Dataset Information

Adherence to social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy: The role of autonomous motivation and defiance.

ABSTRACT: To maintain social distancing in the long term, in the current COVID-19 scenario, people's motivation must be strong and of high quality. Many governments adopted measures enforcing social distancing. Enforcement, however, can produce feelings of defiance and backfiring effects. The present work aims at investigating the relationship between autonomous motivation and intentions to maintain social distancing, through adherence to recommendations and feelings of defiance. A sample of 502 Italian residents, from different parts of Italy, completed an online survey assessing their present behavior, levels of autonomous motivation and feelings of defiance, as well as intentions to observe social distancing in the short and long term. Results support the hypotheses that autonomous motivation is related to stronger intentions to maintain social distancing, particularly in the long term, and that feelings of defiance mediate this relationship. These results underline importance of promoting understanding and internalizing reasons for social distancing, beyond norms.

SUBMITTER: Magrin ME

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9982415 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Adherence to social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy: The role of autonomous motivation and defiance.

Magrin Maria Elena ME Guarischi Marta M Liga Francesca F Nicolotti Matilde M Pielich Ilenia I

Journal of health psychology 20220505 3

To maintain social distancing in the long term, in the current COVID-19 scenario, people's motivation must be strong and of high quality. Many governments adopted measures enforcing social distancing. Enforcement, however, can produce feelings of defiance and backfiring effects. The present work aims at investigating the relationship between autonomous motivation and intentions to maintain social distancing, through adherence to recommendations and feelings of defiance. A sample of 502 Italian r ...[more]

PMID: 35510615

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Project description:BackgroundOn March 23, 2020, the government of the United Kingdom told the British people to stay home, an unprecedented request designed to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus and stop the National Health Service from being overwhelmed.MethodsThis study undertook a cross-sectional design to survey a convenience sample of 681 residents of North London on their social distancing (SD) behaviours, demographics, housing situation, politics, psychology and social support using an online questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to measure the associations between these explanatory factors and non-adherence to all SD rules and intentional non-adherence to SD rules.ResultsThe vast majority (92.8%) of participants did not adhere to all SD rules and nearly half (48.6%) engaged in intentional non-adherence of rules. The odds of not adhering to all SD rules increased if a participant was not identified as highly vulnerable to COVID-19 [OR = 4.5], had lower control over others' distancing [OR = .724], had lower control over responsibilities for which coming into contact with others was unavoidable [OR = .642], and if SD behaviours were reported after lockdown was first relaxed [OR = .261]. The odds of intentionally not adhering to SD rules increased if a participant had a lower intention to socially distance [OR = .468], had lower control over others' distancing [OR = .829], had a doctoral degree compared to a master's degree [OR = .332], a professional qualification [OR = .307], a bachelor's degree [OR = .361] or work-related qualification [OR = .174], voted for the UK Government compared to not voting for the Government [OR = .461], perceived higher normative pressure from neighbours [OR = 1.121] and had greater support from friends [OR = 1.465].ConclusionsNon-adherence to all SD rules had a stronger association with vulnerability to COVID-19 and control over SD, whereas intentional non-adherence had a stronger association with intention and anti-social psychological factors. It is recommended that people living in high-risk environments, such as those living in houses of multiple occupancy, should be specially supported when asked to stay at home, and public health messaging should emphasise shared responsibility and public consciousness.

Project description:BackgroundImplementing and lifting social distancing (LSD) is an urgent global issue during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly when the travel ban is lifted to revive international businesses and economies. However, when and whether LSD can be considered is subject to the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the recovery rate, and the case-fatality rate. It is imperative to provide real-time assessment of three factors to guide LSD.ObjectiveA simple LSD index was developed for health decision makers to do real-time assessment of COVID-19 at the global, country, region, and community level.MethodsData on the retrospective cohort of 186 countries with three factors were retrieved from a publicly available repository from January to early July. A simple index for guiding LSD was measured by the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases and recoveries, and the case-fatality rate was envisaged. If the LSD index was less than 1, LSD can be considered. The dynamic changes of the COVID-19 pandemic were evaluated to assess whether and when health decision makers allowed for LSD and when to reimplement social distancing after resurgences of the epidemic.ResultsAfter large-scale outbreaks in a few countries before mid-March (prepandemic phase), the global weekly LSD index peaked at 4.27 in March and lasted until mid-June (pandemic phase), during which most countries were affected and needed to take various social distancing measures. Since, the value of LSD has gradually declined to 0.99 on July 5 (postpandemic phase), at which 64.7% (120/186) of countries and regions had an LSD<1 with the decile between 0 and 1 to refine risk stratification by countries. The LSD index decreased to 1 in about 115 days. In addition, we present the results of dynamic changes of the LSD index for the world and for each country and region with different time windows from January to July 5. The results of the LSD index on the resurgence of the COVID-19 epidemic in certain regions and validation by other emerging infectious diseases are presented.ConclusionsThis simple LSD index provides a quantitative assessment of whether and when to ease or implement social distancing to provide advice for health decision makers and travelers.

Dataset Information

Adherence to social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy: The role of autonomous motivation and defiance.

Publications

Adherence to social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy: The role of autonomous motivation and defiance.

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