Previously submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research (no longer under consideration since Jul 27, 2021)
Date Submitted: Mar 22, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
The Effects of COVID-19 Infection Cues on Preventive Behaviors: Development of a Moderated Mediation Model
ABSTRACT
Background:
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted the lives of everyone worldwide. Prevention behaviors are especially critical to protect the people who have patients around; however, little work has been done to explore the influences of infection cues on preventive behaviors.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of infection cues on preventive behaviors and the roles of risk perception, negative emotions, and perceived efficacy in this influence.
Methods:
A cross-sectional online survey with a nationally representative sample in China was conducted during the first wave of COVID-19 in China. Self-report measures of infection cues, preventive behaviors, risk perception, negative emotions, and perceived efficacy. The PROCESS macro (Model 85) was used to test our conceptual model.
Results:
A total of 26511 participants responded to the survey and 20205 valid responses (76.2%) were obtained for further analysis. Moderated mediation results show that infection cues positively predicted preventive behaviors and in turn affected preventive behaviors through risk perception and negative emotions. Moreover, perceived efficacy moderated the influence of infection cues not only on preventive behaviors but also on risk perception and negative emotions related to preventive behaviors. The higher the perceived efficacy, the stronger these influences were.
Conclusions:
This study revealed that infection cues promoted preventive behaviors by increasing risk perception and negative emotions and that high perceived efficacy further enhanced these effects.
Citation
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Copyright
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