*2.3. Measures*

The survey items/questions were mapped to constructs of the health belief model, through research team discussion and consensus on mapping the items that could be assigned to more than one of the HBM constructs. As a result of this process, all survey questions about COVID-19-related awareness, knowledge, attitudes, motivations, and behaviors were grouped into HBM contracts (shown in Table 1).




**Table 1.** *Cont.*

\* The equivalent in US Dollars. Abbreviations: N, number of study participants.

The dependent variable, COVID-19 preventive behaviors/actions, was a scale that consisted of the sum of 12 items, each coded as yes = 1 and no/don't know = 0. The other constructs of the Health Belief Model, computed the same way as the dependent variable scale, served as the independent variables which included: (a) perceived susceptibility to disease (3 items); perceived severity of disease (3 items); perceived benefits of preventative action (3 items); perceived barriers of preventative action (2 items); and cues to action (2 items). None of the survey items mapped well to the HBM construct perceived selfefficacy. The sociodemographic variable constituted the construct "modifying factors," which included gender, age, marital status, level of education, occupation, monthly income, and medical history (see supplemental digital Table S1).
