The AGE Effect on Protective Behaviors During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Sociodemographic, Perceptions and Psychological Accounts

Abstract

COVID-19 outbreak is a sudden and devastating global pandemic in which the control of the spread is highly dependent on individual reactions, until the development of a vaccine and adequate treatments. Considering that older adults are at high risk for COVID-related medical complications and mortality, the present study focuses on the age-related differences on the adoption of protective behaviors during the initial stages of this outbreak, while accounting for the role of sociodemographic, COVID-related, perceived risk, and psychosocial variables (i.e., anxiety, optimism, fear of death, and social isolation) in this relation. The study sample included 1696 participants, aged between 18 and 85 years old, who completed an online survey during the initial stages of the first COVID-19 outbreak in Portugal. Overall, results reveal that the engagement in protective behaviors declines with advancing age and that older adults show a pattern toward lower perceived risk compared with middle-aged adults. Multicategorical mediation analyses show that anxiety, optimism, fear of death, and social isolation significantly mediate age effects on protective behaviors. Specifically, both anxiety and fear of death increase protective behaviors via higher perceived risk in the middle-aged and in the younger groups, respectively. Optimism directly predicts protective behaviors in the middle-aged groups, while social isolation reduces protective behaviors in the younger and older-aged groups. Results are discussed in terms of its implications for public health policies.

Older Adults’ Risk Perception during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Lombardy Region of Italy: A Cross-sectional Survey

“…This result is in line with other studies conducted during the epidemics that reported a decrease in risk perception in the oldest-old (Fielding et al, 2005;Pasion et al, 2020). A possible explanation for this phenomenon could lie in the decrease of the fear of death with the age increase; in other words, the oldest-old group may be less worried about contracting an illness, and, therefore, shows a lower risk perception (Bruine de Bruin, 2020;Pasion et al, 2020). A complementary explanation concerns the decline in the executive functions in aging (Giorgio et al, 2010), as they underlie risk perception and risk-taking (Capone et al, 2016).…”

“…Although we did not compare older adults with younger individuals, we found the oldest individuals, i.e., the oldest-old group, perceiving a lower risk of contracting COVID-19 compared to the youngest ones, i.e., youngest-and middle-old groups. This result is in line with other studies conducted during the epidemics that reported a decrease in risk perception in the oldest-old (Fielding et al, 2005;Pasion et al, 2020). A possible explanation for this phenomenon could lie in the decrease of the fear of death with the age increase; in other words, the oldest-old group may be less worried about contracting an illness, and, therefore, shows a lower risk perception (Bruine de Bruin, 2020;Pasion et al, 2020).…”

“…For instance, a study carried out during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak highlighted the reduction of the perceived risk of getting infected while adopting precautionary actions (Brug et al, 2004). Conversely, a recent study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic reported a decrease of protective behaviors in those who show a lower perceived risk of contracting the virus (Pasion et al, 2020). In any case, the perceived risk can affect the ways people adopt to react to the current emergency (Carlucci et al, 2020), so that exploring the risk perception within the population could be very informative for adjusting the policies adopted by the governments.…”

“…Specifically, it seems to decrease as age increases (Bruine de Bruin, 2020; Pasion et al, 2020) and it has been described as higher in women than men (Gustafson, 1998;Harris & Jenkins, 2006). Lower risk perception has been reported in older than younger adults during both H5N1 and COVID-19 epidemics (Fielding et al, 2005;Pasion et al, 2020). Furthermore, the social proximity with people affected by the virus can affect the risk perception as well; for instance, a study found the persons who knew someone infected with COVID-19 perceiving higher risk and more anxious thoughts than the others (M. .…”

Determinants of Behavioral Changes Since COVID-19 among Middle School Students

“…Another determinant of protective behaviors is one’s perception of the risk of COVID-19 [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. In an online survey of Chinese adolescents, results showed that perception of COVID-19 risk positively affected their understanding of and participation in social distancing behaviors [ 27 ].…”