Risk perceptions and health behaviors as COVID-19 emerged in the United States: Results from a probability-based nationally representative sample.

ABSTRACT: Understanding psychosocial correlates of engaging in health-protective behaviors during an infectious disease outbreak can inform targeted intervention strategies. We surveyed a national probability-based sample of 6,514 Americans, with three separate, consecutive representative cohorts between March 18, 2020 and April 18, 2020, as the U.S. COVID-19 epidemic began. Americans adopted many health-protective behaviors (e.g., hand hygiene, social distancing) early, performing them, on average, "most of the time," with frequency increasing over time. In covariate-adjusted models, self-reported female gender (β = .16, p < .001), older age (β = .13, p < .001), more COVID-related secondary stressors (β = .17, p < .001), and greater perceptions of the risks of catching (β = .07, p = .001) and dying

SUBMITTER: Garfin DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9707407 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature