Belief in Protecting Others and Social Perceptions of Face Mask Wearing Were Associated With Frequent Mask Use in the Early Stages of the COVID Pandemic in the UK

Examination of factors that impact mask or respirator purchase and usage during the COVID-19 pandemic

Understanding the motivations and barriers populations face in respiratory protection during a pandemic is key to effective primary prevention. The goal of this study was to identify the impact of various motivational factors on individual choice of masks or respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey study included a sample of 619 participants between the ages of 18 to 75 years old and English speaking, who were asked about factors that affected their choice of masks or respirators between the months of April 2020 and May 2021. Participants showed a positive association between choice of respirator and being male, perceived comfort and trust in respirators, importance of personalization, and trust in information from family or friends. In addition, positive associations were found between income, education, and the amount of trust in CDC, WHO, and local/state health departments. Results indicate the need for increased education on attributes of each mask or respirator, review of respirator fit, research into specific areas of discomfort, and outreach efforts to vulnerable populations.

The role of the environment: how mask wearing varies across different activities

BACKGROUND

People's decisions to engage in protective health behaviors, such as mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic, are influenced by environmental and social contexts. Previous research on mask wearing used a single question about general mask usage in public, which may not reflect actual behavior in every setting. The likelihood of wearing a mask during one activity is also related to the likelihood of wearing a mask in another or avoiding an activity entirely. This analysis compared responses between a general question and activity-specific questions and identified patterns of mask-wearing behavior across activities.

METHODS

Online, opt-in, cross-sectional surveys were conducted every 2 months from November 2020 to May 2021 (n = 2508), with quota sampling and weighting to achieve a representative sample of the U.S.

POPULATION

Respondents were asked how frequently they wore a mask in public and during 12 specific activities including: on public transportation, while shopping, and attending social gatherings indoors and outdoors. Spearman's rank order correlation was used to compare the frequency of mask wearing reported using a general question versus an activity specific question. Additionally, a latent class analysis was conducted to identify patterns of mask wearing behavior across activities.

RESULTS

There was little to no correlation (r = .16-0.33) between respondents' general attitudes towards mask wearing and their reported frequency of mask wearing in different activities. Latent class analysis identified six distinct groups based on their mask wearing behaviors and avoidance of certain activities. The largest group (29%) avoided ten of the twelve activities and always wore a mask during activities that could not be avoided. Additional groups included those who avoided most activities but made exceptions when around friends or family (20%), part time mask wearers (18%), and never mask wearers (6%).

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that activity-specific questions provide more accurate and useful information than a single general question. Specific, context based, questions allow for analyses that consider the nuances of people's decision-making regarding engaging in protective health behaviors, such as mask wearing, thus enabling public health professionals to create targeted guidelines and messages.

Exploring adolescents' experiences of continuing to wear face masks during COVID-19: A qualitative descriptive study in Barcelona (Spain)

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the use of face masks as a social distancing measure. Although evidence supports their effectiveness in preventing infection, it remains unclear why some adolescents choose to continue wearing them postpandemic, even when it is no longer mandatory. This study aims to explore adolescents' experiences of wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic when their use was no longer mandatory.

METHOD

In this exploratory qualitative study, data were collected from 16 adolescents through face-to-face semistructured interviews. The participants were asked about the reasons and feelings associated with continuing to wear masks, as well as the contexts in which they felt safe without a mask. The collected data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Three main themes were identified: (1) Navigating complex decision-making: balancing safety and self-image, (2) peer influence dynamics and (3) managing the future: weather dynamics and pandemic evolution.

DISCUSSION

The potential implications of withdrawing COVID-19 preventive measures, such as mask-wearing, beyond the pandemic remain understudied. It is crucial to further investigate the perceptions related to wearing masks and its cessation, especially amongst vulnerable individuals.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

Due to methodological constraints associated with participants' age, they were not engaged in the design, data analysis, data interpretation or manuscript preparation phases of the study.

Why Do We Not Wear Masks Anymore during the COVID-19 Wave? Vaccination Precludes the Adoption of Personal Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions: A Quantitative Study of Taiwanese Residents

Background and Objectives: This study examined whether the decline in people's adoption of personal NPIs (e.g., mask wearing) results from the preclusion by vaccination. This study also incorporates the concepts of risk perception and the risk-as-feelings model to elucidate the possible mechanisms behind this preclusion. Materials and Methods: Two cross-sectional surveys (N = 462 in Survey 1 and N = 505 in Survey 2) were administered before and during the first outbreak of COVID-19 in Taiwan. The survey items were designed to measure participants' perceived severity of COVID-19, worry about COVID-19, intention to adopt personal NPIs, and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines. Utilizing the risk perception framework, we conducted multigroup SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) to construct the optimal structural model for both samples. Results and Conclusions: The multigroup SEM results showed that worry (i.e., the emotional component of risk perception) fully mediates the influence of the perceived severity of COVID-19 (i.e., the cognitive component of risk perception) on the intention to adopt NPIs in both surveys [z = 4.03, p < 0.001 for Survey 1 and z = 2.49, p < 0.050 for Survey 2]. Before the outbreak (i.e., Survey 1), people's attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines showed no significant association with their worry about COVID-19 [z = 0.66, p = 0.508]. However, in Survey 2, following the real outbreak of COVID-19, people's attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines negatively predicts their worry about COVID-19 [z = -4.31, p < 0.001], indirectly resulting in a negative effect on their intention to adopt personal NPIs. This suggests the occurrence of the Peltzman effect. That is, vaccination fosters a sense of safety, subsequently diminishing alertness to COVID-19, and thus reducing the intention to adopt personal NPIs.

The association between depression and non-compliance with COVID-19 preventive behaviors in South Korean older adults stratified by sex

OBJECTIVES

This study evaluated the association between depression and non-compliance with COVID-19 preventive behaviors among community-dwelling South Korean older adults.

METHODS

We utilized the 2020 Korean Community Health Survey-a community-based nationwide survey. A score of 10 points or higher on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was defined as depression. Non-compliance with COVID-19 preventive behaviors was assessed on the following three behaviors: washing hands, wearing masks, and watching distance. We also included socio-demographic characteristics, health behaviors, and COVID-19-related characteristics as covariates. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed, and all statistical analyses were stratified by sex.

RESULTS

The 70,693 participants included 29,736 men and 40,957 women. Notably, 2.3% of men and 4.2% of women had depression. Non-compliance with washing hands was significantly higher in men than women (1.3% vs. 0.9%), whereas no significant differences were observed in wearing masks and watching distance. The adjusted logistic regression analysis showed that depression was positively associated with non-compliance with washing hands and watching distance in both sexes. The association between depression and non-compliance with wearing masks was significant only in women.

CONCLUSIONS

There was an association between depression and non-compliance with COVID-19 preventive behaviors in South Korean older adults. This signifies that health providers need to reduce depression to improve compliance with preventive behaviors in older adults.

Consumers’ coping strategies when they feel negative emotions in the face of forced deconsumption during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns

Introduction

This paper explores consumers’ coping strategies when they feel negative emotions due to forced deconsumption during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.

Methods

The tool used for data collection is the questionnaire. It was made using the LimeSurvey software. A total of 621 complete observations were analyzed.

Results

The findings demonstrate that anger positively influences the activation of seeking social support, mental disengagement, and confrontive coping strategies. Besides, disappointment activates mental disengagement but only marginally confrontive coping and not behavioral disengagement. Furthermore, regret is positively related to confrontive coping, behavioral disengagement, acceptance, and positive reinterpretation. Finally, worry positively impacts behavioral disengagement, self-control, seeking social support, mental disengagement, and planful problem-solving.

Discussion

The study’s originality lies in its investigation of consumers’ coping strategies when experiencing negative emotions due to forced deconsumption in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.