Perception of Risk, Self-Efficacy and Social Trust during the Diffusion of Covid-19 in Italy.

Lavinia Falese,Giuseppe Valente,Pierluigi Diotaiuti,Stefania Mancone,Daniela Anastasi,Alexandro Andrade,Fábio Hech Dominski,Elisa Langiano,Fernando Bellizzi

doi:10.3390/ijerph18073427

Abstract

The Coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of people all over the world. The perception of risk and people’s consequent behaviour during a pandemic are very complex and are affected by multiple cultural and psychological factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the change in risk perception, perceived self-efficacy and the perceived trust in the behaviour of others, the decisions of health authorities and government provisions, as well as the variation of self-restraint behaviours during the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic in Italy. We used a convenience sample of 707 university students (Mage = 22.99; SD = 4.01) from a central area of Italy. Participants freely joined the research by answering an online questionnaire between February and March 2020. Three time intervals defined by the progressive containment measures implemented by the Italian Government were considered. Main outcome measures were the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, the Risk Perception Index, the Index of Self-restraint Behaviours, and Institutional and Interpersonal Trust Measures. Results confirmed that significant changes in the time progression have occurred in the perception of risk, in the perception of individual self-efficacy, in the value attributed to social responsibility, in interpersonal trust and in trust in health authorities. The study also identified the participants’ personality traits and locus of control as predictors (positive and negative) of perceived self-efficacy and tested a mediation model of trust on the effect of risk perception on self-restraint intentions.

Highlights

In order to better understand the development of the pandemic it could be very useful to investigate the value attributed to social responsibility, interpersonal and institutional trust and confidence in health authorities
It was hypothesized that the progression of the implementation of national governmental restrictive measures during the first month of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy would gradually increase the perception of the risk of being infected and gradually decrease the perception of individual self-efficacy, the value attributed to social responsibility, the interpersonal social trust and the trust in health authorities
We aimed to investigate the change in risk perception, perceived self-efficacy, and the perceived trust in the behaviour of others, the decisions of health authorities and government provisions, and the variation of self-restraint behaviours during the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic among university students in Italy

Summary

Introduction

The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of people all over the world. The perception of risk and people’s consequent behavior during a pandemic are very complex and are affected by multiple cultural and psychological factors [1,2]. Perception of risk refers to a subjective cognitive evaluation process of the characteristics, severity and possible consequences and management of hazards they might be exposed to [3]. Perception of risk is influenced by social and cultural factors, experiences, beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes. Perception of risk was found inversely associated with selfefficacy in a study on a previous epidemic, the avian influenza: the higher the self-efficacy, the lower the perception of risk [4]. Perception of risk and self-efficacy in turn influence the

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