Abstract
This study aimed to determine the proportion of individuals who voluntarily reduced interaction with their family members, friends, and colleagues or classmates to avoid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and the associations of reduced social interaction with perceived social support during the COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan. Moreover, the related factors of voluntary reduction of social interaction were examined. We recruited participants via a Facebook advertisement. We determined the reduced social interaction, perceived social support, cognitive and affective constructs of health belief and demographic characteristics among 1954 respondents (1305 women and 649 men; mean age: 37.9 years with standard deviation 10.8 years). In total, 38.1% of respondents voluntarily reduced their social interaction with friends to avoid COVID-19 infection, 36.1% voluntarily reduced their interaction with colleagues or classmates, and 11.1% voluntarily reduced interaction with family members. Respondents who voluntarily reduced interaction with other people reported lower perceived social support than those who did not voluntarily reduce interaction. Respondents who were older and had a higher level of worry regarding contracting COVID-19 were more likely to voluntarily reduce interaction with family members, friends, and colleagues or classmates to avoid COVID-19 infection than respondents who were younger and had a lower level of worry regarding contracting COVID-19, respectively. The present study revealed that despite strict social distancing measures not being implemented in Taiwan, more than one-third of respondents voluntarily reduced their interaction with friends and colleagues or classmates. The general public should be encouraged to maintain social contacts through appropriately distanced in-person visits and telecommunication.
Highlights
The results indicated that 38.1% of respondents voluntarily reduced their social interaction with friends to avoid COVID-19 infection, 36.1% voluntarily reduced their interaction with colleagues or classmates, and 11.1% voluntarily reduced interaction with family members; 23.2% and 9.3% of respondents voluntarily reduced two and three categories of social interaction, respectively
The present study revealed that despite strict social distancing measures not being implemented in Taiwan, more than one-third of respondents voluntarily reduced their interaction with friends and colleagues or classmates
It is impossible to verify the identity of the respondents and their responses in the survey. It needs to be clarified by a face-to-face interview study with examining the test-retest reliability. This Facebook-based online study on the general public found that 38.1%, 36.1% and 11.1% of respondents voluntarily reduced interaction with their friends, colleagues or classmates, and family members to avoid COVID-19 infection, respectively, despite strict social distancing measures not being implemented in Taiwan
Summary
Reduction of Social Interaction and Social Support during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had an enormous impact on numerous dimensions of human lives, including health [1,2,3], work [4], education [5], leisure activities [6], and economic action [7]. The change in social interaction is an especially obvious and far-reaching effect of the. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 8039; doi:10.3390/ijerph17218039 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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