Individual differences in COVID-19 mitigation behaviors: The roles of age, gender, psychological state, and financial status

Abstract

The present study examined individual characteristics potentially associated with changes in mitigation behaviors (social distancing and hygiene) recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Analysis of online survey responses from 361 adults, ages 20–78, with US IP addresses, identified significant correlates of adaptive behavioral changes, with implications for preventive strategies and mental health needs. The extent to which individuals changed their mitigation behaviors was unrelated to self-rated health or concern regarding the personal effects of COVID-19 but was related to concern regarding the effects of the pandemic on others. Thus, mitigation behaviors do not appear to be primarily motivated by self-protection. Importantly, adaptive changes in mitigation behaviors increased with age. However, these changes, particularly those related to the frequency of close proximity encounters, appear to be due to age-related decreases in anxiety and depression. Taken together, the present results argue against over-reliance on ‘fear appeals’ in public health messages as they may increase anxiety and depression. Instead, the present findings argue for more appeals to people’s concern for others to motivate mitigation as well as indicating an immediate need to address individual mental health concerns for the sake of society as a whole.

Differential effects of psychological distress on mitigation and vaccination: A public health conundrum

“…In a previous study conducted prior to the development of effective vaccines against the COVID-19 (Myerson et al, 2021), we observed that psychological distress appeared to interfere with CDC-recommended mitigation behaviors, particularly those that Frontiers in Psychology 09 frontiersin.org could be thought of as "socially-distancing. " We hypothesized that such behaviors could exacerbate the feelings of social isolation that people might be experiencing, and the more distressed they were, the more likely they were to avoid making things worse.…”

“…More specifically, the increase in psychological distress associated with the pandemic appears to have been greater in younger adults than in older adults ( Breslau et al, 2021 ), contrary to what one might have expected given the age-related differences in the personal consequences of COVID-19 infection ( Williamson et al, 2020 ; Bosman et al, 2021 ; Lo et al, 2021 ). Appropriately enough, older adults also appear to be more likely to engage in CDC-recommended mitigation behaviors (e.g., social distancing) despite their lower levels of distress ( Masters et al, 2020 ; Myerson et al, 2021 ). The possibility that infection could have more severe consequences for older adults does not appear to explain their mitigation behavior.…”

“…The possibility that infection could have more severe consequences for older adults does not appear to explain their mitigation behavior. Instead, people’s tendency to engage in such behavior appears to be independent not only of their concern regarding personal consequences of the pandemic, but also of their self-reported health, which is poorer in older adults, increasing their risk that an infection would have severe consequences ( Myerson et al, 2021 ).…”

Change in covid-19 risk over time following vaccination with CoronaVac: test negative case-control study

“…Our estimates in the older population, who also contributed most to the estimates of waning against severe disease, are likely less affected by bias owing to lower incidence in these age groups, as suggested by serologic data, 28 and better adherence to risk mitigation, as observed in other contexts. 29 30 …”

Political Partisanship and Trust in Government Predict Popular Support for COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates for Various Professions and Demographic Groups: A Research Note

“…Trust in government and partisan self-identification are the independent variables of primary interest. Several control variables that have been found to shape attitudes on COVID-19 mitigation were also included: evangelical identity, partisan self-identification, age, gender, education, and COVID-19 vaccination status ( Adams et al, 2021 ; Corcoran et al, 2021 ; DeMora et al, 2021 ; Myerson et al, 2021 ; Viskupic et al, 2022 ). The survey also included an attention check question, which 98.3% participants answered correctly.…”