Abstract
Background: Past research suggests that knowledge supports- but strong illness expectations thwart- adoption of protective behaviors (e.g., handwashing). Strong illness expectations may place COVID-19 essential workers at risk. It is unclear, however, whether knowledge can moderate the negative effects of pessimistic illness expectations on protective behaviors. We test COVID-19 knowledge as a moderator of the effects of (1) pessimistic illness expectations and (2) essential worker status on adherence to protective behaviors.Methods: Participants (n = 350) completed measures of knowledge, illness expectations, and protective behaviors. We used chi-square tests to examine associations between variables and logistic regressions to test the moderation models predicting adherence (low, high) while controlling for demographics.Results: Knowledge, illness expectations, and adherence were significantly associated with each other (p < 0.05). Essential workers had stronger illness expectations and lower knowledge than did non-essential workers (p < 0.001). Logistic regressions showed a non-significant Worker Status × Knowledge interaction (p = 0.59) but a significant Knowledge × Illness Expectations interaction (p < 0.05) indicating that those with strong illness expectations and low knowledge were disproportionately at risk of failing to adhere to recommended behaviors.Conclusions: Knowledge promotes protective behaviors by buffering the negative effects of pessimistic illness expectations. Essential workers are more likely to have low levels of knowledge with strong illness expectations, suggesting that educational policies may be warranted.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic is having devastating effects on human health and well-being and will likely continue to do so through its negative impact on the economy and poverty [1]
non-pharmaceuticalImportance of Understanding COVID-19 interventions (NPIs) were not assessed in that study, the findings suggest that providing knowledge can reduce maladaptive beliefs
Because we were interested in pessimistic illness expectations, we considered high scores on either or both items to indicate strong illness expectations and low scores on both items to indicate weak expectations
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic is having devastating effects on human health and well-being and will likely continue to do so through its negative impact on the economy and poverty [1]. Importance of Understanding COVID-19 interventions (NPIs), such as social distancing and handwashing, are critical to limiting the spread of infectious diseases [2,3,4]. Essential workers, those who provide critical goods and services during the pandemic, often occupy low-wage positions in public transportation, food production, retail of food and health supplies, and healthcare. Strong illness expectations may place COVID-19 essential workers at risk It is unclear, whether knowledge can moderate the negative effects of pessimistic illness expectations on protective behaviors. We test COVID-19 knowledge as a moderator of the effects of [1] pessimistic illness expectations and [2] essential worker status on adherence to protective behaviors
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