COVID-19 Fears and Preventive Behaviors among Prison Staff

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive characteristics of the sample.

Variables	N	M/%	SD/n	Min	Max
Covariates
Age	167	38.4	8.0	24	63
Male	171	82.5	141	0	1
Tertiary education	169	16.0	27	0	1
Correctional Officer	161	80.0	128	0	1
COVID-19 vulnerability	165	24.2	40	0	1
COVID-19 symptoms	171	4.0	3.9	0	15
Infected family member(s)	167	8.4	14	0	1
Positive COVID-19 test result	170	4.1	7	0	1
Fears (total number)	171	2.2	2.3	0	8
Fears (proportion)	171	58.5	100	0	1
Own physical health	171	31.6	54	0	1
Physical health of relatives	171	50.3	86	0	1
Own mental health	171	15.8	27	0	1
Mental health of relatives	171	30.4	52	0	1
Own economic/professional situation	171	11.7	20	0	1
Economic/professional situation of relatives	171	24.0	41	0	1
Economic situation in Switzerland	171	29.8	51	0	1
Family situation/personal relationships	171	25.2	43	0	1
Preventive behaviors (total number)	164	5.2	1.3	2	9
Preventive behaviors (proportion)	164	100	171	1	1
Mask wearing	168	75.6	127	0	1
Hands disinfecting	167	72.5	121	0	1
Distance keeping	168	38.1	64	0	1
Other protective measures	168	27.4	46	0	1
Not taking public transport to work	171	94.2	161	0	1
Reduction of social contacts	168	89.3	150	0	1
Not traveling abroad	168	67.9	114	0	1
Confinement	168	37.5	63	0	1
Prior COVID-19 test	167	15.0	25	0	1

N = total sample size, M = mean, SD = standard deviation, n = partial sample size, Min = minimum, Max = maximum.

Table 2. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics associated with fears of the pandemic impact and preventive behaviors.

	Bivariable analyses
	Fears (total)			Preventive behaviors (total)
Covariate	b	95% CI	p	b	95% CI	p
Age	−0.01	[−0.03, 0.01]	.604	0.00	[−0.00, 0.01]	.082
Male	−0.03	[−0.42, 0.37]	.899	−0.09	[−0.17, 0.00]	.055
Tertiary education	0.12	[−0.33, 0.57]	.600	0.09	[−0.03, 0.21]	.127
Correctional officer	−0.05	[−0.41, 0.31]	.780	−0.16	[−0.26, −0.07]	.001
Vulnerability	0.12	[−0.27, 0.50]	.552	0.04	[−0.05, 0.14]	.378
Symptoms	0.01	[−0.03, 0.06]	.599	−0.00	[−0.01, 0.01]	.934
Infected family	−0.27	[−0.97, 0.44]	.463	−0.10	[−0.29, 0.09]	.291
Positive test	−1.15	[−2.60, 0.30]	.120	0.08	[−0.17, 0.33]	.533
	Multivariable analyses
	Fears (total)			Preventive behaviors (total)
Covariate	b	95% CI	p	b	95% CI	p
Age	−0.01	[−0.04, 0.01]	.266	0.00	[−0.01, 0.01]	.830
Male	0.25	[−0.20, 0.70]	.270	−0.07	[−0.17, 0.03]	.181
Tertiary education	0.09	[−0.40, 0.58]	.710	0.04	[−0.11, 0.19]	.601
Correctional officer	−0.27	[−0.75, 0.21]	.264	−0.12	[−0.25, 0.02]	.091
Vulnerability	0.18	[−0.26, 0.62]	.416	0.01	[−0.09, 0.12]	.774
Symptoms	0.01	[−0.04, 0.05]	.790	0.00	[−0.01, 0.01]	.711
Infected family	−0.11	[−0.81, 0.59]	.750	−0.09	[−0.29, 0.12]	.419
Positive test	−1.14	[−2.37, 0.08]	.067	0.15	[−0.07, 0.36]	.185

b = unstandardized regression coefficient, CI = confidence interval, p = statistical significance. N ranges between 161 and 171 in bivariable analyses. In the multivariable analyses, N = 151 and 148 for fears and preventive behaviors, respectively.

Table 3. Bivariable association between fears of the pandemic impact and preventive behaviors.

	Fears (total)
Outcome	b	95% CI	p
Preventive behaviors (total)	0.01	[−0.01, 0.03]	.318
Mask wearing	−0.05	[−0.20, 0.10]	.499
Hands disinfecting	0.04	[−0.11, 0.19]	.600
Distance keeping	−0.01	[−0.15, 0.12]	.865
Other protective measures	0.01	[−0.14, 0.15]	.905
Not taking public transport to work	0.06	[−0.23, 0.35]	.687
Reduction of social contacts	0.62	[0.20, 1.05]	.004
Not traveling abroad	−0.06	[−0.20, 0.08]	.402
Confinement	0.10	[−0.04, 0.23]	.156
COVID-19 test	0.06	[−0.12, 0.23]	.530
	Preventive behaviors (total)
Predictor	b	95% CI	p
Own physical health	0.10	[0.01, 0.18]	.020
Physical health of relatives	0.04	[−0.04, 0.12]	.286
Own mental health	0.06	[−0.06, 0.18]	.316
Mental health of relatives	−0.01	[−0.10, 0.08]	.801
Own economic/professional situation	−0.02	[−0.16, 0.13]	.818
Economic/professional situation of relatives	−0.01	[−0.10, 0.09]	.869
Economic situation in Switzerland	0.01	[−0.08, 0.10]	.793
Family situation/personal relationships	0.07	[−0.02, 0.16]	.124

b = unstandardized regression coefficient, CI = confidence interval, p = statistical significance. N ranges between 153 and 171.

Table 4. Association between fears of the pandemic impact and preventive behaviors controlling for socio-demographic and clinical characteristics.

	Fears (total)
Outcome	b	95% CI	p
Preventive behaviors (total)	0.02	[0.00, 0.04]	.132
Mask wearing	0.04	[−0.21, 0.12]	.620
Hands disinfecting	0.10	[−0.07, 0.27]	.248
Distance keeping	0.04	[−0.12, 0.20]	.592
Other protective measures	0.00	[−0.16, 0.16]	.995
Not taking public transport to work	0.16	[−0.22, 0.54]	.412
Reduction of social contacts	0.63	[0.18, 1.09]	.006
Not traveling abroad	0.08	[−0.24, 0.07]	.293
Confinement	0.12	[−0.05, 0.29]	.161
COVID-19 test	0.17	[−0.05, 0.39]	.130
	Preventive behaviors (total)
Predictor	b	95% CI	p
Own physical health	0.12	[0.03, 0.21]	.006
Physical health of relatives	0.06	[−0.03, 0.15]	.165
Own mental health	0.07	[−0.05, 0.20]	.250
Mental health of relatives	0.02	[−0.06, 0.10]	.611
Own economic/professional situation	0.01	[−0.15, 0.16]	.948
Economic/professional situation of relatives	0.02	[−0.08, 0.12]	.720
Economic situation in Switzerland	0.02	[−0.07, 0.11]	.684
Family situation/personal relationships	0.09	[−0.01, 0.18]	.066

b = unstandardized regression coefficient, CI = confidence interval, p = statistical significance. N ranges between 145 and 151.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy and ethical restrictions.