JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Social distancing is an effective preventative policy for COVID-19 that is enforced by governments worldwide. However, significant variations are observed in adherence to social distancing across individuals and countries. Due to the lack of treatment, rapid spread, and prevalence of COVID-19, panic, and fear associated with the disease causes great stress. Subsequent effects will be a variation around the coping and mitigation strategies for different individuals following different paths to manage the situation.

Objective:

The study's objective is to explore how threat and coping appraisal processes work as mechanisms between information and citizens' adherence to COVID-19 relevant recommendations. In particular: (1) How the information sources and social media influence threat and coping appraisal processes with COVID-19? (2) How the threat and coping appraisal processes influence adherence to policy guidelines? Along with this study's premise is how citizens in three different countries' (United States, Kuwait, and South Korea) citizens, randomly sampled, are effectively using the mechanisms.

Methods:

Randomly sampled online survey data collected by a global firm in May 2020, from 162 citizens of the United States, 185 of Kuwait, and 71 of South Korea were analyzed, resulting in a total sample size of 418. A seemingly unrelated regression model, controlling for several counterfactuals, was used for analysis. The study's focal estimated effects were compared across the three countries using the weighted distance between the parameter estimates.

Results:

Seemingly unrelated regression model estimation results suggest that overall, the intensity of use of information sources for the COVID-19 pandemic positively influences the threat appraisal for the disease (P<.001). Furthermore, the intensity of social media use for the COVID-19 pandemic positively influences the coping appraisal for the disease (P<.001). Higher COVID-19 threat appraisal has a positive effect on social distancing adherence (P<.001). Higher COVID-19 coping appraisal has a positive effect on social distancing adherence (P<.001). Higher intensity of COVID-19 knowledge positively influences social distancing adherence (P<.001). There are country-level variations – broadly, we find that the US has better results than South Korea, and Kuwait respectively, in leveraging the information to threat and coping appraisal to the adherence process; indicating that individuals in countries like the United States and South Korea may be more pragmatic to appraise the situation before making any decisions.

Conclusions:

While the reasons for individuals' adherence actions to the COVID-19 pandemic may abound, disentangling one crucial reason, and acting on it will help policymakers. Individuals and communities can be informed about the rationale behind their non-adherence behaviors ascribing evident reasons, and be persuaded further to change the behavior on a cause-effect identification and understanding process. This study informs that the mediation of threat and coping strategies are essential, in varying effects, to shape the information and social media strategies for adherence outcomes. Accordingly, coordinating public service announcements along with information source outlets such as mainstream media (i.e., TV, radio, newspaper) as well as social media (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp) to inform and service citizens, but keeping in mind the balance in the messages about the threat and coping appraisal is critical in implementing staggered social distancing and sheltering strategy.