise) or whether vulnerability factors should be targeted,
such as high levels of PVD. The assessment of vulnerability factors
might be particularly useful in the early stages of a pandemic, to
identify people who are especially likely to experience pandemic­
related emotional problems. If high levels of PVD lead to socially
disruptive behaviors such as out-group discrimination, as discussed
earlier, then reductions in PVD, via CBT, could have beneficial effects at
a societal level. These possibilities await further investigation.
 CHAPTER 1 2

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

A Portrait of the Next Pandemic

Theory, research, and case descriptions described in this book make

it possible to sketch a portrait of what things will probably be like
during the next pandemic. Dealing with the psychological fallout of a
severe pandemic will not be a simple task Things are likely to be
complicated, unpredictable, and turbulent. There will be widespread
prosocial behavior but also incidents of civil unrest and even rioting.
Other fallouts will include a rise of xenophobia and discrimination.
Ethnic minority groups and HeWs will likely be targets of discrimination.
We will see a proliferation of conspiracy theories. Someone or some
organization or agency will be blamed, rightly or wrongly. The news
media will sensationalize the pandemic, despite admonishments to
engage in more balanced reporting. Unfounded rumors and fake news
will spread rapidly throughout the Internet Heath authorities will
struggle to contain rumors and to debunk conspiracy theories.
Many people will dutifully conform to the advice of health
authorities. Such people will get vaccinated, cover their coughs, and
comply with social distancing mandates. But many other people will fail
to adhere to the recommendations of health authorities. These people
will engage in seeming self-defeating behaviors such as refusing to get
vaccinated, if a vaccine is available. These people will refuse to stay
home when they are sick. They will spread infection to other people.
There will be a rise of quack cures and folk remedies. Charlatans will
seize the opportunity to capitalize on mass fears. During the Spanish
flu, bicycle vendors sought to promote their wares by claiming that
bicycles were good for you, because cycling kept you out in the fresh
air, away from the stuffy, contaminated confines of public transportation.
Similar claims will likely to be made by unscrupulous entrepreneurs
during the next pandemic. There will also be price gouging. As people
108 Chapter 12

rush to buy things to protect themselves, such as N95 respirator masks,

unscrupulous vendors will raise the prices astronomically.
Schools, places of worship, and other places of congregation will be
closed. Portions of the infrastructure such as sanitation services may
collapse due to worker absenteeism. People will be advised to remain
at home, where their primary source of social connection and social
support will be through electronic means, such as the Internet and
cellular phones. Many people will cope well with the imposed isolation,
especially those with an active presence on social media platforms such
as Facebook or Twitter. Other people will experience intense loneliness
and boredom as a result of social distancing restrictions.
Hospital emergency departments and other clinics will see a surge
of patients, including a multitude of the "worried well." The hospital
surge will even occur in places that the pandemic has not yet reached
because people will misinterpret minor ills such as coughs or bodily
aches as signs of pandemic infection. In places where the pandemic is
widespread, hospitals will be unable to accommodate the influx of
patients. The sick will be sent home either to fend for themselves or to
be cared for by their significant others.
Many people will be resilient to the stressors associated with the
pandemic. Many people will stoically accept the risks posed by the
pandemic and do their best to protect themselves and their loved ones.
But many other people will become highly anxious and frightened.
Some people may experience debilitating anxiety that is so severe that
it impairs their daily functioning. Such people will try to protect
themselves, but in extreme ways such as wearing masks and protective
gloves in their homes or apartments, even when they are alone.
Depression and grief will be widespread if there is a significant
death toll. If the next pandemic is like some past pandemics in which
children and young adults were most susceptible, then there will be
many parents grieving for their lost children. If this happens, then the
adverse mental health effects of the pandemic could be severe and long­
lasting. Mental health consequences of the pandemic, such as PTSD and
depression, may persist long after the infection has passed.
People who score high on vulnerability traits, such as negative
emotionality, intolerance of uncertainty, and PVD, are likely to become
particularly distressed during the pandemic. Ideally, screening
programs would be available, such as screening with the PVDS or short
measures of anxiety or depression, to identify people in need of mental
health services. Such services could be delivered over the Internet so as
to reduce unnecessary face-to-face contacts.
 General conclusions and future directions 109

There will be widespread uncertainty after the pandemic has

passed. For some time after, people will wonder whether the pandemic
has truly passed or whether the next wave is about to arrive. People
with particular vulnerability factors, such as high level of intolerance of
uncertainty or overestimation of threat, will continue to worry long
after the threat has passed. Such people would benefit from
psychological interventions such as CBT.

Managing Future Pandemics

For the next pandemic, the current recommendations of organizations

like the WHO and CDC, as discussed throughout this volume, will be
insufficient There are three interrelated sets of important needs that
are not adequately addressed in current, conventional methods for
managing pandemics: (1) The need for improving risk communication,
(2) the need for improving adherence regarding health-promoting
behaviors (e.g., vaccination), and (3) the need for addressing mental
health issues such as the emergence or worsening of emotional
problems. Throughout this volume, we have considered various ways
of addressing these issues.
Two main types of psychosocial interventions were discussed in
this book: (1) Health promotion strategies to facilitate adherence to
vaccination, hygiene, and social distancing programs; and (2)
interventions that are part of a screen-and-treat approach for treating
mental health problems. Both types of interventions should be
implemented within the context of a broader management strategy that
targets the global health and well-being of people and their
communities. The interventions discussed in this volume have their
place within the broader guidelines for helping people deal with large­
scale emergencies, such as the guidelines provided by the Inter-Agency
Standing Committee (2007) for offering mental health and social
support in emergency settings. This committee provides a means of
coordinating humanitarian assistance among key United Nations
programs and other assistance programs. Four levels of intervention
have been proposed by the committee for dealing with mental health
and social support in emergency settings: (1) Restoring basic services
and security for the affected population, (2) strengthening family and
community networks, (3) providing distressed individuals with social
support, and (4) providing specialized mental health intervention for
110 Chapter 12

severely affected survivors. The present volume has focused largely on

the latter two levels of intervention.

A Roadmap for Future Research

There are several important directions for future research to better

understand the psychology of pandemics. A better understanding of
why people do or do not adhere to health recommendations has
important implications for how health authorities educate the public
and implement interventions for curbing the spread of infection.
Research is needed to refine and evaluate methods for improving
adherence to hygiene, vaccination, and social distancing programs.
Relatedly, negative attitudes toward vaccination is an important issue
in managing pandemics. A deeper understanding of the motivational
roots of these negative attitudes is important As we saw in this volume,
several factors are associated with such attitudes, including PVD, the
tendency to believe in conspirac,y theories, and psychological reactance.
A new generation of studies is required to find ways of improving
adherence to vaccination and hygiene. Recent novel research suggests
some ways in which hygiene adherence might be improved. For
example, visual cues can be useful, such as automated towel dispensers
in public washrooms set to present a towel either with or without
activation by users (Ford, Boyer, Menachemi, & Huerta, 2014). Building
on the assumption that hand hygiene behavior is socially desirable,
Pfattheicher and colleagues (2018) found that handwashing in public
toilets was improved when stylized eyes were added to health signs
advising that handwashing protects against the spread of pathogens.
The replicability of such novel findings needs to be established.
Nevertheless, the studies illustrate how psychological research is
relevant to improving adherence to hygiene behaviors.
Research on optimal methods of screening for, and treating
pandemic-related distress is also warranted, including the development
and testing of reliable, efficient methods for identifying people at
greatest risk of developing pandemic-related psychopathology. Another
issue is whether it is feasible to develop community-wide methods for
reducing xenophobia and other forms of discrimination that occur
when people are threatened with infection. Most of the findings and
health promotion programs discussed in this volume come from the
Western world and, to some extent, from Asia and Africa. Further
research is needed to determine whether the findings can be
 General conclusions and future directions 111

generalized to other regions, including places in the developing world

that have not been investigated.
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 INDEX

Adherence, 16, 22, 23, 77, 79, 80- Bodily vigilance, 47

82, 84, 85, 86, 87-98, 109, Bubonic plague, 2, 11, 21, 31, 32,
110 34, 60, 63
Altruism, 92, see also Prosocial Centers for Disease Control and
behavior Prevention, 12, 15, 17-18, 19,
Anger, 27, 79 80, 85, 90, 104, 109
Antibiotics, 17 Checking, 25, 42, 105
Anti-vaccination attitudes - see Children, 4, 6, 19, 20, 24, 65, 71-
Vaccination attitudes 72,81, 87, 94, 96, 104-105,
Antiviral medications, 8, IS, 16, 108
22, 27, 32, 33, see also Civil unrest, 30-34, 107
Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) Cognitive-behavior therapy, 35,
Anxiety, 18, 21, 24, 25, 27, 30, 32, 36, 44, 47, 54, 55, 62,91, 95,
36, 39, 40-42, 44, 46-47, 49- 100, 103, 106, 109
55, 57, 59, 61, 62, 67-68, 72, Community immunity - see Herd
73, 7� 75, 79, 80, 83,85, 94, immunity
95, 102, 103, 104, 105, 108 Conformity, 30, 90, 97
Anxiety sensitivity, 47 Conspiracy theories
Apathy, 79 (conspiratorial thinking), IS,
Applied tension, 95 29, 61, 63-68, 71, 76-77, 86,
Asian flu, 3, 61, 84 89, 90, 107, 110
Attentional processes, 35, 46, 51, Coping strategies, 44, 47, 51, 53-
52-53 54, 79, 81, 85,95, 104-105,
Avian flu, 3, 4, 9, 32, 40, 41, 58, 106
72, 73 Crowds and crowding, 4, 11, 21,
Avoidance, 11, 21, 25, 30, 41, 44, 29, 33, 35
4� 5� 5� 5�5a 6�6L 8� Cytokine release syndrome, 27,
94, 95, 102, 104, 105 35-36
Bacterial infection, 4, 16, 17, 35- Cytokines, 27, 35-36
36, 57 Depression, 26, 35, 40, 79, 102,
Behavioral immune system, 39, 103, 105, 108
57-62, 82 Discrimination, 7, 6l-62, 84, l06,
Beliefs about health and disease, 107, 110
12, 26, 28, 30-32, 45, 47, 51- Disgust, 57, 58, 59
54, 57, 60, 61, 63-66, 67, 69, Disgust sensitivity, 58, 59, 62
73, 76, 77 Doctor shopping, 40, 54
Blunting cognitive style, 44-45, Ebola virus disease, 2, 2l, 23, 31,
47, 82, 85 41, 52, 61, 75
156 Index

Economic costs, 8, 61 Injection phobia, 59, 94-95, 97,

Economic gain, 29 98
Economic hardship, 11, 20, 32 Intelligence, 66
Emotional contagion, 72 Insomnia, 35, 49, 105
Emotional vs. logical appeals, BD, Intolerance of uncertainty, 42-44,
81,82 46,47, 68, 108, 109
Ethnocentrism, 60 Irritability, 35, 40, 105
Facebook, 20, 65, 74-76, 108 Logical appeals, 80, 81, 82
Facemasks, 18, 72,81, 108 Looting, 7, 30, 31, 32, 34
Fake news, 66, 84, 107 Magical thinking, 29, 66
Fear, 1, 6, 16, 17, 23-27, 30, 31, Mandatory vaccination, 95-98
34, 36, 39, 41-44, 46-47,49, Mass media, 51, 70, 73-74, 84
51, 52, 53, 57-59, 61, 69-75, Mass media fatigue, 73-74, 84
77, 80-82, 85, 94-95, 104-107 Mass panic, 30
Fear-evoking messages, 80-82, Measles, 17, 87
85 Medications for psychiatric
Fear mongering, 70 disorders, 35, 54, 103, 106
Folk remedies, 27-30, 107 Mimicry, 71
Food shortages, S, 6, 10, 33-34, Minority groups, 7, 60, 61, 107
35 Misinformation, S, 16, 75, 77,84
Foreigners, 59-62 Misinterpretations, 51
Generalized anxiety disorder, Monitoring cognitive style, 44-45,
103 47, 82, 85
Grief, 26, 79, 103, 108 Mood disorders - see depression
Handwashing, 18-19, 25, 46, 49, Motivation, 29-30, 37, 39, 46, 57,
50, 53, 55, 69, 81, 89, 104, 62, 76, 89-91, 98, 110
105, 110 Motivational interviewing, 67, 90,
Harm avoidance, 41 91
Health anxiety, 39, 41, 42, 47-48, Naming of diseases, 3, 61-62,83,
49-55, 57 84
Health literacy, 76 Negative emotionality
Healthcare workers, 7, 9, 40, 60- (neuroticism), 36, 40-41, 45,
61, 87, 92-99, 105-107 47, 50, 58, 89, 108
Helplessness, 79, 106 Neuraminidase inhibitors, 16-17
Herd immunity, 9, 91-92, 95 News media, 9,43, 72-74, 77, 84,
HIVJAIDS, 3, 11, 63 85, 107
Hong Kong flu, 3, 32 Nocebo effect, 50,89
Imitation, 30 Nomenclature for influenza, 3
Immigrants, 7, 60 Nonadherence, 2, 12, 18, 21, 22,
Immunity (biological immune 47, 67, 79, 89, 90
system), 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 29, Observational learning, 69, 71-72
33, 35-36, 57, 58, 59, 89, 91- Optimism bias, 45-46, 47, 50
92 Oscillococcinum, 29
Incubation period, 9
 The Psychology of Pandemics 157

Oseltamivir (Tamifiu), 16-17, 32, Russian flu, 3

see also, Antiviral School closure, I, 5, 19-20, 104,
medications 108
Overestimation of threat, 41-42, Screen-and-treat approach, 99-
47, 109 101, 106, 109
Panic, 15, 30, 33, 34, 47 Screening methods, 3,91, 99,
Panic buying, 32-33 102, 108, 110
Panic disorder, 47 Seasonal influenza, 4, ID, 17, 19,
Patient Health Questionnaire, 33, 83, 87, 95, 96
102 Selective serotonin reuptake
Perceived vulnerability to inhibitors, 35, 54, 103
disease, 58, 60, 62, 89, 90, 91, Severe Acute Respiratory
98, 102, 10� 108, 110 Syndrome, 2, 9, 21, 23-29, 31,
Perceived Vulnerability to 40, 41, 45, 53, 60-61, 64, 70,
Disease Scale, 58, 60, 102, 72,83, 100, 103
108 Sickness behavior, 35
Perfectionism, 46 Social distancing, S, 12, IS, 19-24,
Phobia, 59, 60, 62, 72, 94-95, 97, 50, 79, 103, 107-110
98, 107, 110 Social isolation, S, 19-21, 27, lOS,
Pneumonia, 4, 17, 26 108
Posttraumatic stress disorder, Social media, 20, 33-34, 65, 70,
25-27, 36, 99, 102, 103, 108 74-77, 84-85, 105, 108
Poultice, 28, 30 Social support, 20, 99, 103, 105,
Prejudice, 59-61, 70 108-109
Prosocial behavior, 3D, 31, 36, Socioeconomic factors, 11-12
107 Somatoform disorders, 41
Psychological distance, 82-84 Spanish fiu, 1, 3-8, 11, 16-18, 21,
Psychological reactance, 89-91, 25-26, 28-30, 32, 43, 64, 70,
97, 98, 110 72, 100, 107
Psychoneuroimmunology, 35-36 Stigma, 60-62, 72, 79
Quack cures, 27-30, 91, 107 Stockpiling, 81, 84
Quarantine, 5, 10, 19, 21, 26, 27, Stressors, 5-7, 24-26, 35-36, 39,
103 46,49, 61, 99, 102, 105, 108
Reassurance seeking, 25, 40, 42, Stress management, 44-45, 79,
51, 53, 54, 55, 105 103-106
Reddit, 74-75 Superspreaders, 8-9, 93
Resilience, 23, 36, 79, 104, 106, Suspiciousness, 66
108 Swine fiu, 3, 4, 9, 17-18, 19, 20,
Rioting, 30-34, 36, 107 24-25, 41, 43, 46, 52, 59,61-
Risk communication, 13, 15-16, 62, 64, 71-73, 80,87,88
22, 39,45, 74, 79-86, 109 Tamiflu - see Oseltamivir
Rumor, 15, 16, 24, 29, 32, 34, 61, Teenagers, 19
64, 69-71, 75, 77, 84-85, 104, Terrorism, 11, 64, 73, 99
107 Trait anxiety, 41-42, 44, 47, 68
Rumor management, 84-85 Twitter, 20, 65, 74, 76, 108
158 Index

Typhoid, 9 World Health Organization, 1-3,

Typhoid Mary, 9-10 5, 12, 15-19, 21, 26, 33, 85,
Uncertainty, S, 43, 65, 67, 68, 69, 87, 104, 109
75, 84, 103, 109 Worry, 30, 41, 42, 44, 47, 49, 50,
Vaccination, 2, 11, 12, 17-18, 23, 58, 66, 9� 102, 103, 105, 109
24, 25, 36, 44, 46, 79,80, 87- YouTube, 65, 74-75
98, 109-110 Xenophobia, 60, 62, 72, 107, 110
Vaccination attitudes, 17-18, 29, Zika virus disease, 3, 64, 65, 75
33, 39, 43, 44, 45, 46, 50, 76-
77, 83, 86, 87-98, 109-110