Self-Regulation in the Time of Lockdown

State versus action orientation and compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia

This study explored the roles of activity versus state direction in how Indonesians adhered to COVID-19 preventive behaviour using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). A total of 615 participants were gathered through a web questionnaire containing 68 questions. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to determine the causal relationships of the latent variable construct. The results revealed that information sources positively influence both attitudes and subjective norms toward preventive behaviour. The results also support self-regulation as a moderator of the main intent-behaviour relationship. Moreover, state-oriented people cannot self-regulate their behaviour to comply with COVID-19 protocols. This investigation provides productive experiences for strategists and managers to improve COVID-19 compliance. This paper's analysis also contributes to literature by revealing the intention to comply with COVID-19 protocols by emphasizing the role of self-regulation. The findings are relevant to practitioners and policymakers in the field of public health and managing of human behavior, particularly to improve of compliance with COVID-19 prevention. Therefore, governments or public health organizations can be utilized to improve the number of individuals who practice COVID-19 preventative behaviours now and in the future, but various factors must be addressed. Future directions and recommendations for improving TPB are suggested.

Individual Preventive Behaviors of COVID-19 and Associated Psychological Factors Among Chinese Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey

Purpose

Older adults aged 60 years and above are classified as being of high-risk for infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the associations of psychological factors (motivational factors: risk perception, health knowledge, attitude, subjective norm, motivational self-efficacy, and intention; volitional factors: volitional self-efficacy, planning, and action control) of preventive behaviors with three preventive behaviors (hand washing, facemask wearing, and social distancing) among Chinese older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was administered via SOJUMP, a widely used online survey platform in China. A total of 928 older adults (mean = 67.24 years, age range: 60–90 years, SD = 6.43, 55.9% females) were recruited using a snowball sampling approach from Hubei Province (n = 667) and outside Hubei Province (n = 261) in China during May 18, 2020 to June 7, 2020. Multiple hierarchical regressions were conducted with four models to examine the association between demographic, past behavior, psychological factors and each preventive behavior.

Principal Findings

All three preventive behaviors in older adults increased dramatically during the pandemic of COVID-19. Gender, living status, educational level, past behavior, health knowledge, intention and planning significantly predicted hand washing behavior, R² = 0.395, F(10, 927) = 54.372, p < 0.001. Gender, education level, important others (e.g., family members or friends) infection, past behavior, health knowledge, planning and action control significantly predicted mask wearing behavior, R² = 0.202, F(10, 927) = 23.197, p < 0.001. Living place, past behavior and health knowledge significantly predicted social distancing behavior, R² = 0.204, F(9, 927) = 26.201, p < 0.001.

Major Conclusions

Past behavior and health knowledge predicted all three preventive behaviors. Planning was an important psychological factor for both hand washing and mask wearing behaviors. All those critical demographic and psychological factors are critical for future interventions to facilitate older adults to comply with three preventive behaviors in daily life and to stay healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Predicting hand washing, mask wearing and social distancing behaviors among older adults during the covid-19 pandemic: an integrated social cognition model

BACKGROUND

Older adults are at a higher risk from COVID-19. Individual preventive behaviors including frequent hand washing, mask wearing, and social distancing play important roles in reducing the transmission of COVID-19 in the community. This study aimed to identify the determinants of three preventive behaviors of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic by using an Integrated Social Cognition Model.

METHODS

Using a prospective study design, 516 Chinese older adults from Hubei province of China (mean age = 67.55 years, SD = 6.60, 57.9% females) completed two online questionnaire surveys. The demographics, social cognition constructs (motivational self-efficacy, risk perception, attitude, subjective norm, health knowledge, intention, volitional self-efficacy, planning, action control) and three preventive behaviors were measured during the first-wave online survey from 18 May 2020 to 7 June 2020. One month later, three preventive behaviors were measured again during the second-wave online survey. Data were analyzed by structural equation modelling.

RESULTS

Models showed attitude, motivational self-efficacy and subjective norm were consistent predictors of intention, motivational self-efficacy was a consistent predictor of volitional self-efficacy, planning and volitional self-efficacy were consistent predictors of action control, and health knowledge was a consistent predictor of behaviors across all three preventive behaviors. In addition, mediating relationships were found in the model of hand washing behavior. In particular, planning (β = .109, p = .042) and action control (β = .056, p = .047) mediated between volitional self-efficacy and hand washing respectively. Action control also mediated between planning and hand washing (β = .087, p = .044). Moreover, the inclusion of past behaviors in three models attenuated most of the structural relations.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study's findings basically supported the Integrated Social Cognition Model and identified key modifiable determinants of preventive behaviors. Based on this model, future interventions aiming to promote COVID-19 preventive behaviors among older adults are warranted.

Exploring the Embodiment of a Virtual Hand in a Spatially Augmented Respiratory Biofeedback Setting

Enhancing the embodiment of artificial limbs—the individuals' feeling that a virtual or robotic limb is integrated in their own body scheme—is an impactful strategy for improving prosthetic technology acceptance and human-machine interaction. Most studies so far focused on visuo-tactile strategies to empower the embodiment processes. However, novel approaches could emerge from self-regulation techniques able to change the psychophysiological conditions of an individual. Accordingly, this pilot study investigates the effects of a self-regulated breathing exercise on the processes of body ownership underlying the embodiment of a virtual right hand within a Spatially Augmented Respiratory Biofeedback (SARB) setting. This investigation also aims at evaluating the feasibility of the breathing exercise enabled by a low-cost SARB implementation designed for upcoming remote studies (a need emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic). Twenty-two subjects without impairments, and two transradial prosthesis users for a preparatory test, were asked (in each condition of a within-group design) to maintain a normal (about 14 breaths/min) or slow (about 6 breaths/min) respiratory rate to keep a static virtual right hand “visible” on a screen. Meanwhile, a computer-generated sphere moved from left to right toward the virtual hand during each trial (1 min) of 16. If the participant's breathing rate was within the target (slow or normal) range, a visuo-tactile event was triggered by the sphere passing under the virtual hand (the subjects observed it shaking while they perceived a vibratory feedback generated by a smartphone). Our results—mainly based on questionnaire scores and proprioceptive drift—highlight that the slow breathing condition induced higher embodiment than the normal one. This preliminary study reveals the feasibility and potential of a novel psychophysiological training strategy to enhance the embodiment of artificial limbs. Future studies are needed to further investigate mechanisms, efficacy and generalizability of the SARB techniques in training a bionic limb embodiment.