Association of Social-Cognitive Factors with Individual Preventive Behaviors of COVID-19 among a Mixed-Sample of Older Adults from China and Germany

Yanping Duan, Sonia Lippke, Wei Liang, Borui Shang, Franziska Maria Keller, Petra Wagner, Julien Steven Baker and Jiali He
Additional contact information
Yanping Duan: Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong 999077, China
Sonia Lippke: Department of Psychology & Methods, Jacobs University Bremen, 28759 Bremen, Germany
Wei Liang: Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong 999077, China
Borui Shang: Department of Social Sciences, Hebei Sport University, Shijiazhuang 050063, China
Franziska Maria Keller: Department of Psychology & Methods, Jacobs University Bremen, 28759 Bremen, Germany
Petra Wagner: Institute for Exercise and Public Health, Leipzig University, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
Julien Steven Baker: Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong 999077, China
Jiali He: Department of Health Sciences, Wuhan Institute of Physical Education, Wuhan 430079, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 11, 1-20

Abstract: Identifying modifiable correlates of older adults’ preventive behaviors is contributable to the prevention of the COVID-19 and future pandemics. This study aimed to examine the associations of social-cognitive factors (motivational and volitional factors) with three preventive behaviors (hand washing, facemask wearing, and physical distancing) in a mixed sample of older adults from China and Germany and to evaluate the moderating effects of countries. A total of 578 older adults (356 Chinese and 222 German) completed the online cross-sectional study. The questionnaire included demographics, three preventive behaviors before and during the pandemic, motivational factors (health knowledge, attitude, subjective norm, risk perception, motivational self-efficacy (MSE), intention), and volitional factors (volitional self-efficacy (VSE), planning, and self-monitoring) of preventive behaviors. Results showed that most social-cognitive factors were associated with three behaviors with small-to-moderate effect sizes ( f 2 = 0.02 to 0.17), controlled for demographics and past behaviors. Country moderated five associations, including VSE and hand washing, self-monitoring and facemask wearing, MSE and physical distancing, VSE and physical distancing, and planning and physical distancing. Findings underline the generic importance of modifiable factors and give new insights to future intervention and policymaking. Country-related mechanisms should be considered when aiming to learn from other countries about the promotion of preventive behaviors.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; individual preventive behaviors; motivational and volitional factors; older adults; mixed sample (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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