Adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviors: A matter of cognition or emotion?

Abstract

OBJECTIVES\nTo compare the relative strengths of cognitive and emotional factors in explaining variance in adherence to recommendations for protective health behaviors against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).\n\n\nDESIGN\nA longitudinal (4-month) study with 422 participants who completed an online survey assessing cognitive factors: perceptions of the severity of the disease, vulnerability to it, and the effectiveness of the protective behavior recommendations against it. The emotional factors investigated were: trait health anxiety, worries, and anxiety related to COVID-19.\n\n\nRESULTS\nAdherence and perceived behavior efficacy decreased over time, while perceived vulnerability and worries increased. Regression analyses showed a clear predictive advantage of beliefs about the efficacy of adherence to protective behaviors.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nThe findings support the cognitive approach to explaining pandemic-related behaviors, particularly the key role of perceived efficacy of behavior recommendations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).