A Precautionary Tale: Individual Decision Making in the Time of COVID-19

Pearman, Ann; Hughes, MacKenzie L.; Coblenz, Clara W.; Smith, Emily L.; Neupert, Shevaun D.

doi:10.3390/ijerph20054597

Open AccessArticle

A Precautionary Tale: Individual Decision Making in the Time of COVID-19

by

Ann Pearman

^1,*,

MacKenzie L. Hughes

²

,

Clara W. Coblenz

²,

Emily L. Smith

³ and

Shevaun D. Neupert

³

¹

Department of Psychiatry, MetroHealth Medical Center, 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, OH 44109, USA

²

School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA

³

Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7650, USA

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 4597; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054597

Submission received: 20 January 2023 / Revised: 28 February 2023 / Accepted: 1 March 2023 / Published: 5 March 2023

(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19 Pandemics and Public Health)

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Abstract

Precaution taking is an important part of managing COVID-19 and has been since the start of the pandemic. Guided by the Health Belief Model, two studies conducted during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic aimed to identify possible individual difference predictors of precautionary actions. Study 1 was an online, cross-sectional study using 763 adults aged 20–79 years old. Study 2, a 30-day daily diary study, examined daily precautions in 261 persons over the age of 55 years old. Study 1 and Study 2 indicated that COVID-19 knowledge predicted precautionary behaviors. Multilevel models from Study 2 indicated that daily increases in in-person interactions and leaving home were associated with decreases in precautions, but increases in disruption to routine were associated with increases in precautions. In both studies, including concurrent and lagged models in Study 2, significant interactions between information seeking and perceived risk suggested higher information seeking was related to higher precautions for those who consider themselves low risk. Findings highlight the burden of daily precautions and potentially modifiable factors of engagement in precautions.

Keywords: decision making; perceived risk; health; daily diary; COVID-19

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MDPI and ACS Style

Pearman, A.; Hughes, M.L.; Coblenz, C.W.; Smith, E.L.; Neupert, S.D. A Precautionary Tale: Individual Decision Making in the Time of COVID-19. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 4597. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054597

AMA Style

Pearman A, Hughes ML, Coblenz CW, Smith EL, Neupert SD. A Precautionary Tale: Individual Decision Making in the Time of COVID-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(5):4597. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054597

Chicago/Turabian Style

Pearman, Ann, MacKenzie L. Hughes, Clara W. Coblenz, Emily L. Smith, and Shevaun D. Neupert. 2023. "A Precautionary Tale: Individual Decision Making in the Time of COVID-19" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 5: 4597. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054597

APA Style

Pearman, A., Hughes, M. L., Coblenz, C. W., Smith, E. L., & Neupert, S. D. (2023). A Precautionary Tale: Individual Decision Making in the Time of COVID-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5), 4597. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054597

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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A Precautionary Tale: Individual Decision Making in the Time of COVID-19

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