Motivational factors were more important than perceived risk or optimism for compliance to infection control measures in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic

Sætrevik, Bjørn; Bjørkheim, Sebastian

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0274812

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Under the theme of "Being responsible", the secondorder construct of "Caring for others" were mentioned by several participants. This finding may correspond to a Norwegian cross-sectional survey that found that believing the infection control measures could protect others was an important determinant for following the measures (Saetrevik & Bjørkheim, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

A qualitative study of the psychological effects of quarantine as an infection control measure

Eid¹,

Bøhn²,

Guderud³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The aim of this study was to explore the psychological effects of being placed in quarantine during the early stage of the COVID-19 lockdown in Norway. We wanted to examine the effects of individual stress, coping strategies, and access to social support from family and friends. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 19 Norwegian citizens between 21-64 years who were quarantined during the first four weeks of the pandemic in March-April 2020. Four main themes emerged in the analysis: a) Being responsible, in terms of addressing the fear of being infected and infecting others, b) The stress of the situation, in terms of highlighting worries, loss and loneliness, c) Ways of coping, in terms of elaborating on cognitive, behavioral, and affective strategies to adapt to the quarantine, and d) Social support and gratitude, in terms of appreciating interpersonal relations and the social context of the quarantine situation. The study contributes to our understanding of how individual differences in stress and coping influenced the psychological outcomes of quarantine in the first weeks of the pandemic. These findings may inform health services and policy for future use of quarantine as an infection control measure.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

A qualitative study of the psychological effects of quarantine as an infection control measure

Eid¹,

Bøhn²,

Guderud³

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…All three samples reported that they had seen themselves to be less at risk for infection and disease than for those close to them and for the population in general. This indicates a previously observed phenomenon sometimes referred to as "optimism bias" (Saetrevik & Bjørkheim, 2022;Sharot, 2011).…”

Section: Psychological Mechanisms For Risksupporting

confidence: 69%

“…In a pandemic setting, this may lead to seeing the likelihood of being infected as lower for oneself than for others, or expecting to have milder symptoms that others if one is infected. Studies on the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that people tend to ascribe a higher risk for others compared to themselves (Pascual-Leone et al, 2021;Saetrevik & Bjørkheim, 2022;Salgado & Berntsen, 2021).…”

Section: Everyday Decision-making In the Earlymentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived infection risk, exposure, and compliance among the first COVID-19 patients

Sætrevik,

Cox,

Linchhausen

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The public varied in how aware they were of the threat and the need for taking precautions in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. We may expect that those who were infected at this stage had lower awareness compared to other types of patients and compared to the general population. We measured perceived risk of infection, exposure to potentially infectious situations and compliance to infection control measures among the early COVID-19 patients in Norway (n = 88). Their responses were compared to responses from emergency room patients with non-pulmonary complaints (n = 75) and to responses from a large representative sample (n = 4,083). Preregistered analyses showed that both patient groups remembered thinking about the risk as lower than what was reported by the representative sample at the time, but there were only minor differences between the two patient groups. Patients in the COVID-19 sample were more frequently in contact with infected people than the other patients. More of the COVID-19 patients had been abroad immediately before the outbreak. The COVID-19 patients remembered having complied less to the infection control measures than the representative sample stated at the time. Although the COVID-19 patients in general stated that they had complied less than other patients, they did not differ on more specific questions about compliance. Potential memory artefacts should be taken into account when interpreting the results.

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A qualitative study of the psychological effects of quarantine as an infection control measure in Norway

Eid,

Bøhn,

Guderud

et al. 2024

Curr Psychol

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This study explores the psychological reactions to being placed in quarantine during the early stage (March and April 2020) of the COVID-19 lockdown in Norway. We interviewed a sample of nineteen Norwegian citizens aged 21–64 years who were quarantined for 14 days in the early period of the pandemic before testing and vaccination were available to the general population. A semi-structured interview guide was used to conduct in-depth interviews about stress, coping, and adaptation to quarantine. A thematic analysis approach was used. Four main themes emerged in the interviews: (a) Being responsible, in terms of addressing the fear of being infected and infecting others, (b) The stress of the situation, in terms of highlighting worries, loss and loneliness, (c) Ways of coping, in terms of elaborating on cognitive, behavioral, and affective strategies to adapt to the quarantine, and (d) Social support and gratitude, in terms of appreciating interpersonal relations and the social context of the quarantine situation. The study contributes to our understanding of how differences in stress, appraisal, and coping may influence adaptation to a radically changed living condition in the early stage of the pandemic. These findings may inform health service providers and promote public health advise to support coping and resilient response in future health crises.

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Motivational factors were more important than perceived risk or optimism for compliance to infection control measures in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 3 publications

References 70 publications

A qualitative study of the psychological effects of quarantine as an infection control measure

A qualitative study of the psychological effects of quarantine as an infection control measure

Perceived infection risk, exposure, and compliance among the first COVID-19 patients

A qualitative study of the psychological effects of quarantine as an infection control measure in Norway

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