Exploring the relationship between government stringency and preventative social behaviour’ during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

We constructed a preventive social behaviours (PSB) Index using survey questions that were aligned with WHO recommendations, and used linear regression to assess the impact of reported COVID-19 deaths (RCD), people’s confidence of government handling of the pandemic (CGH) and government stringency (GS) in the United Kingdom (UK) over time on the PSB index. We used repeated, nationally representative, cross-sectional surveys in the UK over the course of 41 weeks from 1st April 2020 to January 28th, 2021, including a total of 38,092 participants. The PSB index was positively correlated with the logarithm of RCD (R: 0.881, p < .001), CGH (R: 0.592, p < .001) and GS (R: 0.785, p < .001), but was not correlated with time (R: −0.118, p = .485). A multivariate linear regression analysis suggests that the log of RCD (coefficient: 0.125, p < .001), GS (coefficient: 0.010, p = .019), and CGH (coefficient: 0.0.009, p < .001) had a positive and significant impact on the PSB Index, while time did not affect it significantly. These findings suggest that people’s behaviours could have been affected by multiple factors during the pandemic, with the number of COVID-19 deaths being the largest contributor towards an increase in protective behaviours in our model

Using big data analytics to explore the relationship between government stringency and preventative social behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

We evaluated the association between preventative social behaviour and government stringency. Additionally, we sought to evaluate the influence of additional factors including time, need to protect others (using the reported number of COVID-19 deaths as a surrogate measure) and reported confidence in government handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used repeated national cross-sectional surveys the UK over the course of 41 weeks from 1st April 2020 to January 28th, 2021, including a total of 38,092 participants. Preventative social behaviour and government stringency index scores were significantly associated on linear regression analyses (R2 =0.6468, p<0.001, and remained significant after controlling for the effect of reported COVID-19 deaths, confidence in government handling of the pandemic, and time (R2=0.898, p<0.001). Longitudinal data suggest that government stringency is an effective tool in promoting preventative social behaviour in the fight against COVID-19

Using big data analytics to explore the relationship between government stringency and preventative social behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

We evaluated the association between preventative social behaviour and government stringency. Additionally, we sought to evaluate the influence of additional factors including time, need to protect others (using the reported number of COVID-19 deaths as a surrogate measure) and reported confidence in government handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used repeated national cross-sectional surveys the UK over the course of 41 weeks from 1st April 2020 to January 28th, 2021, including a total of 38,092 participants. Preventative social behaviour and government stringency index scores were significantly associated on linear regression analyses (R2 =0.6468, p<0.001, and remained significant after controlling for the effect of reported COVID-19 deaths, confidence in government handling of the pandemic, and time (R2=0.898, p<0.001). Longitudinal data suggest that government stringency is an effective tool in promoting preventative social behaviour in the fight against COVID-19