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AIMS Public Health

2023, Volume 10, Issue 2: 281-296. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2023021
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Protective behaviors during COVID-19 confinement measures in Greece: the role of anxiety, perceived risk and risky-choice framing

  • 1.
    Department of Public Health Policy, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
  • 2.
    Laboratory for Health Technology Assessment, Division of Health Systems and Policy. Department of Public Health Policy, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
  • Received: 14 October 2022 Revised: 23 March 2023 Accepted: 27 March 2023 Published: 25 April 2023

  • Confinement measures at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic imposed major changes on the global population. The aim of this study was to explore the level to which the public adhered to protective guidelines by adopting the most appropriate behaviors at that time (such as hand washing with soap and using sanitizer gel) and to identify the determinants of these behaviors. A purposive sample of 1013 individuals was invited and voluntarily participated in the online survey. The questionnaire collected information on demographic data, hand washing, risk perception, anxiety (through the S = Anxiety scale of STAI) and risky-choice framing. Results showed increased levels of anxiety, a moderate perception of the risk of catching coronavirus and increased adoption of protective behaviors, such as handwashing and cleaning surfaces with disinfectant/antiseptic products. Multiple ordinal logistic regression models showed that being female, more educated and cleaning home with disinfectant / antiseptic products predicted handwashing with soap. Additionally, having an increased perception of getting the coronavirus, being older and cleaning the home with disinfectant / antiseptic products predicted handwashing with antiseptics. Public health interventions should take into consideration the unified cleaning pattern and the combined effect of sociodemographic variables and risk perception on the adoption of protective behaviour in the context of a health crisis which is out of people's control.

    Citation: George Koulierakis, Anastasia Dermatis, Dimitris Zavras, Elpida Pavi. Protective behaviors during COVID-19 confinement measures in Greece: the role of anxiety, perceived risk and risky-choice framing[J]. AIMS Public Health, 2023, 10(2): 281-296. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2023021

    Related Papers:

  • Confinement measures at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic imposed major changes on the global population. The aim of this study was to explore the level to which the public adhered to protective guidelines by adopting the most appropriate behaviors at that time (such as hand washing with soap and using sanitizer gel) and to identify the determinants of these behaviors. A purposive sample of 1013 individuals was invited and voluntarily participated in the online survey. The questionnaire collected information on demographic data, hand washing, risk perception, anxiety (through the S = Anxiety scale of STAI) and risky-choice framing. Results showed increased levels of anxiety, a moderate perception of the risk of catching coronavirus and increased adoption of protective behaviors, such as handwashing and cleaning surfaces with disinfectant/antiseptic products. Multiple ordinal logistic regression models showed that being female, more educated and cleaning home with disinfectant / antiseptic products predicted handwashing with soap. Additionally, having an increased perception of getting the coronavirus, being older and cleaning the home with disinfectant / antiseptic products predicted handwashing with antiseptics. Public health interventions should take into consideration the unified cleaning pattern and the combined effect of sociodemographic variables and risk perception on the adoption of protective behaviour in the context of a health crisis which is out of people's control.


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    Acknowledgments


    We would like to thank all participants in this survey. The authors also thank the Laboratory for Health Technology Assessment – LabHTA, which funded, by own funds, the electronic formulation of the questionnaire and data collection through the Special Account for Research Grants - University of West Attica, code no. 80712.

    Conflict of interest


    The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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