Abstract

We conduct a large (N = 6567) online experiment to measure the features of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) that citizens of six European countries perceive to lower the risk of transmission of SARS-Cov-2 the most. We collected data in Bulgaria (n = 1069), France (n = 1108), Poland (n = 1104), Italy (n = 1087), Spain (n = 1102) and Sweden (n = 1097). Based on the features of the most widely adopted public health guidelines to reduce SARS-Cov-2 transmission (mask wearing vs not, outdoor vs indoor contact, short vs 90 min meetings, few vs many people present, and physical distancing of 1 or 2 m), we conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to estimate the public’s perceived risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in scenarios that presented mutually exclusive constellations of these features. Our findings indicate that participants’ perception of transmission risk was most influenced by the NPI attributes of mask-wearing and outdoor meetings and the least by NPI attributes that focus on physical distancing, meeting duration, and meeting size. Differentiating by country, gender, age, cognitive style (reflective or intuitive), and perceived freight of COVID-19 moreover allowed us to identify important differences between subgroups. Our findings highlight the importance of improving health policy communication and citizens’ health literacy about the design of NPIs and the transmission risk of SARS-Cov-2 and potentially future viruses.

Details

Title
Assessing the perceived effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions on SARS-Cov-2 transmission risk: an experimental study in Europe
Author
Veltri, Giuseppe Alessandro 1 ; Steinert, Janina Isabel 2 ; Sternberg, Henrike 3 ; Galizzi, Matteo M. 4 ; Fasolo, Barbara 5 ; Kourtidis, Ploutarchos 4 ; Büthe, Tim 6 ; Gaskell, George 7 

 University of Trento, Department of Sociology and Social Research, Trento, Italy (GRID:grid.11696.39) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 0351) 
 Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology & TUM School of Medicine and Health, Munich, Germany (GRID:grid.6936.a) (ISNI:0000 0001 2322 2966) 
 Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology & TUM School of Management, Munich, Germany (GRID:grid.6936.a) (ISNI:0000 0001 2322 2966); Technical University of Munich, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy & TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology & TUM School of Management, Munich, Germany (GRID:grid.6936.a) (ISNI:0000 0001 2322 2966) 
 London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science and LSE Behavioural Lab, London, UK (GRID:grid.13063.37) (ISNI:0000 0001 0789 5319) 
 London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Management, London, UK (GRID:grid.13063.37) (ISNI:0000 0001 0789 5319) 
 Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology & TUM School of Medicine and Health, Munich, Germany (GRID:grid.6936.a) (ISNI:0000 0001 2322 2966); Duke University, Sanford School of Public Policy, Durham, USA (GRID:grid.26009.3d) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 7961) 
 London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science and LSE Behavioural Lab, London, UK (GRID:grid.13063.37) (ISNI:0000 0001 0789 5319); London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Methodology, London, UK (GRID:grid.13063.37) (ISNI:0000 0001 0789 5319) 
Pages
4857
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2932708932
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.