IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i21p8158-d440014.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Social Distance Scale (v1): A Screening Instrument to Assess Patient Adherence to Prevention Strategies during Pandemics

Author

Listed:
  • Michaela Prachthauser

    (Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, 4111 Pictor Ln, Orlando, FL 32816, USA)

  • Jeffrey E. Cassisi

    (Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, 4111 Pictor Ln, Orlando, FL 32816, USA)

  • Thien-An Le

    (Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, 4111 Pictor Ln, Orlando, FL 32816, USA)

  • Andel V. Nicasio

    (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, 67 President Street, MSC 861, 4th Floor, IOP South, Charleston, SC 29425-8610, USA)

Abstract

Background: This paper describes the development of a brief self-report screening measure of adherence to social distancing and self-protective behaviors in pandemic situations. Items measured behaviors currently established as primary strategies to prevent and reduce the spread of the COVID-19 infection. Methods: An item pool of 29 questions was generated with the aim of estimating the frequency of specific behaviors and were written to avoid confounding the description of behavioral actions with evaluative judgements. Responses were collected from 401 young adults using an anonymous online survey. Results: An Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted with the purpose of item reduction and subscale development. A 14-item Social Distance Scale emerged, consisting of four subscales: Isolation from Community (IC), Work from Home (WH), Family Contact (FC), and Protective Behaviors (PB). The initial psychometric evaluation of the scales indicated adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability. (4) Conclusions: The Social Distance Scale (v1) is a promising new instrument which may be applied at the population or individual level. It may be used in conjunction with COVID-19 testing to measure interactions between social distancing factors and transmission. In addition, a reliable screening measure has utility for health service providers to assess patient risk and to provide educational/counseling.

Suggested Citation

  • Michaela Prachthauser & Jeffrey E. Cassisi & Thien-An Le & Andel V. Nicasio, 2020. "The Social Distance Scale (v1): A Screening Instrument to Assess Patient Adherence to Prevention Strategies during Pandemics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-24, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:8158-:d:440014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8158/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8158/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel J McGrail & Jianli Dai & Kathleen M McAndrews & Raghu Kalluri, 2020. "Enacting national social distancing policies corresponds with dramatic reduction in COVID19 infection rates," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-9, July.
    2. Michael Greenstone & Vishan Nigam, 2020. "Does Social Distancing Matter?," Working Papers 2020-26, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alfredo García & Christopher Hartwell & Martín Andrés Szybisz, 2021. "Defying Gravity: The Economic Effects of Social Distancing," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4477, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    2. Christian Gollier, 2020. "Cost–benefit analysis of age‐specific deconfinement strategies," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(6), pages 1746-1771, December.
    3. Ichino, Andrea & Favero, Carlo A. & Rustichini, Aldo, 2020. "Restarting the economy while saving lives under Covid-19," CEPR Discussion Papers 14664, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Phurichai Rungcharoenkitkul, 2021. "Macroeconomic effects of COVID‐19: A mid‐term review," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 439-458, October.
    5. James K. Hammitt, 2020. "Valuing mortality risk in the time of COVID-19," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 129-154, October.
    6. Lou, Jiehong & Shen, Xingchi & Niemeier, Deb, 2020. "Are stay-at-home orders more difficult to follow for low-income groups?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    7. Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln & Dirk Krueger & André Kurmann & Etienne Lalé & Alexander Ludwig & Irina Popova, 2023. "The Fiscal and Welfare Effects of Policy Responses to the Covid-19 School Closures," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(1), pages 35-98, March.
    8. Anindya Ghose & Beibei Li & Meghanath Macha & Chenshuo Sun & Natasha Ying Zhang Foutz, 2020. "Trading Privacy for the Greater Social Good: How Did America React During COVID-19?," Papers 2006.05859, arXiv.org.
    9. Becchetti, Leonardo & Conzo, Gianluigi & Conzo, Pierluigi & Salustri, Francesco, 2022. "Excess mortality and protected areas during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Italian municipalities," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(12), pages 1269-1276.
    10. Battiston, Pietro & Gamba, Simona, 2021. "COVID-19: R0 is lower where outbreak is larger," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(2), pages 141-147.
    11. Tobias Schlager & Ashley V. Whillans, 2022. "People underestimate the probability of contracting the coronavirus from friends," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    12. Moritz Kersting & Andreas Bossert & Leif Sörensen & Benjamin Wacker & Jan Chr. Schlüter, 2021. "Predicting effectiveness of countermeasures during the COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa using agent-based simulation," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-15, December.
    13. Vincent Miozzi & Benjamin Powell, 2023. "The pre-pandemic political economy determinants of lockdown severity," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 197(1), pages 167-183, October.
    14. Dirk Niepelt & Mart n Gonzalez-Eiras, 2020. "Optimally Controlling an Epidemic," Diskussionsschriften dp2019, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    15. Chen, Simiao & Prettner, Klaus & Kuhn, Michael & Bloom, David E., 2021. "The economic burden of COVID-19 in the United States: Estimates and projections under an infection-based herd immunity approach," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    16. Adler, Matthew, 2020. "What should we spend to save lives in a pandemic? A critique of the value of statistical life," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 105283, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Abel Brodeur & David Gray & Anik Islam & Suraiya Bhuiyan, 2021. "A literature review of the economics of COVID‐19," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 1007-1044, September.
    18. Jean-Noël Barrot & Basile Grassi & Julien Sauvagnat, 2020. "Estimating the Costs and Benefits of Mandated Business Closures in a Pandemic," Working Papers hal-02896739, HAL.
    19. Alexandre Gori Maia & Leticia Marteleto & Cristina Guimarães Rodrigues & Luiz Gustavo Sereno, 2021. "The short-term impacts of coronavirus quarantine in São Paulo: The health-economy trade-offs," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(2), pages 1-18, February.
    20. William Brock & Anastasios Xepapadeas, 2020. "The Economy, Climate Change and Infectious Diseases: Links and Policy Implications," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 811-824, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:21:p:8158-:d:440014. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.