Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bourassa, Kyle J
• Sbarra, David A
• Caspi, Avshalom
• Moffitt, Terrie E

Titel

Social Distancing as a Health Behavior: County-Level Movement in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Associated with Conventional Health Behaviors

Ist Teil von

• Annals of behavioral medicine, 2020-08, Vol.54 (8), p.548-556

Ort / Verlag

US: Oxford University Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2020

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Oxford Journals 2020 Medicine

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Abstract Background Social distancing—when people limit close contact with others outside their household—is a primary intervention available to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The importance of social distancing is unlikely to change until effective treatments or vaccines become widely available. However, relatively little is known about how best to promote social distancing. Applying knowledge from social and behavioral research on conventional health behaviors (e.g., smoking, physical activity) to support public health efforts and research on social distancing is promising, but empirical evidence supporting this approach is needed. Purpose We examined whether one type of social distancing behavior—reduced movement outside the home—was associated with conventional health behaviors. Method We examined the association between GPS-derived movement behavior in 2,858 counties in USA from March 1 to April 7, 2020 and the prevalence of county-level indicators influenced by residents’ conventional health behaviors. Results Changes in movement were associated with conventional health behaviors, and the magnitude of these associations were similar to the associations among the conventional health behaviors. Counties with healthier behaviors—particularly less obesity and greater physical activity—evidenced greater reduction in movement outside the home during the initial phases of the pandemic in the USA. Conclusions Social distancing, in the form of reduced movement outside the home, is associated with conventional health behaviors. Existing scientific literature on health behavior and health behavior change can be more confidently used to promote social distancing behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans stayed home more often in counties with healthier behaviors—including lower rates of smoking and obesity, and higher rates of physical activity and flu vaccination.