Citizens’ engagement in health risk communication and preventive behaviors: the mediating role of perceived shared responsibility in the COVID-19 pandemic

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2025

Abstract

Background: In times of a public health emergency such as COVID-19, a government-centric approach may not be sufficient to contain the epidemic and ensure citizens’ compliance. This study proposes a theoretical model that integrates individual-oriented, social-oriented, and community-oriented factors to predict individuals’ engagement in preventive behaviors and citizen health emergency communication (CHEC). Perceived shared responsibility, which results from the communal nature of the pandemic, is tested as a mediator in the relationships between different motivations and behaviors in the context of COVID-19. Method: To test the model, an online survey with a quota sample of 1,301 adults reflecting the composition of the U.S. population was conducted via Qualtrics. Results: Results show that perceived severity, self-efficacy, worry, and social support significantly increase the perception of shared responsibility, subsequently increasing individuals’ adherence to preventive behaviors and their engagement in CHEC. In this process, shared responsibility serves as a mediator between some tested relationships between motivators and two types of behaviors (i.e. communication and prevention). Conclusions: During a public health emergency, individuals’ preventive behaviors and communication behaviors are determined by the individual-oriented (e.g. perceived severity), social-oriented (e.g. social support), and community-oriented (e.g. perception of shared responsibility) factors. In this mechanism, the perception of shared responsibility explains how some motivators influence individuals’ communication and prevention behaviors.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Journal of Communication in Healthcare

First Page

55

Last Page

64

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