Government trust, perceptions of COVID-19 and behaviour change: cohort surveys, Singapore

Abstract

Objective To evaluate how public perceptions and trust in government communications affected the adoption of protective behaviour in Singapore during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods We launched our community-based cohort to assess public perceptions of infectious disease outbreaks in mid-2019. After the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Singapore on 23 January, we launched a series of seven COVID-19 surveys to both existing and regularly enrolled new participants every 2 weeks. As well as sociodemographic properties of the participants, we recorded changing responses to judge awareness of the situation, trust in various information sources and perceived risk. We used multivariable logistic regression models to evaluate associations with perceptions of risk and self-reported adopted frequencies of protective behaviour. Findings Our cohort of 633 participants provided 2857 unique responses during the seven COVID-19 surveys. Most agreed or strongly agreed that information from official government sources (99.1%; 528/533) and Singapore-based news agencies (97.9%; 522/533) was trustworthy. Trust in government communication was significantly associated with higher perceived threat (odds ratio, OR: 2.2; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.6-3.0), but inversely associated with perceived risk of infection (OR: 0.6; 95% CI: 0.4-0.8) or risk of death if infected (OR: 0.6; 95% CI: 0.4-0.9). Trust in government communication was also associated with a greater likelihood of adopting protective behaviour. Conclusion Our findings show that trust is a vital commodity when managing an evolving outbreak. Our repeated surveys provided realtime feedback, allowing an improved understanding of the interplay between perceptions, trust and behaviour.

The Economic and Psychological Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Indian Migrant Workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…Another study was conducted to explore the perception of the public of the government of Singapore in relation to COVID-19 related information. The results of the study confirm that majority of the respondents (99.1%) agreed or strongly agreed on the COVID-19 related information provided by the government and 97.9% believed the Singapore news agency [34]. Another study was carried out in Bangladesh to explore the public perception of government measures related to COVID-19.…”

Trust in government regarding COVID-19 and its associations with preventive health behaviour and prosocial behaviour during the pandemic: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study

“…However, these studies were generally limited by small sample size, data from single country, restricted to early stage of pandemic, and the cross-sectional design. The only longitudinal study is a multi-wave survey of 633 participants in Singapore during January−April 2020 (Lim et al, 2021 ), which showed trust in government communication was positively associated with likelihood of adopting protective behaviour; but that study did not investigate the effect of trust on longitudinal behavioural changes. Moreover, prosocial behaviour has been neglected in previous COVID-19 research, which is important because social support and volunteering could facilitate the prevention and treatment of coronavirus.…”

Impacto psicológico e fatores associados à pandemia da COVID-19 e ao distanciamento social em Minas Gerais, Brasil: Estudo transversal

“…Sendo assim, manter a confiança do público nas autoridades de saúde, tanto em sua resposta quanto em comunicações, é algo essencial durante um surto para que a população adote um comportamento protetor adequado à situação (Lim et al, 2020).…”