Communication and COVID-19 Physical Distancing Behavior Among Dutch Youth

Abstract

Background: Although most young people do not become seriously ill from the coronavirus causing the COVID-19 disease, they do play a role in its spread. It is therefore important that they adhere to the recommended preventive behaviors, most importantly, physical distancing. This study aims to gain a better understanding of the psychosocial determinants of young people's physical distancing behavior and the role that direct (i.e., interpersonal) and mediated communication (i.e., mass media, social media) about COVID-19 plays in this.Methods: A daily diary study was conducted among 481 Dutch adolescents (secondary school students; age range 10-18 years) and 404 young adults (university students; age range 17-25 years), involving 10 identical daily surveys administered on weekdays during a 2-week period during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (May 2020). The hypotheses were tested with preregistered univariate and multivariate linear mixed-effects models.Results: The perceived descriptive norm (i.e., what friends are doing) was the most important determinant of physical distancing behavior among both adolescents and young adults. The perceived injunctive norm, perceived response efficacy, and perceived severity were also positively associated with physical distancing, albeit less strong. Among adolescents, exposure to information about COVID-19 in the mass media increased their perceptions of the descriptive norm, which in turn increased their physical distancing behavior. Conclusions:For those involved in studying and designing COVID-19-related behavioral interventions and campaigns targeting youth, it is important to consider the social norms that they relate to, and to take into account their perceived severity and response efficacy.

COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake in the Context of the First Delta Outbreak in China During the Early Summer of 2021: The Role of Geographical Distance and Vaccine Talk

“…The frequency of discussion is thought to reflect public concern, and some studies have identified it as having a positive impact on COVID-19-related health behaviors. 30 , 32 Thus, the measure of vaccine talk in this study was not fully comprehensive and might not accurately depict which factors would negatively influence vaccination behaviors. For example, it is undeniable that people may also acquire misinformation about the vaccine from social media, which may, in turn, reduce vaccine uptake.…”

“…In fact, previous health discussion research has generally measured COVID-19 talk (disease knowledge) and vaccine talk (vaccine knowledge) mutually, or has only examined the direct effect of vaccine talk or COVID-19 talk on health preventative behaviors independently. 30–32 To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to distinguish and measure the two types of talk, and observe the different impact they have on vaccine uptake. As suggested in Figure 1 , our results illustrated the necessity of differentiating the content of discussions of an abrupt virus outbreak.…”

“… 29 Various studies have illustrated that such health communications enhance health preventative behaviors. 30 To facilitate measurement, some studies have combined the two forms of communication into one index. For example, mother–daughter communication about the human papillomavirus virus and the vaccine has contributed to daughters’ willingness to receive the vaccine.…”

“… 32 Another study has investigated the positive impact of COVID-19 communication in the mass media on physical distancing behaviors. 30 However, rarely have studies examined the respective impact of COVID-19 talk and vaccine talk on health preventative behaviors, especially on COVID-19 vaccine uptake.…”

COVID-19 messages in sponsored social media posts: The positive impact of influencer-brand fit and prior parasocial interaction

“…Social media usage increased by 61% over normal usage rates during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic [3]. Social media has become a major communication channel in disseminating information, including information related to the virus [4,5]. Besides, social media platforms are considered adequate channels to disseminate health messages [6,7].…”