Social support, perceived risk and the likelihood of COVID-19 testing and vaccination: cross-sectional data from the United Kingdom

Rusi Jaspal, Glynis M. Breakwell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Two samples of 227 and 214 adults completed surveys of social support, perceived risk of COVID-19 and COVID-19 preventive activity – in Study 1 likelihood of testing was examined and in Study 2 likelihood of both testing and vaccination were examined during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Path analysis showed, in Study 1, that access to help (as an indicator of social support) had a direct effect on likelihood of testing and indirect effects through self-efficacy, perceived risk and preventive behavior; and, in Study 2, that neighborhood identification (as an indicator of social support) had a direct effect on likelihood of testing and indirect effects on likelihood of both testing and vaccination through the mediators of strength of social network, loneliness, perceived risk of COVID-19, and preventive activity. Both studies suggest that level of social support (conceptualized in different ways) is an important determinant of COVID-19 testing and Study 2 shows it is also a determinant of likelihood of vaccination. As resurgences of COVID-19 occur, it will be necessary to monitor the likelihood of COVID-19 testing and vaccination behaviors and, especially, to promote confidence in the latter in individuals with decreased access to social support.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)492-504
Number of pages13
JournalCurrent Psychology
Volume41
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 8 Apr 2021

Bibliographical note

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Funding Information:
Studies 1 and 2 received funding from Nottingham Trent University and Wandsworth Borough Council, respectively.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

Funding Information:
Studies 1 and 2 received funding from Nottingham Trent University and Wandsworth Borough Council, respectively.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Perceived risk
  • Self-efficacy
  • Social support
  • Testing
  • Vaccination

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