TY - JOUR
T1 - A multi-national test on self-reported compliance with COVID-19 public health measures
T2 - The role of individual age and gender demographics and countries’ developmental status
AU - Lin, Tian
AU - Harris, Elizabeth A.
AU - Heemskerk, Amber
AU - Van Bavel, Jay J.
AU - Ebner, Natalie C.
N1 - Funding Information:
J.V. Bavel was supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation (# 61378 ); T. Lin, A. Heemskerk, and N.C. Ebner were supported by NIH / NIA grant 1R01AG057764 ; E. Harris was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada ( 752-2018-0213 ). This report uses data from Van Bavel et al. (2020; https://psyarxiv.com/ydt95/ for details).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - Rationale/objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought far-reaching consequences on individual and societal levels. Social distancing and physical hygiene constitute effective public health measures to limit the spread of the virus. This study investigated age and gender demographics, in tandem with national levels of human development, as crucial factors influencing self-reported compliance with COVID-19-related public health measures. Methods: The present study leveraged a large multi-national sample that ranged across the adult lifespan (18–100 years) and comprised 45,772 women and men from 66 countries/territories. Data were collected in Spring (2020) during the earlier phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-reports of compliance with two public health measures (spatial distancing and physical hygiene) were assessed via online survey. Human Development Index (HDI), developed by the United Nations Development Program, was used as a proxy of a country's achievement in key dimensions of human development. Results: Older age, female gender, and lower HDI were independently associated with greater self-reported compliance. A significant three-way interaction further revealed that self-reported compliance was lowest in young males from well-developed countries, while highest among females across all ages from less-developed countries. Conclusion: The study offers an integration of individual-level and country-level demographic predictors of self-reported compliance and allows for robust testing in a large multi-national adult lifespan sample for enhanced generalizability. The results highlight the potential of data-driven, tailored (i.e., towards specific demographics, countries) health campaigns and public policies in the fight against a global pandemic.
AB - Rationale/objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought far-reaching consequences on individual and societal levels. Social distancing and physical hygiene constitute effective public health measures to limit the spread of the virus. This study investigated age and gender demographics, in tandem with national levels of human development, as crucial factors influencing self-reported compliance with COVID-19-related public health measures. Methods: The present study leveraged a large multi-national sample that ranged across the adult lifespan (18–100 years) and comprised 45,772 women and men from 66 countries/territories. Data were collected in Spring (2020) during the earlier phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-reports of compliance with two public health measures (spatial distancing and physical hygiene) were assessed via online survey. Human Development Index (HDI), developed by the United Nations Development Program, was used as a proxy of a country's achievement in key dimensions of human development. Results: Older age, female gender, and lower HDI were independently associated with greater self-reported compliance. A significant three-way interaction further revealed that self-reported compliance was lowest in young males from well-developed countries, while highest among females across all ages from less-developed countries. Conclusion: The study offers an integration of individual-level and country-level demographic predictors of self-reported compliance and allows for robust testing in a large multi-national adult lifespan sample for enhanced generalizability. The results highlight the potential of data-driven, tailored (i.e., towards specific demographics, countries) health campaigns and public policies in the fight against a global pandemic.
KW - Age
KW - COVID-19
KW - Compliance
KW - Gender
KW - Human development index
KW - Public health measures
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U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114335
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114335
M3 - Article
C2 - 34450390
AN - SCOPUS:85113370142
SN - 0277-9536
VL - 286
JO - Social Science and Medicine
JF - Social Science and Medicine
M1 - 114335
ER -