Social Distancing as a Health Behavior: County-Level Movement in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Associated with Conventional Health Behaviors.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Social distancing-when people limit close contact with others outside their household-is a primary intervention available to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The importance of social distancing is unlikely to change until effective treatments or vaccines become widely available. However, relatively little is known about how best to promote social distancing. Applying knowledge from social and behavioral research on conventional health behaviors (e.g., smoking, physical activity) to support public health efforts and research on social distancing is promising, but empirical evidence supporting this approach is needed.

Purpose

We examined whether one type of social distancing behavior-reduced movement outside the home-was associated with conventional health behaviors.

SUBMITTER: Bourassa KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7337613 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature