Dataset Information

The Impact of Risk Perception on Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China.

ABSTRACT: Social distancing is one of the most recommended policies worldwide to reduce diffusion risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a risk management perspective, this study explores the mechanism of the risk perception effect on social distancing in order to improve individual physical distancing behavior. The data for this study were collected from 317 Chinese residents in May 2020 using an internet-based survey. A structural equation model (SEM) and hierarchical linear regression (HLR) analyses were conducted to examine all the considered research hypotheses. The results show that risk perception significantly affects perceived understanding and social distancing behaviors in a positive way. Perceived understanding has a significant positive correlation with social distancing behaviors and plays a mediating role in the relationship between risk perception and social distancing behaviors. Furthermore, safety climate positively predicts social distancing behaviors but lessens the positive correlation between risk perception and social distancing. Hence, these findings suggest effective management guidelines for successful implementation of the social distancing policies during the COVID-19 pandemic by emphasizing the critical role of risk perception, perceived understanding, and safety climate.

SUBMITTER: Xie K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7503995 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The Impact of Risk Perception on Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China.

Xie Kefan K Liang Benbu B Dulebenets Maxim A MA Mei Yanlan Y

International journal of environmental research and public health 20200827 17

Social distancing is one of the most recommended policies worldwide to reduce diffusion risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a risk management perspective, this study explores the mechanism of the risk perception effect on social distancing in order to improve individual physical distancing behavior. The data for this study were collected from 317 Chinese residents in May 2020 using an internet-based survey. A structural equation model (SEM) and hierarchical linear regression (HLR) analys ...[more]

PMID: 32867381

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background: The mitigation strategies employed against the COVID-19 pandemic have severe mental health consequences. In particular, as a result of the social distancing protocols, loneliness is likely to increase. This study investigates (a) potential risk and resilience factors for loneliness in the Norwegian population during the strict social distancing non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) implemented against the pandemic and (b) the associations between loneliness and psychopathology symptoms. Methods: A survey was disseminated online to the adult Norwegian population when strict social distancing measures had been implemented for 2 weeks. The resulting sample of 10,061 respondents was unproportionate in terms of gender and educational level and thus sensitivity analyses were conducted. The levels of loneliness were compared across demographic sub-groups, and regression analyses were conducted to identify potential risk and resilience factors for loneliness and associations between loneliness and psychopathology symptoms. Results: Among the stable factors, being single and having a psychiatric diagnosis were related to more loneliness with small effect sizes. Among the state risk factors, more rumination and worry in general were associated with stronger loneliness, showing a medium effect size. Among the coping behaviors examined, doing new things at home not done otherwise was negatively related to loneliness, with a small effect size. Loneliness was associated with both depression and anxiety with small effect sizes when all potential confounders and psychiatric diagnosis were controlled for. The relationship to depression was more marked than the relationship to anxiety. Conclusions: The findings suggest that singles and those with a psychiatric diagnosis were most affected by loneliness during the implementation of social distancing measures to impede the coronavirus. The results support the link between loneliness and depression and anxiety symptoms. The results of the analysis of potential risk and resilience factors point to intervention targets for reducing loneliness during pandemic crises.

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.

Project description:Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, many humorous videos on how to practice social distancing appeared on social media. However, the effect of using humor as a crisis communication strategy to persuade people to conform to social distancing rules is not known. Objective Drawing on the literature on humorous message framing and crisis communication, this research explores the effectiveness of a humorous message in communicating social distancing rules in two crisis severity phases (low vs. high severity) and also evaluates how humor affects individuals’ online and offline engagement intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A 2 (message framing: humorous vs. non-humorous) x 2 (crisis severity phase: low vs. high) between-subjects design experiment was conducted to test the research questions during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in China from January 30 to February 2, 2020. Results The results showed that the severity of the phase of a health crisis can significantly affect stakeholders’ online and offline responses toward the disease. More specifically, in a low severity phase, humor led to increased source likability for the message, and more online and offline engagement intentions. However, no differences between a humorous and non-humorous message in perceived risk were observed. Whereas, in a high severity crisis phase, humor reduced individuals’ offline engagement intentions and a decrease in perceived risk, no significant difference was found between a humorous and non-humorous message on source likeability. Conclusion Humor can motivate both more online engagement and offline protective action intention when the crisis severity phase is low, while when crisis severity soars, a non-humorous message should be more desirable. More specifically, using humor in communicating information about an infectious disease can enhance the spokesperson’s likeability in a low severity phase, and also helps to spread health information to a larger audience. While, the negative side of using humor in communicating an infectious disease appears in severe crisis phases, as it then decreased the public’s perception of risk, and triggers less protective actions. Going beyond previous research, this study recognized that crisis severity changes in different phases of the spread of infectious disease, thereby providing actionable strategy selections for crisis practitioners in a dynamic communication environment.

Dataset Information

The Impact of Risk Perception on Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China.

Publications

The Impact of Risk Perception on Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets