A worldwide assessment of changes in adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviours and hypothesized pandemic fatigue
As the COVID-19 pandemic lingers, the possibility of 'pandemic fatigue' has raised worldwide concerns. Here, we examine whether there was a gradual reduction in adherence to protective behaviours against COVID-19 from March through December 2020, as hypothesized in expectations of fatigue....
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Springer Nature
2021
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| _version_ | 1797109839552315392 |
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| author | Petherick, A Goldszmidt, R Andrade, EB Furst, R Hale, T Pott, A Wood, A |
| author_facet | Petherick, A Goldszmidt, R Andrade, EB Furst, R Hale, T Pott, A Wood, A |
| author_sort | Petherick, A |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | As the COVID-19 pandemic lingers, the possibility of 'pandemic fatigue' has raised worldwide concerns. Here, we examine whether there was a gradual reduction in adherence to protective behaviours against COVID-19 from March through December 2020, as hypothesized in expectations of fatigue. We considered self-report behaviours from representative samples of the populations of 14 countries (N = 238,797), as well as mobility and policy data for 124 countries. Our results show that changes in adherence were empirically meaningful and geographically widespread. While a low-cost and habituating behaviour (mask wearing) exhibited a linear rise in adherence, high-cost and sensitizing behaviours (physical distancing) declined, but this decline decelerated over time, with small rebounds seen in later months. Reductions in adherence to physical distancing showed little difference across societal groups, but were less intense in countries with high interpersonal trust. Alternative underlying mechanisms and policy implications are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:46:55Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:6ab26aab-ddeb-4e8d-aee8-6d0ef75928ca |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:46:55Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:6ab26aab-ddeb-4e8d-aee8-6d0ef75928ca2023-06-14T13:58:41ZA worldwide assessment of changes in adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviours and hypothesized pandemic fatigueJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:6ab26aab-ddeb-4e8d-aee8-6d0ef75928caEnglishSymplectic ElementsSpringer Nature2021Petherick, AGoldszmidt, RAndrade, EBFurst, RHale, TPott, AWood, AAs the COVID-19 pandemic lingers, the possibility of 'pandemic fatigue' has raised worldwide concerns. Here, we examine whether there was a gradual reduction in adherence to protective behaviours against COVID-19 from March through December 2020, as hypothesized in expectations of fatigue. We considered self-report behaviours from representative samples of the populations of 14 countries (N = 238,797), as well as mobility and policy data for 124 countries. Our results show that changes in adherence were empirically meaningful and geographically widespread. While a low-cost and habituating behaviour (mask wearing) exhibited a linear rise in adherence, high-cost and sensitizing behaviours (physical distancing) declined, but this decline decelerated over time, with small rebounds seen in later months. Reductions in adherence to physical distancing showed little difference across societal groups, but were less intense in countries with high interpersonal trust. Alternative underlying mechanisms and policy implications are discussed. |
| spellingShingle | Petherick, A Goldszmidt, R Andrade, EB Furst, R Hale, T Pott, A Wood, A A worldwide assessment of changes in adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviours and hypothesized pandemic fatigue |
| title | A worldwide assessment of changes in adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviours and hypothesized pandemic fatigue |
| title_full | A worldwide assessment of changes in adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviours and hypothesized pandemic fatigue |
| title_fullStr | A worldwide assessment of changes in adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviours and hypothesized pandemic fatigue |
| title_full_unstemmed | A worldwide assessment of changes in adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviours and hypothesized pandemic fatigue |
| title_short | A worldwide assessment of changes in adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviours and hypothesized pandemic fatigue |
| title_sort | worldwide assessment of changes in adherence to covid 19 protective behaviours and hypothesized pandemic fatigue |
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