Beliefs Underlying US Adults’ Intention to Stay Home during the COVID-19 Pandemic

An Open Access article published in the Health Behavior and Policy Review Journal.
The full article is available as a PDF download.

Authors:

Christopher Owens, PhD, MPH Twitter
Kristina Hunter-Mullis, MS
Jonathan T. Macy, PhD, MPH
Stephanie Dickinson, MS
Susan E. Middlestadt, PhD

Objective:

In this study, we estimated the relative contribution of 4 Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) belief determinants in explaining intention to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods:

Data were obtained from a survey of a nationally representative sample of US adults (N = 942) conducted April 10-20, 2020 (about one-month after initial stay-at-home orders were implemented) using a probability-based Internet household panel (Ipsos KnowledgePanel). Multiple regression analysis tested the association between attitude, injunctive norm, descriptive norm, and self-efficacy and intention to stay home for the next month while controlling for demographic factors. We tested for a moderating effect of worker status on the relationships between the 4 RAA beliefs and intention.

Results:

Instrumental attitude, injunctive norm, descriptive norm, and self-efficacy demonstrated statistically significant independent associations with intention to stay home. Self-efficacy showed the highest independent association. However, this relation was modified by an interaction between self-efficacy and worker status, revealing that self-efficacy is particularly important for essential workers.

Conclusions:

These findings suggest that public health strategies to increase individuals’ intention to stay home and encourage adherence to stay- at-home policies should focus on enhancing self-efficacy with communication and policy supports. To be most effective, interventions should be targeted based on worker status.

Source: Health Behavior and Policy Review, Volume 9, Number 2, March 2022, pp. 828-838(11)
Publisher: Paris Scholar Publishing Ltd.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14485/HBPR.9.2.9