Monitoring public psychological and behavioural responses during the early phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is important for the management and control of infection. This study aims to investigate the temporal trend in (1) avoidance and protective behaviors, (2) fear, (3) socio-economic impact, and (4) anxiety levels during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a high level of anxiety may have a detrimental impact during an infectious disease outbreak, factors associated with anxiety were also explored. The survey was carried out for 10 weeks and the responses were divided into three periods of around 3 weeks: 25 January–21 February, 22 February–17 March and 18 March–3 April (the period the Malaysian Government issued Movement Control Order). Findings revealed that most of the pyschobehavioural variables showed small increases during first (25 January–21 February) and second (22 February–17 March) periods, and high psychobehavioral responses were reported during the third period. A total of 72.1% (95%CI = 69.2–75.0) reported moderate to severe anxiety as measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Factor influencing moderate to severe anxiety is a high perception of severity (OR = 2.09; 95%CI = 1.48–2.94), high perceived susceptibility (OR = 1.71; 95%CI = 1.17–2.50), high impact score (OR = 1.63; 95%CI = 1.17–2.26) and high fear score (OR = 1.47; 95%CI = 1.01–2.14). In conclusion, the psychological and behavioural responses were found to increase with the progression of the outbreak. High anxiety levels found in this study warrant provision of mental health intervention during the early phase of COVID-19 outbreak.

在 2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 爆发的早期阶段监测公众的心理和行为反应对于管理和控制感染非常重要。本研究旨在调查 COVID-19 大流行早期阶段 (1) 回避和保护行为、(2) 恐惧、(3) 社会经济影响和 (4) 焦虑水平的时间趋势。由于高度焦虑可能在传染病爆发期间产生不利影响，因此还探讨了与焦虑相关的因素。调查进行了10周，回应分为三个大约3周的时期：1月25日至2月21日、2月22日至3月17日以及3月18日至4月3日（马来西亚政府发布行动管制令期间）。调查结果显示，大多数心理行为变量在第一阶段（1月25日至2月21日）和第二阶段（2月22日至3月17日）期间显示出小幅增加，而第三阶段报告了较高的心理行为反应。根据状态-特质焦虑量表的测量，共有 72.1% (95%CI = 69.2–75.0) 的人报告有中度至重度焦虑。影响中度至重度焦虑的因素是对严重程度的高感知（OR = 2.09；95%CI = 1.48–2.94）、高感知易感性（OR = 1.71；95%CI = 1.17–2.50）、高影响分数（OR = 1.63） ；95%CI = 1.17–2.26）和高恐惧评分（OR = 1.47；95%CI = 1.01–2.14）。总之，人们的心理和行为反应随着疫情的进展而增加。本研究发现的高焦虑水平需要在 COVID-19 爆发的早期阶段提供心理健康干预。