AUTHOR=Lahiri Arista , Jha Sweety Suman , Chakraborty Arup , Dobe Madhumita , Dey Abhijit 

TITLE=Role of Threat and Coping Appraisal in Protection Motivation for Adoption of Preventive Behavior During COVID-19 Pandemic

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.678566

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2021.678566

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=With more than 100 million cases and over 2 million deaths globally, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to remain a major threat. Identifying the behavioral factors influencing preventive behaviors for COVID-19 are crucial in devising public health policies to promote essential strategies to combat the pandemic in an efficient manner.  The current study was therefore conducted, to estimate the prevalence of COVID-19 preventive behaviors, and measure their association with behavioral constructs like threat perception and coping appraisal, as per socio-demographic background. A region-stratified online survey focusing on the constructs of Protection Motivation Theory e.g., threat and coping appraisal for preventive health practices against COVID-19, was carried out among adult users of social media in India. Generalized linear models with cluster adjusted robust standard errors were used to analyze the responses and model the preventive practices among the study population. Analysis of a total 2646 responses revealed, that proper perceptions regarding cause, symptoms and transmission of COVID-19 were prevalent in majority of the respondents. Majority of the participants reported frequent used of face mask (93.20%), followed by frequent washing of hands with soap and water (84.90%). Majority of the respondents affirmed that, though not frequently but sometimes they avoid touching face with unclean hands. Frequently covering mouth with crook of the elbow while sneezing and coughing, and maintaining physical distance when outside was noted among 74.14% and 83.84% respectively. Proportion of participants frequently using sanitizers to clean hands and those infrequently practicing the same were comparable. Self-efficacy for preventive practices and threat-appraisal of COVID19 illness were identified as important determinants of the selected COVID-19 preventive behaviors, independently. The analysis confirmed that practices of the behaviors were mostly synergistic to each other. Current findings highlight that formulation of precise risk communication strategies to improve perceptions regarding threat-appraisal and self-efficacy could facilitate desirable practices which are also effective in prevention of airborne infections, hence may contribute towards broader policy directions. The evidence urges implementation of precision-driven risk communication and diffusion of these practices to attain behavioral herd immunity.