ArticleScientific reports2022
No evidence that mask-wearing in public places elicits risk compensation behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Effect of face-covering use on adherence to other COVID-19 protective behaviours: A systematic review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Compensate at your own risk: heterogeneity in compliance with preventive behaviors through the lens of economic and social preferences.International journal of health economics and management · 2026Article
- Adherence to mask wearing and social distancing and use of lateral flow tests during the COVID19 pandemic in England and Wales based on the virus watch community cohort study.Discover public health · 2026Article
- Association Between Social Distancing Compliance and Public Place Crowding During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Observational Study Using Computer Vision to Analyze Surveillance Footage.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2025Observational
- Context Matters: Patterns in Physical Distancing Behavior Across Situations and Over Time During the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Netherlands.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2024Article
- Airborne SARS-CoV2 virus exposure, interpersonal distance, face mask and perceived risk of infection.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Outdoor social distancing behaviors changed during a pandemic: A longitudinal analysis using street view imagery.PloS one · 2024Article
- People interact closer when a face mask is worn but risk compensation is at best partial.European journal of public health · 2023Article
- Article
- Cross-Theoretical Compliance: An Integrative Compliance Analysis of COVID-19 Mitigation Responses in Israel.Administration & society · 2023Article
- Health Behaviours among Travellers Regarding Risk Compensation Following COVID-19 Vaccination in Taizhou, China.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2023Article
- Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Face masks have been widely employed as a personal protective measure during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, concerns remain that masks create a false sense of security that reduces adherence to other public health measures, including social distancing. This paper tested whether mask-wearing was negatively associated with social distancing compliance. In two studies, we combined video-observational records of public mask-wearing in two Dutch cities with a natural-experimental approach to evaluate the effect of an area-based mask mandate. We found no observational evidence of an association between mask-wearing and social distancing but found a positive link between crowding and social distancing violations. Our natural-experimental analysis showed that an area-based mask mandate did not significantly affect social distancing or crowding levels. Our results alleviate the concern that mask use reduces social distancing compliance or increases crowding levels. On the other hand, crowding reduction may be a viable strategy to mitigate social distancing violations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.