EXAMINING FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH COVID-19 PREVENTIVE HEALTH BEHAVIORS

Preventive health behaviors are defined as the behaviors undertaken to avoid getting sick and to minimize the effects of the illness. Preventive health behaviors that vary according to each illness are affected by different psychosocial variables. The aim of this study is to determine the psychosocial factors that affect preventive health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, for both COVID-19 patients and non-patients in Turkey, and examining the changes over time. The participants of the first wave study consisted of a total of 747 people, 372 (%48.8) of them were diagnosed with COVID-19 whereas 375 (%50.2) of them were not diagnosed with COVID-19. The second wave of the study consisted of a total of 515 participants, 264 (%51.3) of them were diagnosed with COVID-19, whereas 251 (%48.7) of them were not diagnosed with COVID-19. In addition to the Informed Consent Form; Socio-Demographic and Health Information Form and COVID-19 Preventive Health Behavior Questionnaire were given to volunteer participants via online survey link, with two months interval. As a result of the analyses, presence of chronic disease made a significant changes in the current level of adaptation to preventive health behavior for both groups. while being married and being over 46 years of age were other variables that made a significant difference in individuals diagnosed with COVID-19. In addition, it was found that belief in the effectiveness of preventive health behaviors increased over time, regardless of the state of diagnosis. It is thought that the findings will guide health practices by identifying psychosocial factors affecting the preventive health behaviors during COVID-19 pandemic, and shed light on the researchers for the future studies. Keywords COVID-19, preventive health behavior, psychosocial factors

The influence of mothers' health beliefs and attitudes on prevention of infectious diseases on preventive health behaviors of late school-aged children

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in preventive health behaviors of school-age children according to their mothers' health beliefs and attitudes toward the prevention of infectious diseases. Methods: This study was conducted with 121 pairs of 4th to 6th grade elementary school children and their mothers from October 13 to October 30, 2020. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, an independent t-test, a one-way ANOVA, Sheffé’s test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis and a multiple linear regression.Result: The mean and SD of mother's health belief in preventing infectious diseases was 3.58±0.41, the mean and SD of mother's attitude toward preventing infectious diseases was 3.39±0.38, and the mean and SD of late school-age children's preventive health behavior was 3.52±0.37. The multiple linear regression results show that the children's vaccination behavior was influenced by their mothers’ perceived benefits in preventing infectious diseases. In addition, the child's vitamin C and vegetable consumption was influenced by the mother's perceived susceptibility in preventing infectious diseases, and the child's mask-wearing behavior was influenced by the mother's perceived seriousness in preventing infectious diseases. Conclusion: In order to improve the health behavior of school-aged children, programs or education are required to enhance the health beliefs and attitudes of their mothers, who were shown to affect the preventive health behavior of their children.

Factors associated with COVID-19 preventive health behaviors among the general public in Mexico City and the State of Mexico

Objective To evaluate factors associated with COVID-19 preventive health behaviors among adults in Mexico City and the State of Mexico. Methods and findings We conducted a cross-sectional survey from June to October 2020 through a structured, internet-based questionnaire in a non-probabilistic sample of adults >18 years living in Mexico City and the State of Mexico. The independent variables included sociodemographic and clinical factors; health literacy; access to COVID-19 information; and perception of COVID-19 risk and of preventive measures’ effectiveness. The dependent variable was COVID-19 preventive health behaviors, defined as the number of preventive actions adopted by participants. The data were analyzed through multivariate negative binomial regression analysis. The survey was completed by 1,030 participants. Most participants were women (70.7%), had a high school or above level of education (98.8%), and had adequate health literacy and access to COVID-19 information. Only 18% perceived having a high susceptibility to COVID-19, though 83.8% recognized the disease’s severity and 87.1% the effectiveness of preventive measures. The median number of COVID-19 preventive actions was 13.5 (range 0–19). The factors associated with preventive health behavior were being female, of older age, a professional worker, a homemaker, or a retiree; engaging in regular physical exercise; having high health literacy and access to COVID-19 information sources; and perceiving COVID-19 as severe and preventive measures as effective. Conclusion People with high education and internet access in Mexico City and the State of Mexico reported significant engagement in COVID-19 preventive actions during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Selfless or Selfish? The Impact of Message Framing and Egoistic Motivation on Narcissists’ Compliance with Preventive Health Behaviors during COVID-19

COVID-19 is one of the greatest international health crises in recent years. Due to the highly contagious nature of the virus, the World Health Organization has recommended that people comply with a set of preventive measures to reduce the infection rate (e.g., social distancing, wearing a face mask, thorough personal hygiene). Such recommendations imply certain personal restrictions, with people typically differing in the extent to which they are willing to comply with said recommendations. The present large-sampled study (N = 800) aimed to investigate whether narcissism levels and message framing strategies affect individuals’ willingness to accept personal restrictions and, consequently, comply with a set of preventive health behaviors. Results reveal that people high (vs. low) in narcissism are less likely to accept personal restrictions and to comply with preventive health behaviors. However, negative (vs. positive) message framing increases narcissists’ willingness to comply with such behaviors. This effect can be explained through an increased willingness of narcissistic participants to accept personal restrictions to protect themselves (egoistic motivation) but not through a willingness to protect vulnerable people (altruistic motivation). These findings suggest that individuals who remain uncooperative during pandemics could be more effectively addressed with adapted message framing strategies and incentives tailor-made for their distinct personalities.