Association of Social-Cognitive Factors with Individual Preventive Behaviors of COVID-19 among a Mixed-Sample of Older Adults from China and Germany

Identifying modifiable correlates of older adults' preventive behaviors is contributable to the prevention of the COVID-19 and future pandemics. This study aimed to examine the associations of social-cognitive factors (motivational and volitional factors) with three preventive behaviors (hand w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2022-05, Vol.19 (11), p.6364
Main Authors: Duan, Yanping, Lippke, Sonia, Liang, Wei, Shang, Borui, Keller, Franziska Maria, Wagner, Petra, Baker, Julien Steven, He, Jiali
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Behavior
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 vaccines
Data collection
Demography
Disease transmission
Ethics
Hands
Hygiene
Immunization
Monitoring
Older people
Pandemics
Perceptions
Public health
Questionnaires
Risk perception
Social networks
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Summary:Identifying modifiable correlates of older adults' preventive behaviors is contributable to the prevention of the COVID-19 and future pandemics. This study aimed to examine the associations of social-cognitive factors (motivational and volitional factors) with three preventive behaviors (hand washing, facemask wearing, and physical distancing) in a mixed sample of older adults from China and Germany and to evaluate the moderating effects of countries. A total of 578 older adults (356 Chinese and 222 German) completed the online cross-sectional study. The questionnaire included demographics, three preventive behaviors before and during the pandemic, motivational factors (health knowledge, attitude, subjective norm, risk perception, motivational self-efficacy (MSE), intention), and volitional factors (volitional self-efficacy (VSE), planning, and self-monitoring) of preventive behaviors. Results showed that most social-cognitive factors were associated with three behaviors with small-to-moderate effect sizes ( = 0.02 to 0.17), controlled for demographics and past behaviors. Country moderated five associations, including VSE and hand washing, self-monitoring and facemask wearing, MSE and physical distancing, VSE and physical distancing, and planning and physical distancing. Findings underline the generic importance of modifiable factors and give new insights to future intervention and policymaking. Country-related mechanisms should be considered when aiming to learn from other countries about the promotion of preventive behaviors.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph19116364