*2.3. Analysis*

Quantitative data analysis was conducted using SPSS (version 26) (IBM Corporation. Armonk, NY, USA). The dependent variables were participant perceptions of the impact of COVID-19, COVID-19 worry, and perceptions of the effectiveness of COVID-19 mitigation strategies. The independent variable was rurality based on the RUCC and dichotomized into rural and urban. Descriptive statistics, frequency tables, and chi-squared analyses were conducted. Assumptions of sample size were met for chi-squared analyses.

#### **3. Results**

In total, 278 respondents completed the survey (Table 1). Fifty percent of participants were classified as rural and 50% as non-rural. Most participants were female (88%), white (96.7%), married (71%), and between the ages of thirty-six to sixty years old (61%). About half of the participants reported a household income of USD 80,000 or greater and around 60% had a college degree or higher. Among rural participants, 79% were female, 99% white, and 62% were between the ages of thirty-six and sixty. In regard to household income and marital status, 46% of rural participants reported an annual household income equal to or greater than USD 80,000 and 70% reported being married. Around 11% of rural participants had a high school degree or GED, with most (43%) completing some college or associates degree. Compared to rural participants, there were a higher percentage of

non-rural participants who reported being female (87%), earning USD 80,000 or more (58%), having more than a college degree (41%) and being married (73%) and a lower percentage of non-rural participants reporting being white (94%), and aged between thirty-six and sixty years old (60%).


**Table 1.** Demographic characteristics of rural and non-rural respondents.
