Brown Richard, Coventry Lynne, Pepper Gillian
Psychology Department, Northumbria University, Northumberland Building, College Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST UK.
Z Gesundh Wiss. 2023;31(4):623-633. doi: 10.1007/s10389-021-01543-9. Epub 2021 May 13.
Understanding COVID-19 risk perceptions and their impact on behaviour can improve the effectiveness of public health strategies. Prior evidence suggests that, when people perceive uncontrollable risks to their health, they are less likely to engage in healthful behaviour. This article aims to understand the extent to which COVID-19 is perceived as an uncontrollable risk, and to assess whether this perceived risk is associated with health behaviour.
We surveyed a nationally representative sample of 496 participants during the first UK lockdown. We assessed perceptions of COVID-19-related risk, self-reported adherence to infection control measures recommended by the UK Government, and general health behaviours. We predicted that increased perceived extrinsic mortality risk (the portion of mortality risk perceived to be uncontrollable) would disincentivise healthy behaviour.
Perceived threat to life was the most consistent predictor of reported adherence to infection control measures. Perceived extrinsic mortality risk was found to have increased due to the pandemic, and was associated with lower reported adherence to Government advice on diet, physical activity, and smoking.
Our findings suggest that health messages that highlight threat to life may be effective in increasing adherence to infection control, but may also lead to a reduction in health-promoting behaviours. We suggest that messages that highlight threat to life should be accompanied by statements of efficacy. Further, messages evoking feelings of concern for others may be effective in promoting compliance with anti-infection measures, without the potential for the unwelcome side-effect of discouraging healthy behaviour.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10389-021-01543-9.
了解对新冠病毒疾病（COVID-19）风险的认知及其对行为的影响，有助于提高公共卫生策略的有效性。先前的证据表明，当人们认为自身健康面临无法控制的风险时，他们采取健康行为的可能性就会降低。本文旨在了解COVID-19在多大程度上被视为无法控制的风险，并评估这种认知风险是否与健康行为相关。
在英国首次封锁期间，我们对496名具有全国代表性的参与者进行了调查。我们评估了对COVID-19相关风险的认知、自我报告的对英国政府推荐的感染控制措施的遵守情况以及一般健康行为。我们预测，感知到的外在死亡风险（被认为无法控制的死亡风险部分）增加会抑制健康行为。
对生命的感知威胁是报告遵守感染控制措施最一致的预测因素。发现由于疫情，感知到的外在死亡风险有所增加，并且与报告的对政府关于饮食、体育活动和吸烟建议的较低遵守率相关。
我们的研究结果表明，强调生命威胁的健康信息可能在提高对感染控制的遵守率方面有效，但也可能导致促进健康行为的减少。我们建议，强调生命威胁的信息应伴有有效性声明。此外，唤起对他人关切之情的信息可能在促进遵守抗感染措施方面有效，而不会产生抑制健康行为这种不受欢迎的副作用。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s10389-021-01543-9获取的补充材料。
