Abstract
Objective
To investigate COVID-19 perceived risk and fear as predictors of preventive behaviors among young adult undergraduates, guided by the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM).
Design
Participants (N = 174;Mage = 21.94, SD = 3.24; 62% Hispanic, 79% women) were recruited from a large public university in Southern California and completed measures at two timepoints over a three-month period.
Main outcome measures
Participants self-reported COVID-19 risk, fear, preventive behaviors, and perceived effectiveness.
Results
Asymptotic moderated mediation indicated that COVID-19 fear fully mediated the association between perceived risk and preventive behaviors. Greater COVID-19 perceived risk was associated with more fear and, in turn, the engagement in more COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Furthermore, in partial support of the EPPM, participants’ perceived effectiveness of preventive behaviors moderated the relationship between fear and preventive behaviors where a significant conditional effect was found among only participants endorsing low levels of perceived effectiveness of preventive behaviors.
Conclusion
This study offers important implications for future health communication strategies by providing a network of associations that either attenuate or promote the engagement in risk-reducing preventive behaviors among young adult undergraduates. Findings highlight the importance of augmenting undergraduate knowledge on health promotion and illness prevention strategies.
Author contribution
Study concept and design: Serpas & Ignacio. Data collection: Ignacio & Serpas. Analysis and interpretation of data: Serpas. Drafting and critical revision of the manuscript: Serpas, & Ignacio. Authors provided approval of the version to be published.
Data Availability statement
Data available upon reasonable request.
Disclosure statement
None.
Funding
The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.