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People at Risk of Influenza Pandemics: The Evolution of Perception and Behavior.

ABSTRACT: Influenza pandemics can severely impact human health and society. Understanding public perception and behavior toward influenza pandemics is important for minimizing the effects of such events. Public perception and behavior are expected to change over the course of an influenza pandemic, but this idea has received little attention in previous studies. Our study aimed to understand the dynamics of public perception and behavior over the course of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Three consecutive cross-sectional surveys were administered among Beijing residents with random-digit dialing techniques in March 2008 and August and November 2009. Effective samples of 507, 508 and 1006 respondents were interviewed in each of the three surveys, respectively. The mean scores of risk perception were low to moderate across the three surveys. The perceived risk of infection of self was significantly lower than that of the community, revealing an optimistic bias. Longitudinally, the perceived risk of contracting H1N1 increased, whereas the perceived risk of being unable to obtain medicine and medical care once influenza permeated the community first increased and then decreased. Responsive actions toward influenza varied. Most respondents took actions that required little extra effort, such as ventilating rooms; these actions did not change over time. Comparatively, a smaller number of respondents took actions for coping with influenza, such as vaccination; however, these actions were taken by an increasing number of respondents over time. The association between risk perception and behavior was unstable. Positive, insignificant, and negative associations were obtained in the three surveys. In conclusion, the evolving patterns of risk perception and responsive behavior over the course of an influenza pandemic are sensitive to how risk and behavior are defined and scoped.

SUBMITTER: Xu J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4682843 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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People at Risk of Influenza Pandemics: The Evolution of Perception and Behavior.

Xu Jianhua J Peng Zongchao Z

PloS one 20151214 12

Influenza pandemics can severely impact human health and society. Understanding public perception and behavior toward influenza pandemics is important for minimizing the effects of such events. Public perception and behavior are expected to change over the course of an influenza pandemic, but this idea has received little attention in previous studies. Our study aimed to understand the dynamics of public perception and behavior over the course of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Three consecuti ...[more]

PMID: 26658371

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Project description:Introductionprior studies on the association between the intensity of and motives for vaping e-cigarettes have highlighted the psychological dynamics of motivational changes, but less about how vaping motives may shift as a function of risk perceptions exacerbated by unanticipated events. This study frames the COVID-19 pandemic as an exacerbating threat to pulmonary health, and tests how e-cigarette users' risk perceptions of COVID-19 are related to different motives for vaping and ultimately the intensity of e-cigarette use.Methodsan online survey of e-cigarette users in the U.S. (n=562) was conducted during April 2020 when much of the U.S. was under "lockdown" conditions. We distinguished three types of vaping motives (health, socialization, and dependence) and established the classification with confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modeling was conducted for path analyses and mediation tests.Resultsall three vaping motives were significantly associated with greater use intensity. A heightened risk perception of e-cigarette users' vulnerability to COVID-19 was inversely associated with use intensity (-.18, p<.01) and health motives for vaping (-.27, p<.001), but not associated with socialization and dependence motivations. Health motives for vaping mediated 35% of the association between COVID-19 risk perceptions and use intensity.Conclusionsour findings indicate that risk perceptions of exacerbated threats may reduce e-cigarette use directly, and also indirectly through shifting certain types of motivations for vaping. Beyond elucidating the relational dynamics between vaping psychology and health risks, these results also indicate health professionals may leverage the pandemic to promote nicotine cessation or reduced use.ImplicationLittle is known about how vaping motives shift after unanticipated events such as pandemics. This study contributes to knowledge of how the use of e-cigarettes is motivated by different dimensions of rationales and exogenous risks. Exploiting the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found risk perceptions are associated with the intensity of e-cigarette use indirectly specifically through health motivations. Risk perceptions are not associated with socialization and dependence motives for vaping.

Dataset Information

People at Risk of Influenza Pandemics: The Evolution of Perception and Behavior.

Publications

People at Risk of Influenza Pandemics: The Evolution of Perception and Behavior.

Similar Datasets

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