IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i4p2011-d502087.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Moderating Effects of Perceived Severity on the Generational Gap in Preventive Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the U.S

Author

Listed:
  • Yunjuan Luo

    (Department of Online Communication, School of Journalism and Communication, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China)

  • Yang Cheng

    (Department of Communication, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA)

  • Mingxiao Sui

    (Department of Media & Communication, School of Arts and Science, Ferrum College, Ferrum, VA 24151, USA)

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, older adults appear to be more susceptible to the coronavirus disease. Although the health stakes are higher for older adults, individuals of all ages should adopt preventive measures to contain the human-to-human transmission of the virus. This study conducted a national online survey of 1843 adults at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. to examine age disparities in preventive behaviors against the virus. The results show that older generations, motivated by a higher perceived severity of the disease, were more likely to take the precautionary actions recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) than younger generations. This thus suggests that persuasive health messages addressing the severity of COVID-19 might reduce the generational gap and promote preventive behaviors among young people, to protect themselves and the elderly.

Suggested Citation

  • Yunjuan Luo & Yang Cheng & Mingxiao Sui, 2021. "The Moderating Effects of Perceived Severity on the Generational Gap in Preventive Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the U.S," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-12, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:2011-:d:502087
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/2011/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/2011/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhonggen Sun & Bingqing Yang & Ruilian Zhang & Xin Cheng, 2020. "Influencing Factors of Understanding COVID-19 Risks and Coping Behaviors among the Elderly Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Ming-Yan Wang & Peng-Zhu Zhang & Cheng-Yang Zhou & Neng-Ye Lai, 2019. "Effect of Emotion, Expectation, and Privacy on Purchase Intention in WeChat Health Product Consumption: The Mediating Role of Trust," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-19, October.
    3. Maria Esther Irigoyen-Camacho & Maria Consuelo Velazquez-Alva & Marco Antonio Zepeda-Zepeda & Maria Fernanda Cabrer-Rosales & Irina Lazarevich & Antonio Castaño-Seiquer, 2020. "Effect of Income Level and Perception of Susceptibility and Severity of COVID-19 on Stay-at-Home Preventive Behavior in a Group of Older Adults in Mexico City," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-16, October.
    4. Jung Ki Kim & Eileen M Crimmins, 2020. "How does age affect personal and social reactions to COVID-19: Results from the national Understanding America Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Odilia Renaningtyas Manifesty & Junga Lee, 2022. "A Spatial Adaptation Strategy for Safe Campus Open Spaces during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Korea University," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-15, July.
    2. Joon Woo Yoo & Junsung Park & Jong Ho Lee & Heejun Park, 2022. "Recovering from the COVID-19 shock: the role of risk perception and perceived effectiveness of protective measures on travel intention during the pandemic," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 16(3), pages 557-580, September.
    3. Nguyen Xuan Truong & Bui Hoang Ngoc & Nguyen Thai Ha, 2022. "The Impacts of Media Exposure on COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors Among Vietnamese People: Evidence Using Expanded Protection Motivation Theory," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.

    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. Carmen María Sarabia-Cobo & Aroa Delgado Uria & Marta García Lecue & Eva Izaguirre Palazuelos & César Martínez Ruiz & Ángela Fernández-Rodríguez, 2021. "Predictive Model of Preventive Behaviors against COVID-19 in the Older Adult: The PREASOC-COVID-19 Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-12, October.
    2. Jinjie Li & Jiayin Qi & Lianren Wu & Nan Shi & Xu Li & Yuxin Zhang & Yinyin Zheng, 2021. "The Continued Use of Social Commerce Platforms and Psychological Anxiety—The Roles of Influencers, Informational Incentives and FoMO," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-19, November.
    3. Pilar Bas-Sarmiento & María José Lamas-Toranzo & Martina Fernández-Gutiérrez & Miriam Poza-Méndez, 2022. "Health Literacy, Misinformation, Self-Perceived Risk and Fear, and Preventive Measures Related to COVID-19 in Spanish University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-18, November.
    4. Lee, Haena & Andrasfay, Theresa & Riley, Alicia & Wu, Qiao & Crimmins, Eileen, 2022. "Do social determinants of health explain racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infection?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    5. Mario Antonio Téllez-González & Juan Antonio Pineda-Juárez & Juan Antonio Suárez-Cuenca & Mónica Escamilla-Tilch & Daniel Santillán-Cortez & Silvia García & Sofía Lizeth Alcaraz-Estrada & Juan Carlos , 2022. "Epidemiological Profile and Social Welfare Index as Factors Associated with COVID-19 Hospitalization and Severity in Mexico City: A Retrospective Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-13, November.
    6. José Miguel Mansilla Domínguez & Isabel Font Jiménez & Angel Belzunegui Eraso & David Peña Otero & David Díaz Pérez & Ana María Recio Vivas, 2020. "Risk Perception of COVID−19 Community Transmission among the Spanish Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Bobo H. P. Lau & Mike K. T. Cheung & Lucian T. H. Chan & Cecilia L. W. Chan & Pamela P. Y. Leung, 2021. "Resilience in the Storm: Impacts of Changed Daily Lifestyles on Mental Health in Persons with Chronic Illnesses under the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-14, May.
    8. Abdul-Salam Sulemana & Sumeet Lal & Trinh Xuan Thi Nguyen & Mostafa Saidur Rahim Khan & Yoshihiko Kadoya, 2023. "Pandemic Fatigue in Japan: Factors Affecting the Declining COVID-19 Preventive Measures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, April.
    9. Bertoli, Paola & Grembi, Veronica & Morelli, Massimo & Rosso, Anna Cecilia, 2023. "In medio stat virtus? Effective communication and preferences for redistribution in hard times," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 105-147.
    10. Dian-Jeng Li & Nai-Ying Ko & Yu-Ping Chang & Cheng-Fang Yen & Yi-Lung Chen, 2021. "Mediating Effects of Risk Perception on Association between Social Support and Coping with COVID-19: An Online Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-12, February.
    11. Annika H. Davidsen & Maria S. Petersen, 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Mental Well-Being and Working Life among Faroese Employees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-14, April.
    12. Andrzej Robert Skrzypczak & Emil Andrzej Karpiński & Natalia Maja Józefacka & Robert Podstawski, 2022. "Impact of Personal Experience of COVID-19 Disease on Recreational Anglers’ Attitudes and Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-17, December.
    13. Liliana Cori & Olivia Curzio & Fulvio Adorni & Federica Prinelli & Marianna Noale & Caterina Trevisan & Loredana Fortunato & Andrea Giacomelli & Fabrizio Bianchi, 2021. "Fear of COVID-19 for Individuals and Family Members: Indications from the National Cross-Sectional Study of the EPICOVID19 Web-Based Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-20, March.
    14. Yating Chen & Luqi Li & Zhiji Tan & Chengcheng Ma & Binyan Wang & Qing Guo & Li Li, 2022. "Effects of Social Support and Loneliness on the Irrational Consumption Tendencies of Healthcare Products among the Elderly: A Structural Equation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-13, November.
    15. Maayan Shacham & Lee Greenblatt-Kimron & Yaira Hamama-Raz & Leslie R. Martin & Oren Peleg & Menachem Ben-Ezra & Eitan Mijiritsky, 2021. "Increased COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy and Health Awareness amid COVID-19 Vaccinations Programs in Israel," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-11, April.
    16. Taixiang Duan & Zhonggen Sun & Guoqing Shi, 2021. "Sustained Effects of Government Response on the COVID-19 Infection Rate in China: A Multiple Mediation Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-16, November.
    17. Firoza Haffejee & Rivesh Maharajh & Maureen Nokuthula Sibiya, 2023. "Exploring the Lived Experiences of Vulnerable Females from a Low-Resource Setting during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(22), pages 1-12, November.
    18. Maribel Jaimes Torres & Mónica Aguilera Portillo & Teresa Cuerdo-Vilches & Ignacio Oteiza & Miguel Ángel Navas-Martín, 2021. "Habitability, Resilience, and Satisfaction in Mexican Homes to COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-36, June.
    19. Sadiqa, Bibi Aisha, 2023. "Overcoming Vaccine Skepticism in Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study of Public Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors towards COVID-19 Vaccination," MPRA Paper 116204, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 25 Jan 2023.
    20. Bonny Yee-Man Wong & Tai-Hing Lam & Agnes Yuen-Kwan Lai & Man Ping Wang & Sai-Yin Ho, 2021. "Perceived Benefits and Harms of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Family Well-Being and Their Sociodemographic Disparities in Hong Kong: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-14, January.

    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:18:y:2021:i:4:p:2011-:d:502087. 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.