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Cited by 575COVID-19 Prevention and ImpactCOVID-19 epidemiological studiesCommunication and COVID-19 Impact

Non-compliance with COVID-19-related public health measures among young adults in Switzerland: Insights from a longitudinal cohort study

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Nivette, Amy, Ribeaud, Denis, Murray, Aja, Steinhoff, Annekatrin, Bechtiger, Laura, Hepp, Urs, Shanahan, Lilly, Eisner, Manuel·2021·Social Science & Medicine
DOI 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113370PMC PMC7493799
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Abstract

RATIONALE: Adolescents and young adults were identified internationally as a group with potentially low compliance rates with public health measures aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although non-compliance research during pandemics has typically focused on concurrent correlates, less is known about how prior social and psychological risk factors are associated with non-compliance during pandemics. OBJECTIVE: This paper leverages a prospective-longitudinal cohort study with data before and during the pandemic to describe patterns of non-compliance with COVID- 19 related public health measures in young adults and to identify which characteristics increase the risk of non-compliance. METHODS: Data came from an ongoing cohort study in Zurich, Switzerland (n=737). Non-compliance with public health measures and concurrent correlates were measured at age 22. Antecedent sociodemographic, social, and psychological factors were measured at ages 15-20. Young adults generally complied with COVID-19 public health measures, although non-compliance with some measures (e.g., cleaning/disinfecting mobile phones, standing 1.5-2 meters apart) was relatively higher. RESULTS: Non-compliance, especially with hygiene-related measures, was more prevalent in males, and in individuals with higher education, higher SES, and a nonmigrant background. Non-compliance was higher in young adults who had previously scored high on indicators of "antisocial potential," including low acceptance of moral rules, pre-pandemic legal cynicism, low shame/guilt, low self-control, engagement in delinquent behaviors, and association with delinquent peers. Young adults with low trust, including in the government's measures for fighting the virus, also complied less. CONCLUSIONS: In order to increase voluntary compliance with COVID-19 measures, public health campaigns should implement strategies that foster moral obligation and trust in authorities, or leverage trustworthy individuals in the community to disseminate information. For young adults with low self-control, self-monitoring, environmental restructuring, or nudging may increase compliance. Long-term investments into integrating youth with antisocial potential into society may decrease rule-breaking behaviors, including during pandemics when compliance saves lives.

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  • There is a dearth of evidence exploring environmental restructuring in the context of social distancing, which raises an important gap in the pandemic behaviour change literature.

    “Despite the speculated benefits of environmental restructuring, there is a dearth of evidence exploring this intervention function in the context of social distancing [35, 36] which raises an important gap in the pandemic behaviour change literature.”

    From Facilitators and barriers to social distancing for young people during the COVID-19 pandemic (2022) · cites this paper as [36]

    The Discussion mentions environmental restructuring as a possible way to manage low self-control, but it does not assess evidence for that intervention in social distancing. Searches for environmental restructuring and a lack of intervention evidence found no passage identifying the claimed research gap; page numbers were unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.72)

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Authors
Nivette, A., Ribeaud, D., Murray, A., Steinhoff, A., Bechtiger, L., Hepp, U., Shanahan, L., & Eisner, M.
Affiliations
  • Utrecht University (NL)
  • University of Zurich (CH)
  • University of Edinburgh (GB)
  • Integrierte Psychiatrie Winterthur (CH)
Corresponding author
Nivette, Amy
ORCID
Venue
Social Science & Medicine
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-01
Volume
268
Pages
113370
ISSN
0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113370
PMC
PMC7493799
OpenAlex
W3086421641
Cited by
575
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 74 · 2023: 94 · 2022: 177 · 2021: 168 · 2020: 15
FWCI
151.83
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Apollo (cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Funders
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › COVID-19 Prevention and Impact
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Communication and COVID-19 Impact
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, public health compliance, non-compliance, young adults, self-control, delinquency, public trust in government, moral norms, legal cynicism, guilt and shame, hygiene practices, social risk factors, nudging
MeSH terms
COVID-19, Adolescent, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Prospective Studies, Public Health, Switzerland, Guidelines as Topic, Guideline Adherence, Young Adult

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