College of Journalism and Communication, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Department of Communication, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.
Front Public Health. 2024 Feb 22;12:1321506. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1321506. eCollection 2024.
This study examined national similarities and differences in people's engagement in health preventive behaviors during a public health crisis, as well as investigated the underlying individual-level psychological mechanisms. A conceptual distinction was made between self-focused and other-involved preventive behaviors in response to public health crises.
Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted in the United States ( = 888) and China ( = 844) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hayes' PROCESS was utilized to assess national differences in seven preventive behaviors, along with the mediating effects of self-construal and health locus of control.
The results showed that American participants reported greater engagement in self-focused preventive behaviors than Chinese, whereas Chinese participants reported greater engagement in other-involved preventive behaviors than Americans. Chinese participants also engaged more in other-involved than self-focused preventive behaviors. Self-construal and health locus of control partially explained the observed differences in engagement in preventive behaviors.
This study introduces a culture-sensitive approach to provide insights for crafting communication interventions that can enhance the effectiveness of health campaigns in the context of a public health crisis.
本研究考察了在公共卫生危机期间，人们参与健康预防行为的国家相似性和差异性，并探讨了潜在的个体心理机制。针对公共卫生危机，区分了自我关注和他人相关的预防行为。
在 COVID-19 大流行早期，在美国（n=888）和中国（n=844）进行了两项横断面调查。利用 Hayes 的 PROCESS 评估了七种预防行为的国家差异，以及自我构念和健康控制点的中介作用。
结果显示，美国参与者报告的自我关注预防行为比中国参与者多，而中国参与者报告的他人相关预防行为比美国参与者多。中国参与者也更多地参与他人相关而非自我关注的预防行为。自我构念和健康控制点部分解释了预防行为参与方面的观察到的差异。
本研究引入了一种文化敏感的方法，为制定在公共卫生危机背景下增强健康运动效果的沟通干预措施提供了见解。
