December 21, 2020

How Information Sources, Risk Perception, and Efficacy Appraisal Predicted Engagement in Protective Behaviors Against COVID-19: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey in China (Preprint)

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Public Health Policy and Practice

Keywords (Tags): public health

[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A six-wave, repeated cross-sectional survey (N = 1942) conducted in six major cities in China from February to April found that reliance on expert sources for information on COVID-19 was not a major factor motivating protective actions (staying at home, wearing a facemask, and washing hands) until wave 3, and the negative effect of inexpert sources on these actions was limited to wave 2. In addition, perceived severity of COVID-19 infection exhibited a stronger effect on these behaviors than perceived susceptibility. The authors suggest that engagement in protective behaviors may have been driven by executive orders. 

Rui et al. (Dec 18, 2020). How Information Sources, Risk Perception, and Efficacy Appraisal Predicted Engagement in Protective Behaviors Against COVID-19: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey in China (Preprint). JMIR Human Factors. https://doi.org/10.2196/23232