Objective: This study investigated correlations between college students' intentions to adopt COVID-19 prevention behaviors (i.e., handwashing, mask wearing, and social distancing) and their attitudes, perceived norms, perceived efficacy, and information seeking. Participants: Students (N = 326) from a large Midwestern university recruited via simple random sampling. Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey from mid-March to April 2021, structural equation modeling assessed intentions across behaviors. Results: Attitudes and perceived self-efficacy were variably associated with intentions. Perceived injunctive norms were linked to intention across all behaviors. Response efficacy was associated only with social distancing intentions. Information seeking was tied to attitudes, perceived injunctive norms, and perceived response efficacy, across all behaviors. Conclusions: Information seeking affected how college students evaluate prevention behaviors, emphasizing the importance of disseminating accessible and accurate health information in this context. The findings also highlight the need for future interventions to tailor to the unique barriers and motivators for different prevention behaviors.

The disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States (US) requires understanding of health behaviors that contributed to low acceptance of public health guidelines. University students were at low risk for complications from COVID-19 infections but at high-risk for infecting others. It is important to understand which characteristics influenced willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore the social factors and identities that predicted university students' willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccines before one was available. This study used a stratified random sample from a Midwestern public university in 2020 (N = 614). Results suggest hesitancy toward childhood vaccinations, noncompliance with mask-wearing and large-group-avoidance guidelines, and conservative political ideology increased the odds of being unwilling to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. However, higher subjective social status and male gender increased the odds of being willing to be vaccinated.

The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to assess how infected patients viewed risk. We investigated whether cases infected early in the pandemic had assessed the risk to be lower, been more exposed and took fewer precautions to prevent infection.

We asked first-wave Norwegian COVID-19 patients (n = 88) to recall how they had thought about risk of infection, exposure in potential infectious situations and their compliance to infection control measures early in the pandemic. Answers from this group were compared WITH emergency room patients with non-pulmonary complaints (n = 75) and with a nationally representative sample (n = 4083).

Both patient groups saw the risk as lower than did the representative sample. Contact with infected people was more frequent for the COVID-19 patients than for the other patients. More of the COVID-19 patients had travelled abroad immediately before the outbreak. COVID-19 patients complied less with the infection control measures than did the representative sample. The COVID-19 patients agreed less than the other patients with a statement that they had 'complied in general'.

Risk-behaviour was overrepresented among the first COVID-19 patients. Potential memory artefacts should be considered when interpreting the results.

Vaccination is an effective strategy to prevent the spread of diseases. However, hesitancy and rejection of vaccines, particularly in childhood immunizations, pose challenges to vaccination efforts. In that case, according to rational decision-making and classical utility theory, parents weigh the costs of vaccination against the costs of not vaccinating their children. Social norms influence these parental decision-making outcomes, deviating their decisions from rationality. Additionally, variability in values of utilities stemming from stochasticity in parents' perceptions over time can lead to further deviations from rationality. In this paper, we employ independent white noises to represent stochastic fluctuations in parental perceptions of utility functions of the decisions over time, as well as in the disease transmission rates. This approach leads to a system of stochastic differential Eqs of a susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model coupled with a stochastic replicator Eq. We explore the dynamics of these Eqs and identify new behaviors emerging from stochastic influences. Interestingly, incorporating stochasticity into the utility functions for vaccination and nonvaccination leads to a decision-making model that reflects the bounded rationality of humans. Noise, like social norms, is a two-sided sword that depends on the degree of bounded rationality of each group. We also perform a stochastic optimal control as a discount to the cost of vaccination to counteract bounded rationality.

Physical distancing and handwashing can be important infection prevention measures during an infectious disease outbreak such as the COVID-19 pandemic. To stimulate these behaviours, knowledge of psychosocial determinants as well as contextual factors is vital. We present longitudinal, within-person analyses of the impact of contextual and psychosocial factors on handwashing and distancing behaviour.

We used individual-level data (186,490 participants completing 971,899 surveys) from the Corona Behavioural Unit COVID-19 Cohort, a dynamic cohort study conducted during 26 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.

Fixed-effects models were employed to estimate within-person associations between psychosocial factors and behaviour, combined with main and moderating effects of contextual factors.

Pandemic severity was associated with more handwashing and distancing behaviour, while the duration of the pandemic had little effect. Within-person changes in response efficacy were most relevant for changes in both handwashing and distancing behaviour, while self-efficacy, descriptive norms and perceived severity of infecting others affected behaviour indirectly. These effects were stable over time. Associations were larger in cross-sectional models, indicating that such models tend to overestimate effects.

Our study highlights the importance of longitudinal data and within-person models to detect possible causal associations. The results suggest that during an outbreak, government and public health professionals should clearly communicate the severity of the pandemic (e.g., hospitalization rates) and the effectiveness of recommended prevention measures in reducing that risk; and seek to improve people's capabilities and opportunities to adhere to guidelines, for example, by modifying the environment.

Medical and dental professionals should continue to adhere to preventive measures after COVID-19 vaccination due to their increased risk of exposure to the virus, particularly as new variants emerge that may heighten their risk perception and susceptibility. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effects of COVID-19 vaccination on complacency to adherence to COVID-19 preventive behavioral measures and mental health among medical and dental professionals. In this cross-sectional study 410 medical and dental professionals were recruited from different medical and dental hospitals in Islamabad, Pakistan. The data was collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire comprising of three sections (socio-demographic, information of preventive behaviors performance against COVID-19 after vaccination, mental health status). A chi-square test and ordinal logistic regression were used for analysis. Post COVID-19 vaccination there was decrease in the frequency of use of hand washing, sanitizers (70.2%), and social distancing (60.5%), however greeting with a handshake (58.8%) and use of public transport (45.9%) seen upward trend among participants. Only face mask usage post-vaccination was statistically significant (p < .05) in association with age, marital status, and years of working Experience. The greatest decrease in the usage of masks after COVID-19 vaccination was seen in age group of 10-30 (41.7%) and working experience group of 0-5 years (39.7%). All the preventive behaviors are statistically significant (p < .05) associated with the mental status of the participants except online shopping and use of public transport. These results indicate the presence of vaccination-induced complacency in adherence to COVID-19 preventive behavioral measures among healthcare professionals.

Uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis medication (PrEP) to prevent HIV among people who inject drugs (PWID) remains extremely low in the United States. West Virginia's rising HIV incidence and highest drug overdose rate in the nation makes it an important locus for opioid use and HIV risk interaction. In this pilot study we pioneered the use of Cultural Theory among PWID to understand HIV-related risk perception arising from four contrasting modes of social organization. Carried out during an HIV outbreak, we explored PrEP uptake qualitatively as a window onto risk perception. Of the 26 interviewees, 18 were HIV- and despite the medication's free availability from the health center where recruitment took place, none had taken PrEP, half considering they were not at risk. Intimate couples who showed characteristics of 'enclaves' considered the boundary around themselves protective against HIV, creating a safe space or 'invisible risk group'. Higher HIV risk was perceived among those who were housed compared to those living homeless. Beliefs about the causation of the local HIV outbreak and the validity of scientific research corresponded with characteristics of the contrasting modes of social organization and the approach is promising for informing public health interventions among PWID.

To investigate the relationship between long-term condition (LTC) status and adherence to protective behaviours against infectious disease (face covering, physical distancing, hand hygiene).

Representative cross-sectional observational survey in summer 2020 in Scotland.

Independent variable is LTC status (LTC, disability, no LTC); dependent variable is adherence to protective behaviours (face covering, hand hygiene, social distancing); moderator variables are age, gender and area deprivation; mediator variables are perceived threat and psychological distress. P values of p < 0.05 were taken as statistically significant.

3972 participants of whom 2696 (67.9 %) indicated not having a LTC. People with no LTC had lowest adherence to protective behaviours, perceived threat and psychological distress. Age did not moderate the relationship between LTC status and adherence; females were more adherent than males and this gender difference was greater in people with disability compared to people with no LTC; adherence was greater for people with a LTC in the more deprived areas compared to the least deprived areas whereas adherence in those with no LTC was not related to area deprivation; threat appraisal partially mediated the relationship between having a LTC or disability and adherence; psychological distress did not mediate the relationship between LTC status and adherence.

This study addresses a gap in evidence about protective behaviours of people with LTCs. Perceptions of threat may be useful intervention targets against winter flu and during future pandemics in order to protect people with LTCs who are one of the most vulnerable groups of the population.

This study aimed to investigate the associations between health behavior adherence and psychological factors during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on identifying trajectories of handwashing, mask wearing, social contact limitations, and physical distancing.

We employed a multi-trajectory group-based approach to analyze data from 6026 Belgian residents, including 60% women, with an average age of 52.65. Data were collected over six waves spanning from April 2021 to December 2021.

Participants were categorized into trajectory groups based on persistently low (11.9%), moderate-low (20.9%), moderate-high (39.1%), and high (28.1%) levels of adherence to the specified health behaviors. Our findings indicate a declining trend in health behavior adherence over the study period. Additionally, we observed that females, older individuals, and those with prior COVID-19 infection had a higher likelihood of belonging to trajectory groups characterized by the highest levels of health behavior adherence. Similarly, individuals with positive vaccination intentions, a heightened perception of consequences, and increased health anxiety demonstrated greater adherence to health behaviors over time. Furthermore, our investigation into the relationship between health behaviors and mental health revealed that participants in trajectory groups with higher levels of adherence to social contact limitations and physical distancing reported increased feelings of loneliness and decreased life satisfaction.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped our lives, and while vaccines have marked progress, maintaining health behaviors is crucial for virus prevention. To address potential mental health challenges from sanitary measures, policies and communication should promote health behaviors while acknowledging their psychological impact.

This study explored how online media consumption, fear, mental wellbeing, and behavioral compliance with COVID-19 measures were related to one another during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employing a four-wave longitudinal survey research design (n = 1,092), this study found positive relationships between online media consumption and fear of COVID-19, between fear of COVID-19 and behavioral compliance, and between behavioral compliance and mental wellbeing in the general Dutch population. Results showed a negative relationship between fear of COVID-19 and mental wellbeing. Repeated measures ANOVAs indicated that participants' online media consumption, fear of COVID-19, and behavioral compliance with COVID-19 measures all gradually decreased as the pandemic progressed, while mental wellbeing gradually recovered as the pandemic progressed. Recognizing the negative relationship between fear of COVID-19 and mental wellbeing, policymakers may be encouraged to focus on implementing interventions and communication strategies to support mental health during pandemics. Using other types of appeals (e.g. hope appeals) in addition to the commonly used fear appeals when developing online public health messages could ensure behavioral compliance during pandemics without triggering high levels of fear. This can contribute to maintaining people's mental wellbeing when they have to cope with life-threatening public health crises while still promoting behavioral compliance with necessary public health measures.

In the last century, global pandemics have been primarily driven by respiratory infections, which consistently rank among the top 20 causes of death worldwide. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has underscored the intricate nature of managing multiple health crises simultaneously. In recent years, climate change has emerged as a major biosafety and population health challenge. Global warming and extreme weather events have intensified outbreaks of climate-sensitive infectious diseases, especially respiratory diseases. Influenza and COVID-19 have emerged as two of the most significant respiratory pandemics, each with unique epidemic characteristics and far-reaching consequences. Our comparative analysis reveals that while both diseases exhibit high transmission rates, COVID-19's longer incubation period and higher severity have led to more profound and prolonged socioeconomic disruptions than influenza. Both pandemics have highlighted the exacerbating effects of climate change, with extreme weather events intensifying the spread and impact of these diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in global healthcare systems and economies on an unprecedented scale, outstripping the strain caused by influenza outbreaks. Importantly, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only reshaped global public health strategies but also significantly impacted the epidemiology of influenza. Despite these differences and associations, both diseases underscore the urgent need for robust pandemic preparedness and adaptable public health strategies. This review delineates the overlaps and distinctions between influenza and COVID-19, offering insights into future challenges and the critical steps needed to enhance healthcare system resilience and improve global responses to pandemics.

The aim of this study was to comprehensively assess how COVID-19 affected the levels of different mental health variables in prison inmates.

A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA format in the Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and ScienceDirect electronic databases between August and September 2023. Methodological quality was assessed using the critical appraisal tools for studies of the Joanna Briggs Institute.

Thirteen studies were included. The studies found increased levels of stress, anxiety, fear, depression, and negative emotions associated with lack of information about the pandemic and isolation leading to reduced social interaction. In addition, lack of access to common recreational spaces, limited access to support resources, especially mental health resources, fear of contracting the virus, and lack of trust in prison staff and in themselves to be protected were identified.

Further research may be necessary in prison populations with added vulnerability, such as the elderly, women, transgender and non-binary persons, to determine specific interventions, after assessing the prevalent psychological sequelae. Prevention strategies and mental health promotion are also encouraged.

This prospective observational study examined changing trends of excess self-protective behavior (EPB), and their association with perceived risk, perceived severity, and irrational beliefs about prevention during the Chinese COVID-19 epidemic. Participants were recruited for an online panel survey. There are 150 participants for the baseline and 102 for the final survey. There were 5 waves of interviews. Perceptions of risk and disease severity were measured by single items. Irrational beliefs about prevention and EPB comprised 5 common prevention misconceptions. Descriptive statistics and the CATMOD program were used for data analysis. The prevalence of participants perceiving personal risk of contracting COVID-19 and severe consequences of the disease was 18.6% and 25.5%, respectively, at baseline, and declining to 4.9% and 17.6% at final observation. The 5 selected EPB also showed a diminishing trend. Belief in COVID-19 prevention myths trended upwards. Perceived risk was positively associated with each EPB, and perceived severity with disinfection of clothes and hoarding of products. Myth adherence was positively associated with disinfection of clothes and both hand washing and sanitization. This study yields new information about EPB among the Chinese public. Policy modifications and public education interventions are essential for minimizing the adverse health effects of subscribing to irrational beliefs.

The aim of this study was to examine the temporal dynamics of multiple health behaviours (physical activity, alcohol consumption, healthy eating, cigarette consumption, recreational drug use, vaping), and pandemic-related health behaviours (e.g., hand washing, physical distancing) using network psychometrics.

The International COVID-19 Awareness and Responses Evaluation (iCARE) study is an international multi-wave observational cohort study of public awareness, attitudes, and responses to public health policies implemented to reduce the spread of COVID-19 on people around the world. A sub-sample of longitudinal data from Canadians (n = 254) was analysed across four waves (February-July 2020).

We used temporal network models to fit temporal networks, contemporaneous networks, and between-subject networks from items within the iCARE survey.

Positive temporal associations were observed between physical activity and healthy eating, and a bidirectional relationship was evident between outdoor mask use and vaping. A contemporaneous network revealed positive associations between consumption behaviours (vaping, cigarette use, alcohol use, and recreational drug use), and negative associations between physical activity and drug use, and healthy eating and cigarette use.

Health behaviours are interconnected and can be modelled as networks or behavioural systems. The application of temporal network analysis to the study of multiple health behaviours is well suited to address key research questions in the field such as 'how do multiple health behaviours co-vary with one another over time'. Future research using time series data and measuring affective and cognitive mediators of behaviour, in addition to health behaviours, has the potential to contribute valuable hypothesis-generating insights.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the effectiveness of face mask mandates was intensely debated. The objective of this study was to describe how face mask mandates at the state, county, and local levels differed in their effectiveness in reducing the number of COVID-19 cases in the jurisdiction where the mandate was implemented and throughout Utah.

We used publicly available data from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. We calculated the effectiveness of face mask mandates (EFm) in each local health district after 3 key mandates: the enactment of face mask mandates in Salt Lake and Summit counties (SLSC) on June 28, 2020, and June 27, 2020, respectively; the enactment of a statewide face mask mandate on November 9, 2020; and the lifting of the statewide face mask mandate on April 10, 2021.

Most counties in Utah had a reduction in the growth rate of COVID-19 cases after enactment of face mask mandates. We found an average 11.9% reduction in EFm after the introduction of the SLSC face mask mandates, with 8 of 13 local health districts experiencing a reduction, and an average 12.7% reduction after introduction of the statewide mandate, with 12 of 13 local health districts experiencing a reduction. After mandates were lifted, many counties had an increase in EFm.

Face mask mandates were an effective way to reduce transmission of COVID-19 in local jurisdictions and in neighboring jurisdictions in Utah. Our evidence supports the use of face mask mandates as a way to prevent disease transmission and be better equipped to respond to future pandemics.

Given the need to measure parents' perceptions of their children's exposure to tobacco smoke, the Parental Perceptions of Children's Exposure to Tobacco Smoke (PPE) instrument was developed and validated in Hebrew and later translated into English and Portuguese. The PPE has already been translated and adapted to the Brazilian context but a more robust sample is necessary to investigate the measurement properties. Thus, this study evaluated the measurement properties of the Brazilian version of the PPE instrument. Reliability and validity study were conducted with 161 parents with children up to 18 years of age. Perception of parental smoking status was investigated using analysis of variance. The instrument showed excellent reliability (Cronbach α = 0.92 and intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.91). The exploratory factor analysis identified 4 factors with a total accumulated variance of 71.6%. Confirmatory factor analysis validated this structure with 4 factors. It was necessary to exclude a question that presented low commonality. Analysis of variance demonstrated that nonsmoking and former smoking parents have similar scores, although they are higher than those of current smokers. Our findings provide evidence that the PPE version translated and adapted for the Brazilian context is a reliable and valid instrument. Thus, it can help us understand how parents cope with exposure to tobacco smoke.

To investigate worry about COVID-19 during the pandemic, and whether worry was associated with phase of the pandemic, COVID-19 death and incidence rates, Government interventions (including lockdown and advertising), age, being clinically at-risk, ethnicity, thinking that the Government had put the right measures in place, perceived risk of COVID-19 to self and the UK, and perceived severity of COVID-19.

Secondary analysis of a series of cross-sectional surveys.

73 online surveys conducted for the English Department of Health and Social Care between 28 January 2020 and 13 April 2022.

Participants were people aged 16 years and over living in the UK (approximately 2000 per wave).

Our primary outcome was self-reported worry about COVID-19.

Rates of being 'extremely' or 'very' worried changed over time. Worry increased as infection rates increased and fell during lockdowns, but the association became less obvious over time. Respondents aged 60 years and over were less likely to be worried after the launch of the vaccination campaign, while those who were clinically at-risk or from a minoritised ethnic community were more likely to be worried. Higher worry was associated with higher perceived risk, and higher perceived severity of COVID-19. There was no evidence for an association with agreeing that the Government was putting the right measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The launch of graphic Government advertising campaigns about COVID-19 had no noticeable effect on levels of public worry.

In future infectious disease outbreaks, spikes in worry may attenuate over time, although some sections of society may experience higher anxiety than others.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, while risk perception may promote public cooperation with pandemic prevention, it may also increase emotional distress and thus endanger mental health. This study aimed to examine whether there is an adaptive risk perception pattern that fits both needs of pandemic control and mental health protection. Two waves of Chinese participants (N sample 1 = 1633, N sample 2 = 1899) completed the Scale of Pandemic Risk Perception, the Scale of Public Cooperation with Pandemic Prevention, the Epidemic Worry Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affective Schedule during Feb 3rd to 5th, and during Feb 18th to 20th, 2021 respectively. Four risk perception profiles were identified by using latent profile analysis based on pandemic risk perception. Regression mixture models found that individuals in the perceived-controllable-high-perceived-risk profile were the most cooperative and reported the least worries and negative affect. The perceived-uncontrollable-high-perceived-risk profile demonstrated high cooperation but serious worry and negative affect. Individuals in the ignoring-risk profile reported the least levels of cooperation and worry but the highest levels of negative affect. Finally, the perceived-moderate-perceived-risk profile reported moderate levels of both cooperation and emotional distress. These results were well repeated in two samples. Present findings point towards an adaptive risk perception pattern (the controllable-high-perceived-risk profile) which may optimize cooperation while also avoid serious emotional distress.

The analysis of the benefits and costs of social distancing is a crucial aspect for understanding how individual and community actions can mitigate and manage the costs of a pandemic. In this study, we aimed to investigate the extent to which personality factors and emotional intelligence (EI) contributed to the subjective assessment of the benefits and costs of social distancing behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also aimed at determining whether EI served as a mediator in the relationship between personality traits and the evaluation of social distancing consequences. Data was collected via online surveys from a sample of 223 Italian-speaking participants (age: 30.78 ± 9.97; 86.1% females) between March and April 2021. Findings indicate that the tendency to prioritize the benefits of social distancing over personal costs was positively associated with emotional stability and emotion regulation, but negatively associated with extroversion. The following mediational analyses revealed that the emotion regulation facet of EI mediated the associations between personality dimensions (emotional stability and extroversion) and the evaluation of the costs and benefits of social distancing. These findings provide useful indications and implications for developing appropriate communication strategies aimed at reaching the general population and suggest that, during health-related crises, emphasis should be placed on offering courses and programs to improve and develop individuals' EI.

There is an ongoing trend toward more frequent and multiple crises. While there is a clear need for behaviors to become more sustainable to address the climate crisis, how to achieve this against the backdrop of other crises is unknown. Using a sample of 18,805 participants from the UK, we performed a survey experiment to investigate if communication messages provide a useful tool in nudging intentions toward improved sustainability in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that, despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, media messaging resulted in increases in sustainability-related intentions for all our communication messaging conditions. Specifically, after our communication was presented, (i) almost 80% of people who were not currently recycling their surgical masks reported their intention to do so; there was a > 70% increase in both (ii) the number of people likely to pick up face mask litter and (iii) the number of people willing to disinfect and reuse their filtering facepiece (FFP) masks 4-6 times, while (iv) there was an increase by 165% in those who would wash cloth masks at 60 °C. Our results highlight that communication messaging can play a useful role in minimizing the trade-offs between multiple crises, as well as maximizing any synergies. To support this, decision-makers and practitioners should encourage the delivery of sustainability advice via multiple sources and across different types of media, while taking steps to address potential misinformation.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11625-024-01556-9.

In a severe epidemic such as the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing can be a vital tool to stop the spread of the disease and save lives. However, social distancing may induce profound negative social or economic impacts as well. How to optimize social distancing is a serious social, political, as well as public health issue yet to be resolved. This work investigates social distancing with a focus on how every individual reacts to an epidemic, what role he/she plays in social distancing, and how every individual's decision contributes to the action of the population and vice versa. Social distancing is thus modeled as a population game, where every individual makes decision on how to participate in a set of social activities, some with higher frequencies while others lower or completely avoided, to minimize his/her social contacts with least possible social or economic costs. An optimal distancing strategy is then obtained when the game reaches an equilibrium. The game is simulated with various realistic restraints including (i) when the population is distributed over a social network, and the decision of each individual is made through the interactions with his/her social neighbors; (ii) when the individuals in different social groups such as children vs. adults or the vaccinated vs. unprotected have different distancing preferences; (iii) when leadership plays a role in decision making, with a certain number of leaders making decisions while the rest of the population just follow. The simulation results show how the distancing game is played out in each of these scenarios, reveal the conflicting yet cooperative nature of social distancing, and shed lights on a self-organizing, bottom-up perspective of distancing practices.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a global public health threat ravaging the health systems. In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), COVID-19 and several other challenges concurrently worsen the health outcome indicators. Interestingly, vaccines have been identified as the most reliable and cost-effective public health intervention, and the governments in LMICs have instituted an array of plans to ensure every eligible person gets vaccinated. However, there is still considerable apathy around the use of the available COVID-19 vaccines in LMICs which is impeding the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we explore the multiple interrelated factors behind low COVID-19 vaccination coverage in LMICs. It is therefore recommended that the governments in LMICs embrace multicomponent and wide-ranging strategies. This should involve utilising community-based approaches such as community pharmacy-led vaccination to promote community access to COVID-19 vaccines and to revive trust in national health authorities by offering population-specific, target-driven, transparent, and timely communication to the community who they serve about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine. Communication strategies should be tailored to reflect diverse political orientations as this can enhance vaccine acceptance. Additionally, local political parties and representative should be engaged in broad alliances to facilitate community mobilisation and support for vaccination campaigns. Also, relevant Nongovernmental Organisations and Community-based Organisations should institute programs at the grassroots that incorporate the gatekeepers to the community aimed at influencing population behaviour regarding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Besides, the public health department in the ministry of health in LMICs should create more awareness, through social and mass media, particularly in the rural, semi-urban, and slum communities about the pivotal role of vaccination. Thus, we opined that these strategies will help LMICs achieve the COVID-19 vaccination target and further reposition the healthcare systems, and promote other public health interventions now and in the future.

Background. Behavior change has been a critical factor in slowing the spread of COVID-19. In South Africa where infection rates are high, research is needed on the protective behaviors adopted by youth who have low infection rates but are carriers of the virus. Aims. The purpose of this study is to (1) identify the protective behaviors young people adopted during the pandemic and (2) to estimate the probability of positive behavior change by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Methods. The study uses data from the South African National Income Dynamics-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey 2020. The sample includes 985 (n) youth aged 15-24 years. The outcome of interest is behavior change due to the Coronavirus. Cross-tabulations and an adjusted binary logistic regression model showing odds ratios, are fit to the data. Results. Not all youth adopted protective behaviors. The most prevalent behaviors adopted include washing hands (67.75%) and staying at home (54.02%). Youth in households with six or more members are more likely to change their behaviors (ORs = 1.67 and 1.64, both p-values < .05). However, youth who do not have access to water to wash hands (OR = 0.71), reside in households with food insecurity (OR = 0.94), and those living in nonformal housing (OR = 0.69) are less likely to adopt behavior change. Conclusion. Due to the socioeconomic inequalities associated with behavior change, there is need for more tailored approaches to address youth living in impoverished households in the country.

Though, many countries are currently in the COVID post-pandemic era, people's health protective behaviours are still essential to protect their health and well-being. This study aims to evaluate people's understanding and perceptions of COVID-19 risk characteristics (i.e. threat occurrence, threat severity, perceived susceptibility and exposure), the health risk perception towards COVID-19, and health protective behaviours. The study also aims to estimate the associations among these factors by the analysis of structural equation modelling (SEM).

From 15 October to 9 November 2022, questionnaire surveys were administrated to 521 people living in Bangkok of Thailand by using the convenience sampling technique. The analyses were carried out in three phases including descriptive statistical analyses, a measurement model assessment using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis.

The results of descriptive analyses demonstrated that the majority of respondents, 39.9%, had the age between 20 and 30 years old, and 61.4% of them were female. Approximately 52.1% of them had a bachelor's degree. Upon analysing individuals' understanding and perceptions of all risk characteristics, individuals' understanding of COVID-19 severity did not statistically affect health risk perception towards COVID-19, whereas perceived exposure had the strongest effect and in turn influenced health protective behaviours. Perceived susceptibility and understanding of the threat occurrence also significantly affected health risk perception, and indirectly affected health protective behaviours.

This study implies that though the potential health impact of COVID-19 is perceived as less severe, people can still construct a perception of its risk particularly based on their perceived exposure and susceptibility. Thus, communicating people about exposure conditions and susceptibility can greatly contribute to people' construction of risk perception towards COVID-19 which subsequently leads to the decision to perform health protective behaviours.

The proliferation of unverified or false information by irresponsible users can significantly amplify the spread of misinformation or fake news. Despite growing research on unverified information sharing, a comprehensive understanding of the varying influences of different factors and strategies to mitigate this issue remains under investigation. To address this research gap, this study, rooted in the theory of herd behavior, develops, and tests a model theorizing the reasons behind social media users' unverified information sharing. Data was collected from 510 respondents across six regions of China using a convenience sampling method. The collected data was analyzed using Mplus. The results from this study indicated that perceived severity, state uncertainty, and herding have a significant positive influence on unverified information sharing. These results enrich the understanding of unverified information-sharing behavior among Chinese social media users. Drawing from these results, we suggest platform administrators and policymakers mitigate herd behavior tendencies and stem the spread of misinformation by disseminating timely, accurate, and authoritative information. Since this action will reduce users' perceptions of severity and uncertainty. Social media users are also advised to stay vigilant over the implications of herd behavior and foster a more critical attitude towards information sharing.

Longitudinal data on how acute respiratory illness (ARI) affects behavior, namely school or work participation, and nonpharmaceutical intervention (NPI) usage before and during the COVID-19 pandemic is limited. The authors assessed how ARIs and specific symptoms affected school, work, and health-related behaviors over time.

From November 2019 to June 2021, participating households with children in King County, Washington, were remotely monitored for ARI symptoms weekly. Following ARIs, participants reported illness-related effects on school, work, and NPI use. Using logistic regression with generalized estimating equations, the authors examined associations between symptoms and behaviors.

Of 1,861 participants, 581 (31%) from 293 households reported 884 ARIs and completed one-week follow-up surveys. Compared with the prepandemic period, during the period of the pandemic pre-COVID-19 vaccine, ARI-related school (56% vs 10%, p<0.001) absenteeism decreased and masking increased (3% vs 28%, p<0.001). After vaccine authorization in December 2020, more ARIs resulted in masking (3% vs 48%, p<0.001), avoiding contact with non-household members (26% vs 58%, p<0.001), and staying home (37% vs 69%, p<0.001) compared with the prepandemic period. Constitutional symptoms such as fever were associated with work disruptions (OR=1.91; 95% CI=1.06, 3.43), staying home (OR=1.55; 95% CI=1.06, 2.27), and decreased contact with non-household members (OR=1.58; 95% CI=1.05, 2.36).

This remote household study permitted uninterrupted tracking of behavioral changes in families with children before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying increased use of some NPIs when ill but no additional illness-associated work or school disruptions.

We use Twitter, Google mobility, and Oxford policy data to study the relationship between trust and compliance over the period March 2020 to January 2021 in ten, mostly European, countries. Trust has been shown to be an important correlate of compliance with COVID-19 containment policies. However, the previous findings depend upon two assumptions: first, that compliance is time invariant, and second, that compliance can be measured using self reports or mobility measures alone. We relax these assumptions by calculating a new time-varying measure of compliance as the association between containment policies and people's mobility behavior. Additionally, we develop measures of trust in others and national institutions by applying emotion analysis to Twitter data. Results from various panel estimation techniques demonstrate that compliance changes over time and that increasing (decreasing) trust in others predicts increasing (decreasing) compliance. This evidence indicates that compliance changes over time, and further confirms the importance of cultivating trust in others.

The preventive health behavior people adopt is partly a result of the risk they perceive from the threat, and health behavior theory has shown that risk communication is a critical part of that outcome. But risk to self and risk to others are often judged differently. Optimistic bias, which describes an unrealistic level of optimism about a threat, is a well described and frequently observed phenomenon in the study of health behavior. Traditional measurements of this construct have typically used the difference in self and other risk levels, which may obscure the impact. This study used a moderated mediation path with other-risk as a moderator of self-risk to study how optimistic bias and emotion about a rapidly changing risk may impact information seeking about it through social medial channels, which represent a still nascent but evolving media for credible health information. Results showed that optimistic bias about developing symptoms of COVID was indeed present and that the effect of perceived self-risk was mediated by fear and anxiety to predict social media searches about the threat. Further, affect and social media search behavior decreased with increasing levels of perceived other risk, indicating optimistic bias served to dampen a person's motivation to seek information. The implications of the results on health behavior theory, risk communication, and public health practice are discussed.

After the declaration by the World Health Organization signaling the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries lifted mandatory mask-wearing regulations. This study aimed to investigate factors such as risk perception and political ideology associated with continued adherence to mask-wearing among specific populations, particularly when it is no longer deemed necessary.

We conducted a cross-sectional study including a sample of 1001 respondents stratified by sex, age (≥ 18 years), and region from January 31 to February 2, 2023, after the mandatory mask regulation was lifted in South Korea. Multivariate logistic regression models were applied to estimate the relationships between risk perceptions, political ideology, and mask-wearing maintenance, adjusting for factors such as sex, age, occupation, and trust in the government.

Our results indicated significant associations between age, self-reported household economic status, political ideology, affective risk perception, and perceived effectiveness of the government's COVID-related measures with indoor mask-wearing. Specifically, liberals were more likely to keep mask-wearing indoors than conservatives (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.19; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.33-3.59); and those who perceived a greater affective risk of COVID-19 (aOR: 2.47; 95% CI: 1.96-3.10), along with those who perceived the government's countermeasures as inadequate, were more inclined to maintain the habit of wearing masks indoors (aOR: 1.90; 95% CI: 1.19-3.03).

Our study highlighted the multifaceted factors influencing mask-wearing behavior in the post-COVID-19 era. Even after adjusting for various confounding factors, such as age, sex, and trust in the government, an association remained between affective risk perception, political ideology, and mask-wearing behavior. However, further research for psychological mechanisms is needed to foster a culture of preventive behaviors proportional to the risk of infection.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique possibility to broaden the understanding of people's reactions to a global crisis. Early on, it became evident that older adults were particularly vulnerable to the virus and that the actions of this age group would be crucial to the outcome. This qualitative interview study uses the Health Belief Model (HBM) framework as an analytical tool to examine older people's experiences of adherence to recommendations during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to view this study in the context of Sweden's voluntary restrictions, which further highlight the unique nature of this research.

In April-May 2020, 41 adults aged 70-85 participated in unstructured phone interviews. The objective was to investigate older adults' perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly their understanding of the disease and the conditions that influenced their adherence to health recommendations. HBM was used as an analytical framework to guide the analysis of the interviews.

Despite perceiving COVID-19 as a severe threat to health and society, participants did not let fear dominate their responses. Instead, they demonstrated remarkable resilience and a proactive approach. For some, the perceived susceptibility to the disease was the primary motivator for adherence to the Swedish national recommendations. Notably, trust in the authorities and family members' requests significantly bolstered adherence. Moreover, adherence was found to contribute to feelings of safety. Conversely, potential barriers to adhering to recommendations included missing loved ones and frustration with sometimes ambiguous information from authorities.

The results from this study indicate that older adults are willing to adhere to voluntary restrictions during a global pandemic. Relatives of older people are a resource for communicating information regarding safety and health messages, a message that is preferably thorough and consistent. Further, much can be gained if loneliness during isolation can be mitigated since missing loved ones appears to be a potential barrier to adherence.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a major challenge for construction companies, which were confronted with the need to prevent the enormous negative socio-psychological impact of the pandemic on their employees. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of psychological distress among construction workers in an advanced phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Andalusia, southern Spain. For this, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using online questionnaires with data on sociodemographic variables and employment situation, COVID-19 pandemic-related data, and Goldberg's General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). A total of 860 questionnaires from all provinces of Andalusia, Spain, were collected between March and May 2022. Descriptive statistical analyses and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U and Chi-squared tests were performed, followed by logistic regression analysis. The incidence of psychological distress was higher among women, individuals under 43 years of age, those with a family income below EUR 1200, participants whose working conditions had been affected by the pandemic, those who had not received adequate means or specific training to protect themselves from infection, those who had experienced symptoms, those who had suffered side effects after vaccination, and those who had been hospitalised. The logistic regression analysis predicted the occurrence of psychological distress in this study by the effect of the pandemic on mental/emotional well-being, the working conditions affected during the pandemic, health-related variables, and the age of the worker. The correctly classified percentage was 75.1%. Assessing psychological distress in construction sectors may allow for the identification of vulnerable groups or even help to reduce the number of errors in daily practice and potential risks of occupational injury or illness.

The health and economic impacts of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 affect all levels of a community from the individual to the governing bodies. However, the spread of an infectious disease is intricately linked to the behaviour of the people within a community since crowd behaviour affects individual human behaviour, while human behaviour affects infection spread, and infection spread affects human behaviour. Capturing these feedback loops of behaviour and infection is a well-known challenge in infectious disease modelling. Here, we investigate the interface of behavioural science theory and infectious disease modelling to explore behaviour and disease (BaD) transmission models. Specifically, we incorporate a visible protective behaviour into the susceptible-infectious-recovered-susceptible (SIRS) transmission model using the socio-psychological Health Belief Model to motivate behavioural uptake and abandonment. We characterize the mathematical thresholds for BaD emergence in the BaD SIRS model and the feasible steady states. We also explore, under different infectious disease scenarios, the effects of a fully protective behaviour on long-term disease prevalence in a community, and describe how BaD modelling can investigate non-pharmaceutical interventions that target-specific components of the Health Belief Model. This transdisciplinary BaD modelling approach may reduce the health and economic impacts of future epidemics.

This study aimed to comparatively examine how public and private hospitals adhered to the COVID-19 safety protocols, and the factors associated with, and barriers to adherence in Ghana.

A case study design drawing on quantitative and qualitative methods to determine adherence to, and barrier of adherence to the COVID-19 protocols.

A sample of 283 staff participated in the quantitative study, while in-depth interviews were conducted among management staff across the public and private hospitals. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test to compare differences in adherence and logistic regression model to identify the factors associated with adherence to the COVID-19 protocols.

The regression results showed that adherence to the COVID-19 protocols in public and private hospitals were significantly associated with staff training on adherence in public (OR = 2.08; p < 0.01) and private (OR = 1.44; p < 0.05), and knowledge on adherence in public (OR = 3.12; p < 0.01) and private (OR = 11.45; p < 0.01) hospitals. Adherence to the protocol varied significantly between public and private hospitals (0.001 > p < 0.05), with an effect size ranging from small to large. Clients' behavioural factors and poor stocking of PPEs due to financial challenges were reported as barriers to adherence in both hospital types.

Adherence to the COVID-19 protocols was more pronounced in public hospitals than private hospitals suggesting the need for interventions targeting the latter to promote client and staff safety.

Popular press and academic articles alike speculate that gender influences vaccine receipt, but they often disagree whether men or women are less likely to become vaccinated. In the current article, we further test the relation of gender and vaccination in four datasets, and we assess the mediating role of vaccine hesitancy dimensions. Our results demonstrate that: (1) gender has significant relations with several vaccine hesitancy dimensions, which are mixed between both women and men having negative perceptions regarding vaccination; (2) gender does not significantly relate to flu and COVID-19 vaccination willingness or receipt, but women were more likely to receive other vaccines; and (3) a significant indirect effect did emerge in the two datasets collected after widespread access to the COVID-19 vaccine, such that the perception that vaccines cause health risks mediates the relation of gender with flu vaccination willingness as well as COVID-19 vaccination willingness and receipt. Our discussion integrates these findings with models of preventative behaviors and identifies directions for future research.

Changes in human behaviors, such as reductions of physical contacts and the adoption of preventive measures, impact the transmission of infectious diseases considerably. Behavioral adaptations may be the result of individuals aiming to protect themselves or mere responses to public containment measures, or a combination of both. What drives autonomous and policy-induced adaptation, how they are related and change over time is insufficiently understood. Here, we develop a framework for more precise analysis of behavioral adaptation, focusing on confluence, interactions and time variance of autonomous and policy-induced adaptation. We carry out an empirical analysis of Germany during the fall of 2020 and beyond. Subsequently, we discuss how behavioral adaptation processes can be better represented in behavioral-epidemiological models. We find that our framework is useful to understand the interplay of autonomous and policy-induced adaptation as a "moving target". Our empirical analysis suggests that mobility patterns in Germany changed significantly due to both autonomous and policy-induced adaption, with potentially weaker effects over time due to decreasing risk signals, diminishing risk perceptions and an erosion of trust in the government. We find that while a number of simulation and prediction models have made great efforts to represent behavioral adaptation, the interplay of autonomous and policy-induced adaption needs to be better understood to construct convincing counterfactual scenarios for policy analysis. The insights presented here are of interest to modelers and policy makers aiming to understand and account for behaviors during a pandemic response more accurately.

Background The rapid global spread of SARS-CoV-2 highlighted critical challenges in healthcare systems worldwide, with differences in testing access and utilization becoming particularly evident. This study investigates the socioeconomic and demographic factors influencing SARS-CoV-2 testing service access and utilization during the second wave of the pandemic in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India. Methods The study was conducted from July to October 2023 in two districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP). These districts were chosen because one had the highest and the other the lowest SARS-CoV-2 testing rates per million population as reported from March to June 2021. The study population included consenting adult individuals with self-reported symptoms indicative of SARS-CoV-2 infection during March-June 2021. The study excluded individuals under 18 years, those who did not consent, pregnant or lactating mothers, and those with communication-impairing medical conditions. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire based on Andersen's Behavioural Model of Health Services Use. We used chi-squared tests for all categorical variables to obtain p-values and Poisson regression to identify factors influencing testing rates. Results We screened 4,595 individuals and identified 675 eligible participants for this study. Adjusted prevalence ratios derived from multiple variate Poisson regression models showed that participants in Sitapur had a 0.47 (95% CI: 0.39-0.57) times the prevalence of being tested than those in Lucknow. Furthermore, individuals from other backward castes and scheduled castes had a 1.15 (95% CI: 0.99-1.34) and 1.22 (95% CI: 0.95-1.56) times prevalence of being tested for SARS-CoV-2, respectively, when compared to the general caste population. Scheduled Tribes showed a higher prevalence of being tested, contrasting with existing literature. Households with low, middle, and high income showed a 1.46 (95% CI: 1.12-1.89), 1.52 (95% CI: 1.14-2.02), and 1.73 (95% CI: 1.23-2.45) times the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 testing compared to those below the poverty line, respectively. Behavioral factors such as media use showed an inverse relationship with testing prevalence; individuals who did not watch TV at all had a 0.83 (95% CI: 0.70-0.99) times prevalence of being tested compared to frequent viewers, and similarly, those not using the internet on mobiles had a 0.82 (95% CI: 0.67-0.99) times prevalence than daily users. Individuals using private healthcare facilities had a 0.87 (95% CI: 0.77-0.99) times prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 testing compared to those using government facilities. Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of public health strategies that address socio-economic and behavioral disparities to ensure equitable testing access across all community groups.

There is a growing interest in the joint modeling of the dynamics of disease and health-related beliefs and attitudes, but coupling mechanisms are yet to be understood. We introduce a model where risk information, which can be delayed, comes in two flavors, including historical risk derived from perceived incidence data and predicted risk information. Our model also includes an interpretation domain where the behavioral response to risk information is subject to in-group pressure. We then simulate how the strength of behavioral reaction impacts epidemic severity as measured by epidemic peak size, number of waves, and final size. Simulated behavioral response is not effective when the level of protection that prophylactic behavior provides is as small as 50% or lower. At a higher level of 75% or more, we see the emergence of multiple epidemic waves. In addition, simulations show that different behavioral response profiles can lead to various epidemic outcomes that are non-monotonic with the strength of reaction to risk information. We also modeled heterogeneity in the response profile of a population and find they can lead to less severe epidemic outcome in terms of peak size.

Governments have adopted unprecedented measures to assist in slowing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, but compliance varies among individuals. This UK study uses latent profile analysis to identify four classes of individuals on factors believed to influence compliance. Those who sought health information from authoritative sources and actively sought information from multiple sources were most compliant. Profile differences in compliance and vaccination status were also primarily driven by trust in healthcare institutions over trust in government. These findings contribute to understanding compliance profiles and emphasise the importance of authoritative information and trust in healthcare systems.

This study examined individual differences in how people behave in response to a pandemic - more specifically, the current coronavirus pandemic.

A sample of 420 participants was recruited through the online data collection platform MTurk. Participants were directed via an online link to a Qualtrics survey. This survey was composed of several demographic questions and self-report personality and belief scales, followed by a set of outcome measures designed to measure specific behaviors relating to avoidant behavior, protective behavior, and impulsive buying which the participants might, or might not, have engaged in during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The results showed that locus of control was the best personality-related predictor of peoples' pandemic-relevant behavior, such that externally oriented people were more likely to report both protective behavior and impulsive buying behavior. In addition, perceived threat was significantly associated with all three types of pandemic-relevant behaviors (avoidant, protective, and impulsive buying).

Individuals' personality traits and beliefs clearly play a major role in determining their behavior during health crises. In the case of the current COVID-19 crisis, some people adopt behaviors that ensure their safety and the safety of others, whereas other people display careless behaviors that contribute to spreading the infection. Because individual differences in this situation matter, it is important to determine which variables accurately predict which behaviors.

Google Trends provides spatiotemporal data for user-specific terms scaled from less than 1 (lowest relative popularity) to 100 (highest relative popularity) as a proxy for the public interest. Here we use US state-level data for COVID-19 to examine popularity trends during the pandemic evolution. We used "coronavirus" and "covid" search terms and set the period up from January 1st, 2020, to November 12, 2022. We measured the agreement on web rankings between states using the nonparametric Kendall's W (0 for no concordance to 1 for perfect agreement). We compiled state-level weekly data on COVID-19 incidence and mortality and scaled state curves from 0 to 100 through a min-max normalization process. We used a dynamic time-warping algorithm to calculate similarities between the popularity, mortality, and incidence of COVID-19. The methodology is a pattern recognition process between time series by distance optimization. The similarity was mapped from 0 to 1, with 1 indicating perfect similarity and 0 indicating no similarity. The peak in popularity was in March 2020, succeeded by a decline and a prolonged period of fluctuation around 20%. Public interest rose briefly at the end of 2021, to fall to a low activity of around 10%. This pattern was remarkably consistent across states (Kendal's W 0.94, p < 0.001). Web search trends were an impression of contagion growth: Overall, popularity-mortality trajectories yielded higher similarity indices (median 0.78; interquartile range 0.75-0.82) compared to popularity-incidence trajectories (median 0.74; interquartile range 0.72-0.76, Wilcoxon's exact p<0.001). The popularity-mortality trajectories had a very strong similarity (>0.80) in 19/51 (37%) regions, as opposed to only 4/51 (8%) for popularity-incidence trajectories. State-level data show a fading public concern about COVID-19, and web-search popularity patterns may reflect the COVID-19 trajectory in terms of cases and mortality.

The outbreak of COVID-19 caused severe damage to public health globally and served as a stark reminder of the potential for future pandemics. Promoting protective behaviors to prevent the spread of any contagious disease thus remains a priority. Although research has shown that health beliefs can affect protective behaviors, few studies have examined the role of information-seeking in this relationship.

On the basis of the health belief model, this research focused on whether health beliefs affect personal protective behaviors through health information-seeking behaviors.

This cross-sectional study with a causal-comparative design used an online questionnaire to investigate the Taiwanese public's health beliefs, protective behaviors, and information-seeking behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis.

Between September 2021 and January 2022, 322 valid questionnaires were collected. The results revealed that the effects of two health beliefs-self-efficacy and perceived benefits-on handwashing, social distancing, practicing good cough etiquette, and keeping one's environment clean and well ventilated were partially mediated by the frequency of official information-seeking.

Results of this study support the regular and timely promotion of pandemic prevention measures through official sites. Promoting official information-seeking can help enhance protective behaviors.

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on people's lives since its initial outbreak and global spread in 2020. While the U.S. government and public health officials have recommended best practices such as social distancing, wearing a mask, and avoiding large public gatherings, these orders have been met with varying levels of acceptance from the public. Given the disparate compliance, this study builds on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) to explore individual differences and personal motivation factors in order to better understand what may influence one's likelihood to adhere to COVID-19 protective measures.

A U.S. national survey (N = 2,049) was conducted April-May 2020, roughly one month after stay-at-home orders were issued in some states. Participants were asked to report their likelihood of taking individual and community protective measures. Multivariate hierarchical linear regressions were run to analyze the extent to which participants' concerns about COVID-19's impact, individual and collective self-efficacy, coping behaviors, and personality traits influenced the dependent variables.

Findings showed that COVID-19-related health concerns, collective efficacy, and proactive coping strategies were positively related to participants' likelihood of taking protective measures. Those with greater concerns about their general well-being and the economy, adverse coping strategies like denial and joking, as well as sensation-seeking personalities, were less likely to take protective measures.

The discussion considers how individual differences fit into broader global efforts to stem COVID-19. Practical implications for public health messaging are that communication may focus on facilitating efficacy in order to boost compliance with protective measures.

Drawing from the terror management theory (TMT) and evolutionary perspectives of Life-History Strategy, a between-subject online experiment examined the interaction effects of pre-existing death anxiety, fear-inducing media content (coronavirus threat vs. gun violence threat vs. low threat mental disorder), and intrasexual competition for mates on online dating intentions and social distancing intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicate the interaction effects of participants' pre-experimental death anxiety and different types of fear-inducing media content on perceived fear and intention to use online dating websites/apps as well as the interaction effects of pre-experimental intrasexual competitiveness and fear-inducing media content on social distancing intention in the context of online dating. Theoretical contributions to the terror management literature and practical implications for the online dating industry are discussed.

Addresing vaccine hesitancy is considered an important goal in management of the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to understand what factors influenced people, especially those initially hesitant, to receive two or more vaccine doses within a year of the vaccine's release.

We conducted longitudinal Web-based observational studies of 3,870 individuals. The surveys were conducted at four different time points: January 2021, June 2021, September 2021, and December 2021. In the baseline survey (January 2021), we assessed vaccination intention (i.e., "strongly agree" or "agree" [acceptance], "neutral" [not sure], and "disagree" or "strongly disagree" [hesitance]), and assumptions about coronavirus disease (COVID-19), COVID-19 vaccine, COVID-19-related health preventive behavior, and COVID-19 vaccine reliability. In subsequent surveys (December 2021), we assessed vaccination completion (i.e., ≥2 vaccinations). To investigate the relationship between predictors of COVID-19 vaccination completion, a multivariable logistic regression model was applied. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated while adjusting for gender, age, marital status, presence of children, household income category, and presence of diseases under treatment. In a stratified analysis, predictors were determined based on vaccination intention.

Approximately 96, 87, and 72% of those who demonstrated acceptance, were not sure, or hesitated had been vaccinated after 1 year, respectively. Overall, significant factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine compliance included the influence of others close to the index participant (social norms) (AOR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.56-2.08; p < 0.001), vaccine confidence (AOR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.18-1.64; p < 0.001) and structural constraints (no time, inconvenient location of medical institutions, and other related factors) (AOR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.70-0.91; p = 0.001). In the group of individuals classified as hesitant, significant factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine compliance included social norms (AOR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.83-3.22; p < 0.001), confidence (AOR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.10-1.88; p = 0.008), and knowledge (AOR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.53-0.88; p = 0.003).

We found that dissemination of accurate information about vaccines and a reduction in structural barriers to the extent possible enhanced vaccination rates. Once the need for vaccination becomes widespread, it becomes a social norm, and further improvements in these rates can then be anticipated. Our findings may help enhance vaccine uptake in the future.

Governments have relied on their citizens to adhere to a variety of transmission-reducing behaviours (TRBs) to suppress the Covid-19 pandemic. Understanding the psychological and sociodemographic predictors of adherence to TRBs will be heavily influenced by the particular theories used by researchers. This review aims to identify the theories and theoretical constructs used to understand adherence to TRBs during the pandemic within the UK social and legislative context.

A systematic review identified studies to understand TRBs of adults in the UK during the pandemic. Identified theoretical constructs were coded to the Theoretical Domains Framework. Data are presented as a narrative summary.

Thirty-five studies (n = 211,209) investigated 123 TRBs, applied 13 theoretical frameworks and reported 50 sociodemographic characteristics and 129 psychological constructs. Most studies used social cognition theories to understand TRBs and employed cross-sectional designs. Risk of sampling bias was high. Relationships between constructs and TRBs varied, but in general, beliefs about the disease (e.g. severity and risk perception) and about TRBs (e.g. behavioural norms) influenced behavioural intentions and self-reported adherence. More studies than not found that older people and females were more adherent.

Behavioural scientists in the UK generated a significant and varied body of work to understand TRBs during the pandemic. However, more use of theories that do not rely on deliberative processes to effect behaviour change and study designs better able to support causal inferences should be used in future to inform public health policy and practice.

CRD42021282699.

Many epidemiological works show that human behaviours play a fundamental role in the spread of infectious diseases. However, we still do not know much about how people modify their Health Protective Behaviours (HPB), such as hygiene or social distancing measures, over time in response to the health threat during an epidemic. In this study, we examined the role of the epidemiological context in engagement in HPB through two possible mechanisms highlighted by research into decision-making under risk: risk adaptation and risk habituation. These two different mechanisms were assumed to explain to a large extent the temporal variations in the public's responsiveness to the health threat during the COVID-19 pandemic. To test them, we used self-reported data collected through a series of 25 cross-sectional surveys conducted in France among representative samples of the adult population, from March 2020 to September 2021 (N = 50,019). Interestingly, we found that both mechanisms accounted relatively well for the temporal variation in the adoption of social distancing during the pandemic, which is remarkable given their different assumptions about the underlying social cognitive processes involved in response to a health threat. These results suggest that strengthening the incentives to encourage people to maintain health protective behaviours and to counter risk habituation effects is crucial to disease control and prevention over time.