IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0049806.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Longitudinal Investigation of Public Trust in Institutions Relative to the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic in Switzerland

Author

Listed:
  • Adrian Bangerter
  • Franciska Krings
  • Audrey Mouton
  • Ingrid Gilles
  • Eva G T Green
  • Alain Clémence

Abstract

Background: The 2009 H1N1 pandemic left a legacy of mistrust in the public relative to how outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases are managed. To prepare for future outbreaks, it is crucial to explore the phenomenon of public trust in the institutions responsible for managing disease outbreaks. We investigated the evolution of public trust in institutions during and after the 2009 pandemic in Switzerland. We also explored respondents’ perceptions of the prevention campaign and the roles of the government and media. Methodology/Principal Findings: A two-wave longitudinal survey was mailed to 2,400 members of the Swiss public. Wave 1 was in Spring 2009. Wave 2 was in Spring 2010. Six hundred and two participants responded in both waves. Participants indicated moderate to high levels of trust in medical organizations, the WHO, the Swiss government, the pharmaceutical industry, and the EU. On the other hand, trust in the media was low. Moreover, trust in almost all institutions decreased over time. Participants were satisfied with the amount of information received and indicated having followed official recommendations, but widespread concerns about the vaccine were evident. A large majority of participants agreed the vaccine might have unknown or undesirable side effects. Perceptions of the government’s and the media’s role in handling the outbreak were characterized by a substantial degree of skepticism and mistrust. Conclusions/Significance: Results show clear patterns of skepticism and mistrust on the part of the public relative to various institutions and their actions. Results underscore the importance of systematically investigating trust of the public relative to epidemics. Moreover, studies investigating the evolution of the public’s memories of the pandemic over the coming years may be important to understand reactions to future pandemics. A systematic research program on trust can inform public health communication campaigns, enabling tailored communication initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Adrian Bangerter & Franciska Krings & Audrey Mouton & Ingrid Gilles & Eva G T Green & Alain Clémence, 2012. "Longitudinal Investigation of Public Trust in Institutions Relative to the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic in Switzerland," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(11), pages 1-8, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0049806
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0049806
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0049806
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0049806&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0049806?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dupras, C. & Williams-Jones, B., 2012. "The expert and the lay public: Reflections on influenza A (H1N1) and the risk society," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(4), pages 591-595.
    2. Lennart Sjöberg, 2001. "Limits of Knowledge and the Limited Importance of Trust," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(1), pages 189-198, February.
    3. Thomas, S.B. & Quinn, S.C., 1991. "Public health then and now: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, 1932 to 1972: Implications for HIV education and AIDS risk education programs in the black community," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 81(11), pages 1498-1504.
    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. Ding, Hongxiang & Zhang, Junyi, 2021. "Dynamic associations between temporal behavior changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and subjective assessments of policymaking: A case study in Japan," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 58-70.
    2. A. Burcu Bayram & Todd Shields, 2021. "Who Trusts the WHO? Heuristics and Americans’ Trust in the World Health Organization During the COVID‐19 Pandemic," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2312-2330, September.
    3. Nitin Verma & Kenneth R. Fleischmann & Le Zhou & Bo Xie & Min Kyung Lee & Kate Rich & Kristina Shiroma & Chenyan Jia & Tara Zimmerman, 2022. "Trust in COVID‐19 public health information," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(12), pages 1776-1792, December.
    4. Dominika Ochnik & Aleksandra M. Rogowska & Ana Arzenšek & Joy Benatov, 2022. "Can Fear of COVID-19 Be Predicted by Religiosity and Trust in Institutions among Young Adults? A Prospective Cross-National Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-15, June.
    5. Francetic, Igor, 2021. "Bad law or implementation flaws? Lessons from the implementation of the new law on epidemics during the response to the first wave of COVID-19 in Switzerland," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(10), pages 1285-1290.
    6. An, Jiafu & Hou, Wenxuan & Lin, Chen, 2022. "Epidemic disease and financial development," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 332-358.

    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. Qi, Wen-Hui & Qi, Ming-Liang & Ji, Ya-Min, 2020. "The effect path of public communication on public acceptance of nuclear energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    2. Nahui Zhen & Jon Barnett & Michael Webber, 2020. "Is Trust Always a Precondition for Effective Water Resource Management?," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 34(4), pages 1423-1436, March.
    3. Aburto, José Manuel & Kristensen, Frederikke Frehr & Sharp, Paul, 2021. "Black-white disparities during an epidemic: Life expectancy and lifespan disparity in the US, 1980–2000," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    4. Han, Y. & Lam, J. & Guo, P. & Gou, Z., 2019. "What Predicts Government Trustworthiness in Cross-border HK-Guangdong Nuclear Safety Emergency Governance?," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1989, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    5. Maria-Laura Silva & Lionel Perrier & Jean Marie Cohen & Anne Mosnier & John Paget & Hans-Martin Späth, 2013. "Literature review of the decision-­‐making determinants related to the influenza vaccination policy," Working Papers halshs-00808536, HAL.
    6. Branden B. Johnson, 2004. "Arguments for Testing Ethnic Identity and Acculturation as Factors in Risk Judgments," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(5), pages 1279-1287, October.
    7. Michael Siegrist & Timothy C. Earle & Heinz Gutscher, 2003. "Test of a Trust and Confidence Model in the Applied Context of Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Risks," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(4), pages 705-716, August.
    8. Marcella Alsan & Marianne Wanamaker, 2018. "Tuskegee and the Health of Black Men," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(1), pages 407-455.
    9. Michael Siegrist, 2021. "Trust and Risk Perception: A Critical Review of the Literature," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 480-490, March.
    10. Patthanasak Khammaneechan & Kamolnetr Okanurak & Pornchai Sithisarankul & Kraichat Tantrakarnapa & Poonsup Norramit, 2011. "Community concerns about a healthcare-waste incinerator," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(7), pages 847-858, August.
    11. Yi Ge & Guangfei Yang & Xiaotao Wang & Wen Dou & Xueer Lu & Jie Mao, 2021. "Understanding risk perception from floods: a case study from China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 105(3), pages 3119-3140, February.
    12. Stacey M. Conchie & Ian J. Donald, 2006. "The Role of Distrust in Offshore Safety Performance," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(5), pages 1151-1159, October.
    13. Madeline Y Sutton & Simone C Gray & Kim Elmore & Zaneta Gaul, 2017. "Social Determinants of HIV Disparities in the Southern United States and in Counties with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), 2013–2014," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, January.
    14. Lennart Sjöberg & Britt-Marie Drottz-Sjöberg, 2008. "Risk Perception by Politicians and the Public," Energy & Environment, , vol. 19(3-4), pages 455-483, July.
    15. George Chryssochoidis & Anna Strada & Athanasios Krystallis, 2009. "Public trust in institutions and information sources regarding risk management and communication: towards integrating extant knowledge," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 137-185, March.
    16. Craig W. Trumbo & Katherine A. McComas, 2003. "The Function of Credibility in Information Processing for Risk Perception," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(2), pages 343-353, April.
    17. Nick Allum, 2007. "An Empirical Test of Competing Theories of Hazard‐Related Trust: The Case of GM Food," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 935-946, August.
    18. Dainius Genys & Aušra Pažėraitė, 2022. "Mapping Lithuanian transition towards sustainable energy: sociological account on a waste-to-energy case," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 10(2), pages 527-543, December.
    19. Corinne Moser & Michael Stauffacher & Pius Krütli & Roland W. Scholz, 2012. "The Crucial Role of Nomothetic and Idiographic Conceptions of Time: Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Nuclear Waste Management," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 138-154, January.
    20. Trudy Cameron, 2005. "Updating Subjective Risks in the Presence of Conflicting Information: An Application to Climate Change," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 63-97, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0049806. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.