Abstract
The present study examined individual characteristics potentially associated with changes in mitigation behaviors (social distancing and hygiene) recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Analysis of online survey responses from 361 adults, ages 20–78, with US IP addresses, identified significant correlates of adaptive behavioral changes, with implications for preventive strategies and mental health needs. The extent to which individuals changed their mitigation behaviors was unrelated to self-rated health or concern regarding the personal effects of COVID-19 but was related to concern regarding the effects of the pandemic on others. Thus, mitigation behaviors do not appear to be primarily motivated by self-protection. Importantly, adaptive changes in mitigation behaviors increased with age. However, these changes, particularly those related to the frequency of close proximity encounters, appear to be due to age-related decreases in anxiety and depression. Taken together, the present results argue against over-reliance on ‘fear appeals’ in public health messages as they may increase anxiety and depression. Instead, the present findings argue for more appeals to people’s concern for others to motivate mitigation as well as indicating an immediate need to address individual mental health concerns for the sake of society as a whole.
Highlights
Older adults infected with the COVID-19 virus are at greater risk of severe complications, as reflected in the higher rate at which they require hospitalization [1] and the greater likelihood that they will die as a result of their infection [2], a finding that has been replicated in a sample of over 17 million patients [3]
The correlations between distancing and hygiene measures were all negative, indicating that participants who had decreased the frequency of close proximity encounters and physical contact with those outside their household tended to have increased the frequency of hand and home hygiene behaviors (Table 3)
Whereas the preceding analyses focused on what variables are associated with the amount of change in the four Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended mitigation behaviors, the present analyses focused on whether or not adaptive changes had occurred, regardless of the size of those changes, as well as on
Summary
Older adults infected with the COVID-19 virus are at greater risk of severe complications, as reflected in the higher rate at which they require hospitalization [1] and the greater likelihood that they will die as a result of their infection [2], a finding that has been replicated in a sample of over 17 million patients [3]. Age is not the only factor associated with greater-than-average risks from COVID-19. For example, appears to be associated with the risk of serious complications and even mortality, with poverty being another notable risk factor [3]. Of special interest from a public health perspective are behaviors that either increase the risk (close proximity interactions or actual physical contact with non-household members) or decrease the risk (disinfecting one’s hands and commonly used surfaces) of contracting COVID-19 and that could be appropriately modified.
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