Attitudes, Perceptions of Risk, and Behavior Change of Students During Pandemics: A Systematic Review
Students in higher education institutions such as universities are at a unique risk for COVID-19 because learning takes place in a manner that warrants frequent social interaction. This systematic review of 18 studies examined the awareness, risk perception, and health behaviors among students in higher education institutions across 15 high- and low-resource countries. We found that accurate knowledge of the disease varied across different countries. We also found that students were more likely to use informal networks and social media to obtain quick and easy-to-understand information about the infection. However, a “casual” or low risk attitude was prevalent from the start of each pandemic of outbreak. This casual attitude circumscribed the adoption of prevention behaviors. We conclude our paper by using the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Model to recommend how to maximize the impact of the design and delivery of public health interventions in the student population.
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Supplementary File
Posted 04 Jan, 2021
Attitudes, Perceptions of Risk, and Behavior Change of Students During Pandemics: A Systematic Review
Posted 04 Jan, 2021
Students in higher education institutions such as universities are at a unique risk for COVID-19 because learning takes place in a manner that warrants frequent social interaction. This systematic review of 18 studies examined the awareness, risk perception, and health behaviors among students in higher education institutions across 15 high- and low-resource countries. We found that accurate knowledge of the disease varied across different countries. We also found that students were more likely to use informal networks and social media to obtain quick and easy-to-understand information about the infection. However, a “casual” or low risk attitude was prevalent from the start of each pandemic of outbreak. This casual attitude circumscribed the adoption of prevention behaviors. We conclude our paper by using the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Model to recommend how to maximize the impact of the design and delivery of public health interventions in the student population.