Abstract A new coronavirus emerged in December 2019 and quickly spread globally, causing unprecedented social, psychological, and economic damage. This study aimed to investigate people’s emotional reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic. The dataset for this study consisted of 2,013 adults (962 males and 1,053 females) in four countries (Italy, Lebanon, Portugal, and Serbia). A snowball sampling technique that focused on recruiting the general public living in countries during the COVID-19 epidemic was utilized. An online survey was disseminated at the same time, in March–April 2020, when many countries were exposed to COVID-19. Results indicated that, with regard to gender, females had more psychological reactions to COVID-19 than did males. People who had one child were more stressed than people with no children. Extensive knowledge of COVID-19 was found to trigger more anxiety. Results showed that stress and overall emotional reactions increased with age. The findings can be used to develop psychological interventions to improve mental health and psychological resilience during the COVID-19 epidemic.

中文翻译：

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公众对灾难 COVID-19 的反应：在意大利、黎巴嫩、葡萄牙和塞尔维亚的比较研究

摘要 一种新型冠状病毒于 2019 年 12 月出现并迅速在全球蔓延，造成了前所未有的社会、心理和经济损失。这项研究旨在调查人们对 COVID-19 大流行的情绪反应。本研究的数据集包括四个国家（意大利、黎巴嫩、葡萄牙和塞尔维亚）的 2,013 名成年人（962 名男性和 1,053 名女性）。使用了一种雪球抽样技术，该技术侧重于招募在 COVID-19 流行期间生活在各国的普通公众。2020 年 3 月至 4 月，同时发布了一项在线调查，当时许多国家都暴露于 COVID-19。结果表明，在性别方面，女性对 COVID-19 的心理反应比男性多。有一个孩子的人比没有孩子的人压力更大。发现对 COVID-19 的广泛了解会引发更多焦虑。结果表明，压力和整体情绪反应随着年龄的增长而增加。这些发现可用于制定心理干预措施，以改善 COVID-19 流行期间的心理健康和心理弹性。