Factors influencing CDC- recommended preventative behaviors through the COVID-19 pandemic in college students

Abstract

Objective: To understand how student perceptions of physical health and generalized concern about infection influenced engagement in COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Participants: 418 full-time undergraduate and graduate students attending a public university in South Carolina, USA. Methods: A self-administered survey was distributed during the 2020-2021 academic year. The health belief model, structural equation modeling, and regression methods were used to evaluate associations between students’ perceived physical health and the use of CDC-recommended mitigation strategies. Results: Our findings suggest that an individual’s perception of their own physical health impacted engagement in preventive behaviors by influencing concerns about disease severity (p = 0.01) and susceptibility (p = 0.03). However, perceived physical health was not associated with perceived benefits (p = 0.21), barriers (p = 0.57), or self-efficacy (p = 0.62) of mitigation strategies. Conclusions: Intrapersonal factors may play a strong role in the way a student undertakes disease control and prevention.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• behavior patterns
• university
• health belief model
• SEM

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of The United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of The College of Charleston.