Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Masculinity and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council and University of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.
BMC Public Health. 2022 Jul 30;22(1):1451. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13845-y.
This study assessed the influence of social, economic, and psychological factors on South African's responsiveness to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the South African government responded quickly to manage the pandemic, the strict lockdown placed a significant burden on the population. Understanding the converging influence of social, economic, and psychological factors on the population's responsiveness is important for improving people's cooperation in controlling COVID-19 and for supporting individuals and communities during the ongoing and future pandemics.
Using data collected from a national telephonic survey (December 2020 to March 2021), we assessed whether selected social, economic and psychological factors were related to: 1) adoption of COVID-19 behavioural measures (hand hygiene, wearing of face masks, and physical distancing), and 2) adherence to government restrictions on movement.
South Africans were highly responsive to the pandemic with respondents generally reporting that they very often engaged in the protective behaviours and often to very often adhered to government restriction on movement. However, those from the white population group; with a higher education; living in uncrowded households; who perceived less vulnerability to contracting COVID-19; supported the measures; trusted the scientists; thought the measures by government were implemented fairly and fairly enforced by the police; felt more anxious, sad, hopeless, isolated, angry or had trouble sleeping; inclined to engage in coping behaviour, were more likely to adopt COVID-19 protective behaviours. Furthermore, females, those with a lower education, those less likely to have experienced poverty since the beginning of lockdown; who perceived greater vulnerability to COVID-19, trusted government, and were more supportive of the behavioural measures were more likely to adhere to the restrictions of movement.
Strengthening the South African population's responsiveness to the pandemic requires supporting those living in poor socioeconomic circumstances, promoting trust in the scientific evidence, and ensuring that the measures by government are perceived to be fairly implemented and fairly enforced by the police. Due to the impact on livelihoods, restrictions of movement should only be considered if necessary, and this will require trust and confidence in government and strategies to support those experiencing financial hardship.
本研究评估了社会、经济和心理因素对南非人对 COVID-19 大流行反应的影响。尽管南非政府迅速做出反应来管理疫情，但严格的封锁给民众带来了巨大的负担。了解社会、经济和心理因素对民众反应的综合影响，对于提高人们在控制 COVID-19 方面的合作能力以及在当前和未来的大流行期间支持个人和社区都很重要。
利用 2020 年 12 月至 2021 年 3 月期间通过全国电话调查收集的数据，我们评估了以下选定的社会、经济和心理因素是否与以下两个方面相关：1）采用 COVID-19 行为措施（手部卫生、戴口罩和保持身体距离）；2）遵守政府对行动的限制。
南非人对疫情高度敏感，受访者普遍表示他们经常采取保护措施，并且经常非常遵守政府对行动的限制。然而，来自白人族群；受过高等教育；居住在不拥挤家庭中的人；认为自己感染 COVID-19 的风险较低；支持这些措施；信任科学家；认为政府采取的措施公平实施，警察公平执行；感到更加焦虑、悲伤、绝望、孤立、愤怒或难以入睡；倾向于采取应对行为的人，更有可能采取 COVID-19 保护措施。此外，女性、受教育程度较低的人、自封锁开始以来不太可能经历贫困的人；认为自己感染 COVID-19 的风险较高、信任政府、并且更支持行为措施的人，更有可能遵守行动限制。
加强南非人对疫情的反应能力需要支持那些生活在贫困社会经济环境中的人，促进对科学证据的信任，并确保政府的措施被认为是公平实施和警察公平执行的。由于对生计的影响，只有在必要时才应考虑限制行动，这将需要对政府的信任和信心，以及支持那些经历经济困难的人的策略。
