ArticleAmerican journal of preventive medicine2020
Relationships Between Initial COVID-19 Risk Perceptions and Protective Health Behaviors: A National Survey.
Article in American journal of preventive medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 231 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
231 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Risk perception of severity or death from COVID-19: a systematic review of the factors associated.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Risk Perception towards COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Synthesis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Are Fear Campaigns Effective for Increasing Adherence to COVID-Related Mitigation Measures?International journal of behavioral medicine · 2023Trial
- Thinking of future as an older individual increases perceived risks for age-related diseases but not for COVID-19.International journal of psychology : Journal international de psychologie · 2022Trial
- Examining the role of COVID-19 testing availability on intention to isolate: A Randomized hypothetical scenario.PloS one · 2022Trial
- Community psychological and behavioural responses to coronavirus disease 2019 over one year of the pandemic in 2020 in Hong Kong.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Framing vaccination as a collective responsibility increases intentions to vaccinate.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2026Article
- Impact of local COVID-19 incidence on health care personnel risk perception and social activity.American journal of infection control · 2026Article
- The impact of national context on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy across Europe.BMC public health · 2026Article
- The effect of government information release on public protective behaviors during the emerging infectious diseases epidemic in China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
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- Adaptive behavior in older adults according to age and schooling.European journal of translational myology · 2025Article
- Behavioral interventions and respiratory virus incidence in a two-cohort study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Risk perception and coping mechanisms by gender identity and education level during the COVID-19 syndemic in Spain.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Portrayal of risk information and its impact on audiences' risk perception during the Covid-19 pandemic: A multi-method approach.Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis · 2025Article
- Risk perception of emergency medical technicians in biological disasters: a comparison between COVID-19 and Non-COVID-19 cases.BMC emergency medicine · 2025Article
- For Better or Worse? Subjective Expectations and Cost-Benefit Trade-Offs in Health Behavior: An Application to Lockdown Compliance in the United Kingdom.Health economics · 2025Article
- COVID-19 Prevention and Mitigation Decision-Making Processes While Navigating Chronic Disease Care: Perspectives of Black Adults with Heart Failure and Diabetes.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Article
- A cross-sectional study of COVID-19 testing and disclosure hesitancy: The role of responsibility attribution in South Korea.PloS one · 2025Article
171 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionPerceptions of health risks inform decisions about protective behaviors, but COVID-19 was an unfamiliar risk as it began to spread across the U.S. In the initial stage of the epidemic, authors examined perceived risks for COVID-19 infection and infection fatality and whether these risk perceptions were associated with protective behaviors. They also examined whether findings differed between later versus earlier responders.
methodsBetween March 10 and March 31, 2020, a cross-sectional online survey was conducted with a nationally representative U.S. sample (n=6,684). Half responded before March 13, 2020 (versus later). Participants assessed their risks of COVID-19 infection and infection fatality (0%-100%) which were transformed into quartiles (1-4). They reported their implementation of protective behaviors like handwashing and social distancing (yes/no). Analyses were conducted in April‒May 2020.
resultsMedian perceived risk was 10.00% for COVID-19 infection and 5.00% for infection fatality, but respondents showed large disagreement. An increase of 1 quartile in perceived infection risk was associated with being 1.45 times (95% CI=1.33, 1.58) more likely to report handwashing, with perceived infection fatality risk showing no significant association. When predicting social distancing behaviors such as avoiding crowds, both quartile-based risk perceptions were significant (OR=1.24, 95% CI=1.17, 1.30 for infection and OR=1.19, 95% CI=1.13, 1.26 for infection fatality). Perceived COVID-19 infection risk, protective behaviors, and their relationship increased among later (versus earlier) responders.
conclusionsDespite disagreements about the risks, people perceiving greater risks were more likely to implement protective behaviors-especially later (versus earlier) in March 2020. These findings have implications for risk communication.
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