Adherence to COVID-19 Related Preventive Behavior: An Indian Study

Page: 426-431
Rajesh, Dinesh Chhabra, Arushi Jindal, and Shaurya Raj Singh (Department of Psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi)

The resurgence of COVID-19 second and third waves across the globe has posed a major challenge for governments to manage the pandemic. In order to control the spread of the infection, a major role is being played by COVID-19 appropriate behaviors. Adherence to preventive measures is important to flatten the curve and limit the spread. The present study attempts to understand how to increase this adherence and what factors influence or predict the COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. For this, the study administered questionnaires to a sample (N = 716), of whom n = 331 completed the survey measures, and were included in the final analysis. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate linear regression. Of the multiple variables, adhering to COVID-19 related preventive behaviour was significantly predicted by a positive attitude towards preventive measures (14.7%), followed by awareness about COVID-19 (4.4%) and health consciousness (2.3%). Adults aged 35 years or over and with higher education reported high awareness and positive attitudes towards preventive behaviour. Living with the family was significantly related to engaging in preventive behaviour and awareness was influenced by the availability of resources. The collection of data took place online from September to December, 2020 over a period of three months. These findings draw attention to the importance of increasing health consciousness, health awareness, a positive attitude towards preventive behaviour, and a sense of social responsibility in the community. A comprehensive approach building on them can thus warrant a range of solutions to mitigate the growing cases in the pandemic and dictate future actions to regulate health behavior in the present and future crises.