Abstract
BackgroundThe COVID-19 outbreak is a global pandemic, during which the community preventive and protective behaviors play a crucial role in the containment and control of infection. This study was designed to contribute to the existing knowledge on how risk communication (RC) and risk perception (RP) affect protective and preventive behaviors (PPB) during the COVID-19 outbreak.MethodsThe required data were extracted from a national online survey of Iranian adults aged 15 and older during March 15–19, 2020 (n=3213). Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling.ResultsThe study findings reveal that RC has direct and indirect positive effects on PB. Furthermore, this study also provides new evidence indicating that RP mediates the relationship between RC and PB and there is a two-way relationship between RC and RP. These interactions may have impact on risk communication strategies which should be adopted during this pandemic.ConclusionThe study findings have remarkable implications for informing future communications as well as interventions during this ongoing outbreak and subsequent national risk events.
Highlights
The COVID-19 outbreak is a global pandemic, during which the community preventive and protective behaviors play a crucial role in the containment and control of infection
This study contributes to our knowledge of how the risk communication affects protective and preventive behaviors during the global epidemic of the COVID-19
The findings of this study provide a comprehensive understanding of how people shape their perceptions of risk with regard to risk communication that leads to behavioral intentions in public health risk situations
Summary
The COVID-19 outbreak is a global pandemic, during which the community preventive and protective behaviors play a crucial role in the containment and control of infection. In spite of strict universal control and quarantine attempts, the outspread of COVID-19 is continuously rising [2]. This pandemic is affecting all sectors of societies, even for those who were not affected by the virus directly [3]. At the commencement of the outbreak, the country immediately delivered some measures to prevent spread of the COVID-19 such as closing all educational as well as recreational centers and nonemergency retailers. These measures did not well stop spreading the virus. Numerous lockdowns and stricter restrictions were imposed [8, 10]
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