*2.2. Materials*

The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale–21 items (DASS-21) [24] was used to assess participants' mental health. The DASS-21 is a set of three self-report scales designed to measure the emotional states of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. All subscales are rated on a 4-point Likert scale ranging

from 0 (never) to 3 (almost always). In our sample, Cronbach's alphas were 0.82, 0.83, and 0.87 for the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Subscales, respectively.

The Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) [25] is a four-item questionnaire designed to capture highly adaptive Stress coping tendencies. It is rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (does not describe me at all) to 5 (describes me very well). Total scores range from 4–20, with scores of 4–13 indicating low resilient coping, scores of 14–16 indicating medium resilient coping, and scores of 17–20 indicating high resilient coping. In the present sample, the BRCS showed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.64.

Risk Perception was assessed through two variables, perceived severity and perceived likelihood, using items adapted from Cho and Lee [26] and Liao et al. [27]. Perceived severity was measured through four items (e.g., "If I got COVID-19, it would be severe") and perceived likelihood was measured through two items ("How likely is it that you will get COVID-19 in this period?"). Twelve questions were assessed on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not likely at all) to 5 (certain). In the present sample, the items showed good reliability, with Cronbach's alpha of 0.72.

Worry was assessed using six items (e.g., "In the past week, you have been worried about contracting the COVID-19") designed to measure Worry about the present emergency situation, risk of contracting COVID-19, and perspectives on the future. Items were assessed on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (hardly) to 5 (extremely). The items showed good reliability, with Cronbach's alpha of 0.63.
