Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

May 3, 2021

Young Adults Underestimate How Well Peers Adhere to COVID-19 Preventive Behavioral Guidelines

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  • Young adult college students at the University of Washington (n = 539) reported strong adherence to most CDC COVID-19 preventive behavioral guidelines, including mask-wearing in public (97.5%) and cleaning high-touch surfaces (61.7%), but perceived significantly lower adherence among their peers for all 14 behaviors assessed, according to a survey conducted in September 2020. Participants perceived the lowest adherence by their peers to avoiding social gatherings such as those at friends’ houses (37.9%). Participants who felt that peers adhered more strongly to guidelines tended to self-report more adherence, while those who perceived peers’ adherence to be lower also reported lower adherence to guidelines. The study found that overall, young adults significantly underestimated the extent to which other, “typical” young adults adhered to guidelines.

Graupensperger et al. (May 2021). Young Adults Underestimate How Well Peers Adhere to COVID-19 Preventive Behavioral Guidelines. The Journal of Primary Prevention. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-021-00633-4