Abstract
BackgroundThe global outbreak of COVID-19 has become an international public health crisis. Specific antiviral treatments for COVID-19 are not yet available, and prevention is of particular importance to fight the virus. This study tends to explore and compare the roles of cognitive and affective factors in predicting preventive behavior adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.MethodsAn online survey using a quota sampling method to collect responses from 3000 Chinese adults was conducted from March 2, 2020 to March 23, 2020. Questions included sociodemographic features, coronavirus knowledge, negative emotion, risk perception, and behavioral responses. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the predictors of behavioral responses toward COVID-19.ResultsOn average, respondents had low levels of knowledge about COVID-19 (the overall correct response rate was 7.5%). Most respondents reported moderate to strong negative emotions towards the virus (3.47 out of 5). The average reported perceived chance of infection was 23.89%. For behavioral responses, respondents reported low frequencies of going out for activities (1.98 out of 4) and high frequencies of taking preventive measures (3.22 out of 4). Behavioral responses toward COVID-19 were found to be determined by cognitive and affective variables. Knowledge was negatively related to frequency of going out for activities (β = − 0.11, p < .001). Negative emotion (β = 0.34, p < .001), and risk perception (β = 0.05, p = .007) were positively associated with going out for activities. The explanatory power of affective variables (ΔR2 = 12.1%) was greater than cognitive variables (ΔR2 = 1.0%). For preventive behaviors, knowledge was positively associated with preventive behaviors (β = 0.22, p < .001). Negative emotion (β = − 0.28, p < .001) and risk perception (β = − 0.05, p = .002) were all negatively associated with preventive measures. Affective variables still showed stronger explanatory power (ΔR2 = 8%) than cognitive variables (ΔR2 = 4.4%) in predicting preventive behaviors.ConclusionsAfter the rising period of the COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China, cognitive and affective variables still played important roles in predicting behavioral responses. Compared with cognitive factors, affective factors demonstrated stronger explanatory power in predicting behavioral responses toward COVID-19. The findings may have implications for enhancing individual compliance with guidelines of adopting preventive behaviors in response to COVID-19.
Highlights
The global outbreak of COVID-19 has become an international public health crisis
Researchers identified a host of factors leading to effective preventive behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: risk perception, self-efficacy, negative emotion such as fear and sadness, knowledge, belief in conspiracy, socioeconomic status, etc. [5,6,7,8,9]
Most of the respondents had moderate to strong negative emotions towards the virus (3.47 out of 5)
Summary
The global outbreak of COVID-19 has become an international public health crisis. Specific antiviral treatments for COVID-19 are not yet available, and prevention is of particular importance to fight the virus. Previous studies have proposed various behavioral models to explain preventive behaviors at the individual level: the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Health Belief Model, the Social Cognitive Model, the extended parallel process model (EPPM), etc Based on these models, researchers identified a host of factors leading to effective preventive behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: risk perception, self-efficacy, negative emotion such as fear and sadness, knowledge, belief in conspiracy, socioeconomic status, etc. Knowledge and concerns about COVID-19, optimistic attitudes, perceived severity of the disease, political trust, and support for the government and health authorities were found to be significantly associated with a higher likelihood of taking preventive measures for COVID-19 [10,11,12] These factors can be roughly divided into two categories: cognition and affect. After the rising phase of the virus outbreak, the decreasing number of confirmed cases and mortality influenced people’s estimation about the severity and controllability of COVID-19 [13], and the determinants of preventive behaviors might present a different picture
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