Psychological factors shaping public responses to COVID-19 digital contact tracing technologies in Germany

Kozyreva, Anastasia; Lorenz-Spreen, Philipp; Lewandowsky, Stephan; Garrett, Paul Michael; Herzog, Stefan M.; Pachur, Thorsten; Hertwig, Ralph

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-98249-5

Cited by 30 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(47 reference statements)

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“…Considering the lower motivation that participants placed on CTA Immuni compared with the vaccine, data showed that high trust in politics and science was the main determinant of the intention to download the CTA Immuni. This finding is in line with literature on CTAs, as trust in the state appeared to be, among others, a factor positively associated with the willingness to download a CTA, trust that refers to the government’s ability to ensure people’s privacy and manage access to data 17 , 21 , 49 . In addition, considering the intention to get vaccinated, previous studies showed that vaccine acceptance is positively affected by trust in the healthcare system, government, and public health researchers 32 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Joint analysis of the intention to vaccinate and to use contact tracing app during the COVID-19 pandemic

Caserotti

Girardi

Tasso

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Pharmacological and non-pharmacological measures will overlap for a period after the onset of the pandemic, playing a strong role in virus containment. We explored which factors influence the likelihood to adopt two different preventive measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. An online snowball sampling (May–June 2020) collected a total of 448 questionnaires in Italy. A Bayesian bivariate Gaussian regression model jointly investigated the willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and to download the national contact tracing app. A mixed-effects cumulative logistic model explored which factors affected the motivation to adopt one of the two preventive measures. Despite both COVID-19 vaccines and tracing apps being indispensable tools to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2, our results suggest that adherence to the vaccine or to the national contact tracing app is not predicted by the same factors. Therefore, public communication on these measures needs to take in consideration not only the perceived risk associated with COVID-19, but also the trust people place in politics and science, their concerns and doubts about vaccinations, and their employment status. Further, the results suggest that the motivation to comply with these measurements was predominantly to protect others rather than self-protection.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Joint analysis of the intention to vaccinate and to use contact tracing app during the COVID-19 pandemic

Caserotti

Girardi

Tasso

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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“…Each participant provided informed consent and demographic information before using a Likert scale to report on their perceptions and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants then read one of three hypothetical scenarios describing a different type of mobile phone COVID-19 contact-tracing system—telecommunication tracking, a government app, or the Apple/Google exposure notification system—that would alert the user if they had contact with an infected individual, before completing a comprehension check and answering questions about these scenarios (for methods and results on these items by country, see [ 23 , 25 - 27 ]; note that these studies do not model immunity passport items). Finally, participants read a description of immunity passports before responding to items examining their attitudes toward immunity passports and their neoliberal worldviews.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Papers Please - Predictive Factors of National and International Attitudes Toward Immunity and Vaccination Passports: Online Representative Surveys

Garrett¹,

White²,

Dennis³

et al. 2022

JMIR Public Health Surveill

Self Cite

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Background In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, countries are introducing digital passports that allow citizens to return to normal activities if they were previously infected with (immunity passport) or vaccinated against (vaccination passport) SARS-CoV-2. To be effective, policy decision-makers must know whether these passports will be widely accepted by the public and under what conditions. This study focuses attention on immunity passports, as these may prove useful in countries both with and without an existing COVID-19 vaccination program; however, our general findings also extend to vaccination passports. Objective We aimed to assess attitudes toward the introduction of immunity passports in six countries, and determine what social, personal, and contextual factors predicted their support. Methods We collected 13,678 participants through online representative sampling across six countries—Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom—during April to May of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and assessed attitudes and support for the introduction of immunity passports. Results Immunity passport support was moderate to low, being the highest in Germany (775/1507 participants, 51.43%) and the United Kingdom (759/1484, 51.15%); followed by Taiwan (2841/5989, 47.44%), Australia (963/2086, 46.16%), and Spain (693/1491, 46.48%); and was the lowest in Japan (241/1081, 22.94%). Bayesian generalized linear mixed effects modeling was used to assess predictive factors for immunity passport support across countries. International results showed neoliberal worldviews (odds ratio [OR] 1.17, 95% CI 1.13-1.22), personal concern (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.00-1.16), perceived virus severity (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01-1.14), the fairness of immunity passports (OR 2.51, 95% CI 2.36-2.66), liking immunity passports (OR 2.77, 95% CI 2.61-2.94), and a willingness to become infected to gain an immunity passport (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.51-1.68) were all predictive factors of immunity passport support. By contrast, gender (woman; OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.82-0.98), immunity passport concern (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.57-0.65), and risk of harm to society (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.67-0.76) predicted a decrease in support for immunity passports. Minor differences in predictive factors were found between countries and results were modeled separately to provide national accounts of these data. Conclusions Our research suggests that support for immunity passports is predicted by the personal benefits and societal risks they confer. These findings generalized across six countries and may also prove informative for the introduction of vaccination passports, helping policymakers to introduce effective COVID-19 passport policies in these six countries and around the world.

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“…A modelling study showed that this app averted about one case per index case willing to send the notification to their contacts [ 39 ]. The percentage of the population who downloaded tracing apps was also high in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, and Finland (ie, 32%-45%), but much lower in Spain, Italy, and France (ie, 15%-19%) [ 40 ]. This high level of adoption in some countries could be driven by the fact that the National Health Service app and the German app are among several apps that combine the tracing function with other features such as local area risk indicators and a link for booking a test, or by differences in promotion efforts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Associated With Using the COVID-19 Mobile Contact-Tracing App Among Individuals Diagnosed With SARS-CoV-2 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Observational Study

Ritsema¹,

Bosdriesz²,

Leenstra³

et al. 2022

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth

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Background Worldwide, efforts are being made to stop the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. Contact tracing and quarantining are key in limiting SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Mathematical models have shown that the time between infection, isolation of cases, and quarantining of contacts are the most important components that determine whether the pandemic can be controlled. Mobile contact-tracing apps could accelerate the tracing and quarantining of contacts, including anonymous contacts. However, real-world observational data on the uptake and determinants of contact-tracing apps are limited. Objective The aim of this paper is to assess the use of a national Dutch contact-tracing app among notified cases diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection and investigate which characteristics are associated with the use of the app. Methods Due to privacy regulations, data from the app could not be used. Instead, we used anonymized SARS-CoV-2 routine contact-tracing data collected between October 28, 2020, and February 26, 2021, in the region of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Complete case logistic regression analysis was performed to identify which factors (age, gender, country of birth, municipality, number of close contacts, and employment in either health care or education) were associated with using the app. Age and number of close contacts were modelled as B-splines due to their nonlinear relationship. Results Of 29,766 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases, 4824 (16.2%) reported app use. Median age of cases was 41 (IQR 29-55) years, and 46.7% (n=13,898) were male. In multivariable analysis, males (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.11, 95% CI 1.04-1.18) and residents of municipalities surrounding Amsterdam were more likely to use the app (Aalsmeer AOR 1.34, 95% CI 1.13-1.58; Ouder-Amstel AOR 1.96, 95% CI 1.54-2.50), while people born outside the Netherlands, particularly those born in non-Western countries (AOR 0.33, 95% CI 0.30-0.36), were less likely to use the app. Odds of app use increased with age until the age of 58 years and decreased sharply thereafter (P<.001). Odds of app use increased with number of contacts, peaked at 8 contacts, and then decreased (P<.001). Individuals working in day care, home care, and elderly nursing homes were less likely to use the app. Conclusions Contact-tracing app use among people with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection was low in the region of Amsterdam. This diminishes the potential impact of the app by hampering the ability to warn contacts. Use was particularly low among older people, people born outside the Netherlands, and people with many contacts. Use of the app was also relatively low compared to those from some other European countries, some of which had additional features beyond contact tracing, making them potentially more appealing. For the Dutch contact-tracing app to have an impact, uptake needs to be higher; therefore, investing more into promotional efforts and additional features could be considered.

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Psychological factors shaping public responses to COVID-19 digital contact tracing technologies in Germany

Cited by 30 publications

References 41 publications

Joint analysis of the intention to vaccinate and to use contact tracing app during the COVID-19 pandemic

Joint analysis of the intention to vaccinate and to use contact tracing app during the COVID-19 pandemic

Papers Please - Predictive Factors of National and International Attitudes Toward Immunity and Vaccination Passports: Online Representative Surveys

Factors Associated With Using the COVID-19 Mobile Contact-Tracing App Among Individuals Diagnosed With SARS-CoV-2 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Observational Study

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