Wroclaw Faculty of Psychology, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Wroclaw, Poland.
Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Australia.
Ann Behav Med. 2022 Apr 2;56(4):368-380. doi: 10.1093/abm/kaab102.
Patterns of protective health behaviors, such as handwashing and sanitizing during the COVID-19 pandemic, may be predicted by macro-level variables, such as regulations specified by public health policies. Health behavior patterns may also be predicted by micro-level variables, such as self-regulatory cognitions specified by health behavior models, including the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA).
This study explored whether strictness of containment and health policies was related to handwashing adherence and whether such associations were mediated by HAPA-specified self-regulatory cognitions.
The study (NCT04367337) was conducted among 1,256 adults from Australia, Canada, China, France, Gambia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, and Switzerland. Self-report data on cross-situational handwashing adherence were collected using an online survey at two time points, 4 weeks apart. Values of the index of strictness of containment and health policies, obtained from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker database, were retrieved twice for each country (1 week prior to individual data collection).
Across countries and time, levels of handwashing adherence and strictness of policies were high. Path analysis indicated that stricter containment and health policies were indirectly related to lower handwashing adherence via lower self-efficacy and self-monitoring. Less strict policies were indirectly related to higher handwashing adherence via higher self-efficacy and self-monitoring.
When policies are less strict, exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus might be higher, triggering more self-regulation and, consequently, more handwashing adherence. Very strict policies may need to be accompanied by enhanced information dissemination or psychosocial interventions to ensure appropriate levels of self-regulation.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，保护健康行为（如洗手和消毒）的模式可能由宏观层面的变量（如公共卫生政策规定的法规）预测。健康行为模式也可能由微观层面的变量（如健康行为模型中指定的自我调节认知）预测，包括健康行动过程方法（HAPA）。
本研究探讨了遏制和卫生政策的严格程度是否与洗手依从性有关，以及这些关联是否通过 HAPA 规定的自我调节认知来介导。
该研究（NCT04367337）在澳大利亚、加拿大、中国、法国、冈比亚、德国、以色列、意大利、马来西亚、波兰、葡萄牙、罗马尼亚、新加坡和瑞士的 1256 名成年人中进行。使用在线调查在两个时间点（相隔 4 周）收集跨情境洗手依从性的自我报告数据。从牛津 COVID-19 政府反应跟踪器数据库中检索到的遏制和卫生政策严格程度指数的值，在每个国家/地区（在个人数据收集前一周）检索两次。
在所有国家/地区和时间，洗手依从性和政策严格程度水平都很高。路径分析表明，更严格的遏制和卫生政策通过自我效能感和自我监测的降低与较低的洗手依从性呈间接相关。较宽松的政策通过自我效能感和自我监测的提高与较高的洗手依从性呈间接相关。
当政策不太严格时，暴露于 SARS-CoV-2 病毒的风险可能更高，从而引发更多的自我调节，进而导致更高的洗手依从性。非常严格的政策可能需要辅以增强的信息传播或心理社会干预，以确保适当的自我调节水平。
