Lin Hsien-Cheng, Chen Chia-Chen
Business College, Taizhou University, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China.
Department of Anesthesiology, China Medical University Hsinchu Hospital, Zhubei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2021 Feb 10;14:123-135. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S291300. eCollection 2021.
The COVID-19 outbreak has become a serious public health problem worldwide. The purpose of this study was to use an extended parallel process model (EPPM) to understand factors in COVID-19 prevention behaviors.
This cross-sectional and analytical study was conducted on 1012 participants in Taiwan. A structured questionnaire and an online survey were used to collect data.
The EPPM revealed that the severity of the COVID-19 threat perceived by respondents directly affected the arousal of fear in the respondents (β=0.268, t=9.007, p<0.001), but perceived efficacy did not (β=-0.019, t=-0.619, p>0.05); additionally, fear arousal was significantly associated with COVID-19 prevention behaviors (β=0.119, t=4.603, p<0.001). Regarding personal characteristics, self-esteem moderated the relationship between perceived threat and fear arousal. However, the moderating effect of self-esteem was stronger in people with low self-esteem compared to those with high self-esteem (β=0.606, -0.472; t=26.303, -17.694; p<0.001, p<0.001; respectively). The results of this study also indicated that two demographic characteristics (age and gender) affect COVID-19 prevention behaviors.
When developing healthcare policies and community interventions for improving COVID-19 prevention behaviors during an outbreak, healthcare administrators should carefully consider the main constructs of the EPPM, particularly personal characteristics (ie, self-esteem) and demographic characteristics (ie, age and gender).
新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）疫情已成为全球严重的公共卫生问题。本研究旨在运用扩展平行过程模型（EPPM）来理解COVID-19预防行为的影响因素。
本横断面分析研究对台湾地区1012名参与者进行。采用结构化问卷和在线调查收集数据。
EPPM显示，受访者感知到的COVID-19威胁严重程度直接影响其恐惧唤起（β=0.268，t=9.007，p<0.001），但感知效能则不然（β=-0.019，t=-0.619，p>0.05）；此外，恐惧唤起与COVID-19预防行为显著相关（β=0.119，t=4.603，p<0.001）。在个人特征方面，自尊调节了感知威胁与恐惧唤起之间的关系。然而，与高自尊者相比，低自尊者的自尊调节作用更强（β=0.606，-0.472；t=26.303，-17.694；p<0.001，p<0.001；分别）。本研究结果还表明，两个人口统计学特征（年龄和性别）会影响COVID-19预防行为。
在疫情期间制定改善COVID-19预防行为的卫生保健政策和社区干预措施时，卫生保健管理人员应仔细考虑EPPM的主要构成要素，特别是个人特征（即自尊）和人口统计学特征（即年龄和性别）。
