International Journal of Public Health (Apr 2022)

Government Trust and Motivational Factors on Health Protective Behaviors to Prevent COVID-19 Among Young Adults

  • Nicolás Bronfman,
  • Nicolás Bronfman,
  • Paula Repetto,
  • Paula Repetto,
  • Pamela Cisternas,
  • Pamela Cisternas,
  • Javiera Castañeda,
  • Javiera Castañeda,
  • Paola Cordón

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2022.1604290
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 67

Abstract

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Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of government trust on young adults’ adoption of health behaviors to prevent infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.Method: We tested the hypothesis that government trust would directly and indirectly (through worry/fear and subjective norms) influence the adoption of health-protective behaviors. A sample of 1,136 university students completed a web survey after Chile’s first wave of infections.Results: The results indicate that low government trust only indirectly (through subjective norms) influenced health-protective behaviors. Conversely, worry/fear was the primary motivating factor for adopting health-protective behaviors in young adults, followed by subjective norms.Conclusion: In scenarios where people perceive low government trust, emotions and social norms are the motivational factors with the most significant predictive power on the adoption of health-protective behaviors.

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