Does Public Health Emergency Experience Have an Impact on Individual Reactions during COVID-19?
Local historical experience in public health emergencies has been perceived to largely affect COVID-19’s social influence. Specifically, individuals’ personal experience in public health emergencies would likely have an impact on their reactions to the next similar event. Herein, we combined life co...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/9/1212 |
| _version_ | 1797602600333344768 |
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| author | Chenggang Zhang Pengrui Ou Pengfei Guo |
| author_facet | Chenggang Zhang Pengrui Ou Pengfei Guo |
| author_sort | Chenggang Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Local historical experience in public health emergencies has been perceived to largely affect COVID-19’s social influence. Specifically, individuals’ personal experience in public health emergencies would likely have an impact on their reactions to the next similar event. Herein, we combined life course and risk analysis frameworks to explore how individuals’ experiences influence current risk perception and protective behaviors. We collected 1000 questionnaires of random network samples in six Chinese provinces of different risk levels from 29 April to 8 May 2020, and used the propensity score matching (PSM) model and multivariable linear regression to process the data. We categorized individual public emergency experience into three patterns: (1) having ever witnessed a public health emergency, (2) having ever experienced a public health emergency, and (3) currently experiencing a public health emergency. The study indicates that individuals’ experiences had significant positive effects on protective behaviors against COVID-19. The average effects of the three patterns on behaviors were 0.371 (<i>p</i> < 0.001), 0.898 (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and 0.319 (<i>p</i> < 0.05), respectively. The study also shows that for those experiencing any one pattern, the effect of risk perception on protective behaviors appeared null in the early stage of the pandemic. We propose the potential interactive mechanism of risk factors in the life course at the individual level. Academically, this study develops the risk theory of perception and behavior and expands the application of the life course approach in the public health arena. Practically, our research indicates that public health emergency experiences are valuable for responding to a future pandemic and normalizing prevention policies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:17:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-191ecd77f2e6410992be68940a93f3f3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:17:49Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-191ecd77f2e6410992be68940a93f3f32023-11-17T22:56:52ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322023-04-01119121210.3390/healthcare11091212Does Public Health Emergency Experience Have an Impact on Individual Reactions during COVID-19?Chenggang Zhang0Pengrui Ou1Pengfei Guo2Department of Sociology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaDepartment of Sociology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, ChinaDepartment of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USALocal historical experience in public health emergencies has been perceived to largely affect COVID-19’s social influence. Specifically, individuals’ personal experience in public health emergencies would likely have an impact on their reactions to the next similar event. Herein, we combined life course and risk analysis frameworks to explore how individuals’ experiences influence current risk perception and protective behaviors. We collected 1000 questionnaires of random network samples in six Chinese provinces of different risk levels from 29 April to 8 May 2020, and used the propensity score matching (PSM) model and multivariable linear regression to process the data. We categorized individual public emergency experience into three patterns: (1) having ever witnessed a public health emergency, (2) having ever experienced a public health emergency, and (3) currently experiencing a public health emergency. The study indicates that individuals’ experiences had significant positive effects on protective behaviors against COVID-19. The average effects of the three patterns on behaviors were 0.371 (<i>p</i> < 0.001), 0.898 (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and 0.319 (<i>p</i> < 0.05), respectively. The study also shows that for those experiencing any one pattern, the effect of risk perception on protective behaviors appeared null in the early stage of the pandemic. We propose the potential interactive mechanism of risk factors in the life course at the individual level. Academically, this study develops the risk theory of perception and behavior and expands the application of the life course approach in the public health arena. Practically, our research indicates that public health emergency experiences are valuable for responding to a future pandemic and normalizing prevention policies.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/9/1212life courserisk studypublic health emergencyCOVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Chenggang Zhang Pengrui Ou Pengfei Guo Does Public Health Emergency Experience Have an Impact on Individual Reactions during COVID-19? Healthcare life course risk study public health emergency COVID-19 |
| title | Does Public Health Emergency Experience Have an Impact on Individual Reactions during COVID-19? |
| title_full | Does Public Health Emergency Experience Have an Impact on Individual Reactions during COVID-19? |
| title_fullStr | Does Public Health Emergency Experience Have an Impact on Individual Reactions during COVID-19? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does Public Health Emergency Experience Have an Impact on Individual Reactions during COVID-19? |
| title_short | Does Public Health Emergency Experience Have an Impact on Individual Reactions during COVID-19? |
| title_sort | does public health emergency experience have an impact on individual reactions during covid 19 |
| topic | life course risk study public health emergency COVID-19 |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/9/1212 |
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