Cognitive and Emotional Motivation to Explain Infection-Prevention Behaviors with Social Support as a Mediator During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study in Korea

Figures & data

Figure 1 Conceptual framework of the study.

Table 1 Characteristics of the Participants and Infection-Prevention Behaviors (N=700)

Characteristic	Categories	Value	Prevention Behaviors
			Value	t or F (p)
Age, years		48.13±4.39		2.38 (0.037)
	18–29	125 (17.9)	78.61±11.38
	30–39	107 (15.3)	79.54±12.89
	40–49	128 (18.3)	79.58±12.13
	50–59	136 (19.4)	83.13±11.63
	60–69	116 (16.6)	81.38±11.24
	≥70	88 (12.5)	80.97±12.73
Gender	Male	347 (49.6)	80.01±12.14	–1.20 (0.228)
	Female	353 (50.4)	81.11±11.88
Education level	Up to high school^a	187 (26.7)	79.16±11.93	4.14 (0.016)
	College^b	443 (63.3)	80.61±12.05	c > a^†
	Graduate school^c	70 (10.0)	83.98±11.48
Socioeconomic status	High^a	45 (6.4)	83.13±12.98	4.76 (0.009)
	Moderate^b	414 (59.2)	81.35±11.52	b > c^†
	Low^c	241 (34.4)	78.73±12.47
Stage of social distancing	First^a	152 (21.7)	82.77±11.30	6.77 (<.001)
	Second^b	173 (24.6)	81.33±11.78	a,b,c > d^†
	Third^c	187 (26.7)	81.27±11.56
	Not sure^d	188 (26.9)	77.36±12.67
Job	Yes	280 (40.1)	79.67±12.15	–1.60 (0.109)
	No	420 (60.0)	81.16±11.90
Perceived health	Poor^a	110 (15.7)	77.15±11.11	8.16 (<.001)
	Moderate^b	424 (60.6)	80.47±11.80	a < b,c^†
	Good^c	166 (23.7)	83.05±12.61
Vaccination status	No	72 (10.3)	77.33±12.93	–2.41 (0.016)
	Yes	628 (89.7)	80.93±11.86
Number of chronic diseases^††	None	368 (52.6)
	One or more	332 (47.4)

Notes: Data are mean±standard-deviation or N (%) values, except where indicated otherwise. ^†Post-hoc analysis (Scheffe test): ^a–dRefers to the categories of each variable to show the significant level at 0.05; ^††Multiple responses.

Table 2 Descriptive Statistics of Observed Variables (N=700)

Variable	Value	Number of Items	Potential Range	Skewness	Kurtosis	Cronbach’s Alpha
Self-efficacy	4.25±0.62	6	1–5	–0.83	0.39	0.85
Perceived barriers	2.85±1.08	6	1–5	–0.08	–0.97	0.91
Perceived benefits	3.99±0.66	6	1–5	–0.63	0.58	0.80
Perceived threats	3.88±0.66	6	1–5	–0.56	0.35	0.80
Social support	3.94±0.76	4	1–5	–0.71	0.53	0.86
Prevention behaviors	3.22±0.48	25	1–4	–0.37	–0.43	0.92

Note: Data are mean±standard-deviation values, except where indicated otherwise.

Table 3 Correlation Matrix of Observed Variables (N=700)

	1	2	3	4	5
	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)	r (p)
1. Self-efficacy	1
2. Perceived barriers	−0.06 (0.081)	1
3. Perceived benefits	0.62 (<.001)	−0.02 (0.493)	1
4. Perceived threats	0.36 (<.001)	−0.32 (<.001)	0.41 (<.001)	1
5. Social support	0.50 (<.001)	−0.13 (0.001)	0.53 (<.001)	0.39 (<.001)	1
6. Prevention behaviors	0.73 (<.001)	−0.08 (0.030)	0.57 (<.001)	0.40 (<.001)	0.52 (<.001)

Table 4 Parameter Estimates for the Hypothetical Model and Standardized Direct, Indirect, and Total Effects After Controlling for Demographic Characteristics (N=700)

Endogenous Variables Exogenous Variables	B	β (SE)	CR (p)	SMC	Standardized Coefficient (γ, β)
					Direct Effect (p)	Indirect Effect (p)	Total Effect (p)
Social Support
Self-efficacy	0.21	0.26 (0.03)	6.57 (<.001)	0.37	0.26 (<.001)		0.26 (<.001)
Perceived barriers	–0.04	–0.08 (0.02)	–2.49 (0.012)		–0.08 (0.012)		–0.08 (0.012)
Perceived benefits	0.21	0.28 (0.03)	7.08 (<.001)		0.28 (<.001)		0.28 (<.001)
Perceived threats	0.12	0.15 (0.03)	4.34 (<.001)		0.15 (<.001)		0.15 (<.001)
Infection Prevention behaviors
Self-efficacy	1.81	0.58 (0.10)	17.45 (<.001)	0.58	0.58 (<.001)	0.03 (0.010)	0.61 (0.018)
Perceived barriers	–0.16	–0.08 (0.04)	–3.35 (<.001)		–0.08 (<.001)	–0.01 (0.023)	–0.09 (0.005)
Perceived benefits	0.29	0.10 (0.10)	2.97 (0.003)		0.10 (0.003)	0.03 (0.001)	0.13 (0.010)
Perceived threats	0.18	0.06 (0.08)	2.14 (0.032)		0.06 (0.032)	0.02 (0.003)	0.08 (0.043)
Social support	0.47	0.12 (0.12)	3.90 (<.001)		0.12 (<.001)		0.12 (<.001)

Notes: Parameter estimates after controlling for age, perceived COVID-19 severity, stage of social distancing, education, socioeconomic status, vaccination status, and perceived health.

Abbreviations: B, unstandardized coefficient; β, standardized estimate; SE, standard error; CR, critical ratio; SMC, squared multiple correlations.

Figure 2 Path diagram for the hypothetical model. *p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001.