TY - JOUR
T1 - Face mask use during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - how risk perception, experience with COVID-19, and attitude towards government interact with country-wide policy stringency
AU - Wismans, Annelot
AU - van der Zwan, Peter
AU - Wennberg, Karl
AU - Franken, Ingmar
AU - Mukerjee, Jinia
AU - Baptista, Rui
AU - Marín, Jorge Barrientos
AU - Burke, Andrew
AU - Dejardin, Marcus
AU - Janssen, Frank
AU - Letina, Srebrenka
AU - Millán, José María
AU - Santarelli, Enrico
AU - Torrès, Olivier
AU - Thurik, Roy
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/8/26
Y1 - 2022/8/26
N2 - Background: During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, governments imposed numerous regulations to protect public health, particularly the (mandatory) use of face masks. However, the appropriateness and effectiveness of face mask regulations have been widely discussed, as is apparent from the divergent measures taken across and within countries over time, including mandating, recommending, and discouraging their use. In this study, we analyse how country-level policy stringency and individual-level predictors associate with face mask use during the early stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Method: First, we study how (self and other-related) risk perception, (direct and indirect) experience with COVID-19, attitude towards government and policy stringency shape face mask use. Second, we study whether there is an interaction between policy stringency and the individual-level variables. We conduct multilevel analyses exploiting variation in face mask regulations across countries and using data from approximately 7000 students collected in the beginning of the pandemic (weeks 17 through 19, 2020). Results: We show that policy stringency is strongly positively associated with face mask use. We find a positive association between self-related risk perception and mask use, but no relationship of mask use with experience with COVID-19 and attitudes towards government. However, in the interaction analyses, we find that government trust and perceived clarity of communication moderate the link between stringency and mask use, with positive government perceptions relating to higher use in countries with regulations and to lower use in countries without regulations. Conclusions: We highlight that those countries that aim for widespread use of face masks should set strict measures, stress self-related risks of COVID-19, and use clear communication.
AB - Background: During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, governments imposed numerous regulations to protect public health, particularly the (mandatory) use of face masks. However, the appropriateness and effectiveness of face mask regulations have been widely discussed, as is apparent from the divergent measures taken across and within countries over time, including mandating, recommending, and discouraging their use. In this study, we analyse how country-level policy stringency and individual-level predictors associate with face mask use during the early stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Method: First, we study how (self and other-related) risk perception, (direct and indirect) experience with COVID-19, attitude towards government and policy stringency shape face mask use. Second, we study whether there is an interaction between policy stringency and the individual-level variables. We conduct multilevel analyses exploiting variation in face mask regulations across countries and using data from approximately 7000 students collected in the beginning of the pandemic (weeks 17 through 19, 2020). Results: We show that policy stringency is strongly positively associated with face mask use. We find a positive association between self-related risk perception and mask use, but no relationship of mask use with experience with COVID-19 and attitudes towards government. However, in the interaction analyses, we find that government trust and perceived clarity of communication moderate the link between stringency and mask use, with positive government perceptions relating to higher use in countries with regulations and to lower use in countries without regulations. Conclusions: We highlight that those countries that aim for widespread use of face masks should set strict measures, stress self-related risks of COVID-19, and use clear communication.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85137080263&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12889-022-13632-9
DO - 10.1186/s12889-022-13632-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 36028876
AN - SCOPUS:85137080263
SN - 1471-2458
VL - 22
JO - BMC Public Health
JF - BMC Public Health
IS - 1
M1 - 1622
ER -