The Influence of Demographic Features and Psychological Constructs on Observing Government-Advised Preventive Measures for COVID-19: The Case of Iran

Abstract

Background: The study aimed to assess how people change their social and health-related behavior in the context of COVID-19 epidemic in Iran. To this end, the theory of planned behavior was applied for predicting compliance with government-advised preventive measures. An attempt was made to examine how groups of people in terms of age, gender, educational level, income level, marital status, and health condition were observing the government-advised preventive measures.

Methods: Totally, 5021 people above the age of 15 years responded to an online questionnaire that included items related to demographic features, compliance with COVID-19 preventive  behavioral guidelines (home quarantine, avoiding social gathering, keeping physical distance of 1.5-2 meters, frequent hand sanitization, and avoiding shopping and outside recreation), TPB constructs (behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intentions to do the preventive behavior), and risk perception. The study was descriptive and conducted in year 2020.

Results: T-test, ANOVA, and correlations indicated that younger individuals, men, singles, people with lower educational levels, lower income level and no health condition reported lower compliance. Regression showed that intentions, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm were associated with higher compliance. Furthermore, in regression, young age, male gender, and lower level of education were associated with lower compliance with C-19 PB.

Conclusion: Young males with lower level of education infrequently comply with government-advised preventive measures. Also, intention, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm are related to compliance with government-advised preventive measures.