Relationships among COVID-19 Prevention Practices, Risk Perception and Individual Characteristics: A Temporal Analysis

Lu Wang, Jie Yu, Dongmei Chen and Lixia Yang
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Lu Wang: Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada
Jie Yu: Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada
Dongmei Chen: Department of Geography and Planning, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
Lixia Yang: Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 20, 1-14

Abstract: The effectiveness of public health measures in containing an infectious disease largely depends on how the general public is taking the prevention practices in daily lives. Previous studies have shown that different risk perceptions and sociodemographic characteristics may lead to vastly different prevention behaviors. This paper applies a temporal perspective in examining the changing patterns of prevention practices over time and their dynamic relationships with the perceived risk towards COVID-19 and its individual characteristics. Three key timelines (February, April, and June of 2020) were identified to represent the early, lockdown, and reopening stages of the first wave. Data were drawn from an online survey conducted in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) of Canada ( n = 470). Chi-square tests and logistic regression models revealed important temporal patterns in practicing different hygienic and mobility-related prevention measures and the respondents’ risk perceptions during the three timelines. The factors predicting the level of prevention practices vary across the three timelines, based on the specific type of prevention, and within the changing public health contexts. This study contributes to the literature on COVID-19 by incorporating a temporal perspective in conceptualizing prevention predictors. It provides crucial insights for developing timely public health strategies to improve infectious disease prevention at different stages and for individuals with varying backgrounds.

Keywords: time; prevention behavior; risk perception; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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