Individual differences in behavioral reactions to H1N1 during a later stage of the epidemic

Abstract

Previous studies regarding individuals' behavioral reactions to the H1N1 epidemic have been conducted nearly exclusively on the pre-pandemic phase of the epidemic or when the vaccine was not available. The prevalence and correlates of behavioral reactions to the H1N1 epidemic in Turkey were investigated by surveying 1045 respondents. The results indicate that behavioral responses can be divided into three classifications: recommended protective behaviors, avoidance behaviors, and ineffective behaviors. The frequency of recommended behaviors was higher than other behaviors, and respondents perceived these behaviors to be more effective. Recommended behaviors were predicted by the following factors: age, being female and married, the individual's beliefs in the effectiveness of the behavior, the perception that one's own behavior influences the infection risk, and the personality factors "Activity" and "Impulsive Sensation Seeking." Avoidance behaviors were predicted by the following factors: marital status, having small children, beliefs in the effectiveness of the behavior, mistrust of the government's ability to manage the epidemic, State Anxiety, and "Impulsive Sensation Seeking." Ineffective behaviors were predicted by the following factors: lower socio-economic status, marital status, the presence of chronic illness, the perceived effectiveness of the behavior, and State Anxiety. This study demonstrates that different types of behavioral reactions to the epidemic have different contributing factors and that these differences should be taken into account in public health interventions.

Knowledge, Socio-cognitive Perceptions and the Practice of Hand Hygiene and Social Distancing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study of UK University Students

“…The I-Change model has exibility to support wider factors including predisposing factors, which in this study, allowed inclusion of habit and time factors from Aunger's classi cation for handwashing [18], and trust which was present in the WHO survey and appears in other studies [27,30]. Both habit and time factor statement responses showed variability in this sample although were skewed towards agreement.…”

“…The Integrated-Change (I-Change) model integrates a range of socio-cognitive theories to explain behavioural changes by looking at pre-motivational factors such as knowledge and risk perception, as well as motivational factors such as attitude, social norms and self-e cacy [29]. It also includes predisposing factors which can represent a wide range of behavioural, psychological, biological and environmental factors, and hence can provided a comprehensive framework for investigating a wide variety of potential determinants, including habit, time factors [18] and trust [30]. Therefore, the current study used I-Change as a theoretical framework.…”

What have we learned about communication inequalities during the H1N1 pandemic: a systematic review of the literature

“…Compliance with social distancing and hygiene measures (i.e. hand washing), was found to be greater in those of older age, in parents of children aged 18 or less, in women compared to men, and in people with higher SEP [18,35,38,39,41,42,45-48]. …”

The Role of Sociodemographic and Psychological Variables on Risk Perception of the Flu

“…Furthermore, openness predicts healthy outcomes. In this regard, a study (Gaygısız, Gaygisiz, Ozkan, & Lajunen, 2012) on the behavioral reactions to the A/H1N1 virus during the later stage of the epidemic showed that personality factors moderately influenced the behavioral responses. The belief of the individuals in the effectiveness of their behavior was the primary factor that influenced the behavioral responses.…”