Perceived Susceptibility to and Seriousness of COVID-19: Associations of Risk Perceptions with Changes in Smoking Behavior

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, studies have documented increased and decreased cigarette smoking among adults. Individual differences in the perceived susceptibility and seriousness of the virus, for people who smoke in general and for oneself personally, may relate to changes in smoking. Using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a theoretical framework, we examined associations with self-reported increasing and decreasing smoking a lot during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period. Adults in 30 large U.S. cities who smoked cigarettes daily completed an online survey between 14 July and 30 November 2020. The analytic sample (N = 2768) was 54.0% male and 68.3% white with 23.7% reporting increasing and 11.3% decreasing smoking (6% reported both). Younger age, a diagnosis of COVID-19, and greater pandemic-related stress were associated with greater odds of both increased and decreased smoking. Increased smoking also was associated with heavier nicotine dependence, greater desire to quit, and greater perceived susceptibility and lower perceived seriousness of COVID-19 for people who smoke, while pandemic-related job-loss, lower nicotine dependence, and greater self-efficacy were associated with decreased smoking. Among respondents who had not contracted COVID-19 (n = 2418), correlates were similar with the addition of greater perceived personal susceptibility to COVID-19 associated with both increased and decreased smoking, while greater perceived personal seriousness of COVID-19 was associated with increased smoking. Findings for risk perceptions were largely in directions that contradict the HBM. Circumstances surrounding behavior change during the pandemic are complex and may be especially complex for nicotine addiction.

High Perceived Susceptibility to and Severity of COVID-19 in Smokers Are Associated with Quitting-Related Behaviors

“…Prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings. Second, as in other related studies [1][2][3][4][5]19,38,39], our data were self-reported, which might have made them subject to social desirability bias. Third, the participants only reported whether they had increased smoking, not changed their smoking behaviors or decreased smoking since the pandemic.…”

“…Third, the participants only reported whether they had increased smoking, not changed their smoking behaviors or decreased smoking since the pandemic. This may have led to measurement error, because it is possible that some smokers both increased and decreased their level of smoking during the pandemic [39]. Prospective studies with repeated measures of smoking consumptions are needed in order to understand the complex relations between COVID-19-related factors and smoking behaviors.…”

Willingness of the Jordanian Population to Receive a COVID-19 Booster Dose: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Generally, it seems that beliefs about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines are evolving within populations. Previous work has recommended that communication campaigns and awareness activities be continuous and intense to maintain a perception of the severity of COVID-19, rather than the emerging popular belief that COVID-19 is no longer a threat [ 42 , 43 ].…”

Social Distancing in Tourism Destination Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Moderated Mediation Model

“…To fill this knowledge gap, we measured the effects of destination guidance on social distancing intentions of tourists and explored the intrinsic dynamics and cognition processes of the social distancing behaviors of tourists in China. Among a wide variety of models to investigate the health behavior of individuals (e.g., health belief model, social cognition theory, and the theory of planned behavior) [21,22], the protection motivation theory (PMT) is one of the most comprehensive models used empirically. It explains how people cognitively assess a particular threat and perform protective behaviors [23].…”