CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 658COVID-19 Prevention and ImpactBehavioral Health and InterventionsCOVID-19 epidemiological studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 10 of the 10 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Applying principles of behaviour change to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission

Open access
West, Robert, Michie, Susan, Rubin, G. James, Amlôt, Richard·2020·Nature Human Behaviour
DOI 10.1038/s41562-020-0887-9
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Human behaviour is central to transmission of SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and changing behaviour is crucial to preventing transmission in the absence of pharmaceutical interventions. Isolation and social distancing measures, including edicts to stay at home, have been brought into place across the globe to reduce transmission of the virus, but at a huge cost to individuals and society. In addition to these measures, we urgently need effective interventions to increase adherence to behaviours that individuals in communities can enact to protect themselves and others: use of tissues to catch expelled droplets from coughs or sneezes, use of face masks as appropriate, hand-washing on all occasions when required, disinfecting objects and surfaces, physical distancing, and not touching one's eyes, nose or mouth. There is an urgent need for direct evidence to inform development of such interventions, but it is possible to make a start by applying behavioural science methods and models.

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/s41562-020-0887-9

Cites

0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 28

  1. Bradley, D.T., Mansouri, M.A., Kee, F. & Garcia, L.M.T. A systems approach to preventing and responding to COVID-19. EClinicalMedicine https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100325 (2020). · DOI
  2. Lunn, P. et al. Using behavioural science to help fight the coronavirus. J. Behav. Pub. Admin. 3, https://doi.org/10.30636/jbpa.31.147 (2020). · DOI
  3. Taylor, S. The Psychology of Pandemics: Preparing for the Next Global Outbreak of Infectious Disease (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019).
  4. Shah, H. Global problems need social science. Nature 577, 295 (2020). · DOI
  5. Lake, M. A. What we know so far: COVID-19 current clinical knowledge and research. Clin. Med. (Lond.) 20, 124–127 (2020). · DOI
  6. Lu, J. et al. COVID-19 outbreak associated with air conditioning in restaurant, Guangzhou, China, 2020. Emerg. Infect. Dis. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2607.200764 (2020). · DOI
  7. Lewis, D. Is the coronavirus airborne? Experts can’t agree. Nature 580, 175 (2020). · DOI
  8. Cowling, B. J. et al. Impact assessment of non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19 and influenza in Hong Kong: an observational study. Lancet Public Health https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30090-6 (2020). · DOI · Paper page
  9. Service, R. You may be able to spread coronavirus just by breathing, new report finds. Science https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/you-may-be-able-spread-coronavirus-just-breathing-new-report-finds# (2 April 2020). · DOI
  10. Bourouiba, L. Turbulent gas clouds and respiratory pathogen emissions: potential implications for reducing transmission of COVID-19. J. Am. Med. Assoc. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.4756 (2020). · DOI · Paper page
  11. Boone, S. A. & Gerba, C. P. Significance of fomites in the spread of respiratory and enteric viral disease. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73, 1687–1696 (2007). · DOI
  12. Doronina, O., Jones, D., Martello, M., Biron, A. & Lavoie-Tremblay, M. A systematic review on the effectiveness of interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance of nurses in the hospital setting. J. Nurs. Scholarsh. 49, 143–152 (2017). · DOI
  13. Schmidt, W.-P., Wloch, C., Biran, A., Curtis, V. & Mangtani, P. Formative research on the feasibility of hygiene interventions for influenza control in UK primary schools. BMC Public Health 9, 390 (2009). · DOI
  14. Chida, Y., Steptoe, A., Hirakawa, N., Sudo, N. & Kubo, C. The effects of psychological intervention on atopic dermatitis. A systematic review and meta-analysis. Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 144, 1–9 (2007). · DOI
  15. Hashimoto, K., Ogawa, Y., Takeshima, N. & Furukawa, T. A. Psychological and educational interventions for atopic dermatitis in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Behav. Change 34, 48–65 (2017). · DOI
  16. Hornsey, M. J. Social identity theory and self‐categorization theory: a historical review. Soc. Personal. Psychol. Compass 2, 204–222 (2008). · DOI · Paper page
  17. Davis, J.M. in Perspectives in Ethology (eds Bateson, P. P. G. & Klopfer, P. H.) 43–72 (Springer, 1973). · DOI
  18. Mayraz, G. Wishful thinking. SSRN https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1955644 (2011). · DOI
  19. Kahneman, D. & Miller, D. T. Norm theory: Comparing reality to its alternatives. Psychol. Rev. 93, 136–153 (1986). · DOI
  20. Diefenbach, M. A. & Leventhal, H. The common-sense model of illness representation: Theoretical and practical considerations. J. Soc. Distress Homeless 5, 11–38 (1996). · DOI
  21. Michie, S., et al. Reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the UK: a behavioural science approach to identifying options for increasing adherence to social distancing and shielding vulnerable people. Br. J. Health Psychol. (in the press).
  22. Clark, F., Sanders, K., Carlson, M., Blanche, E. & Jackson, J. Synthesis of habit theory. OTJR (Thorofare, N.J.) 27, 7S–23S (2007).
  23. Sniehotta, F. F. et al. Complex systems and individual-level approaches to population health: a false dichotomy? Lancet. Public Health 2, e396–e397 (2017).
  24. West, R. & Michie, S. Routes of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and behaviours to block it: a summary. Qeios https://doi.org/10.32388/F6M5CB (2020). · DOI
  25. West, R. & Michie, S. A brief introduction to the COM-B model of behaviour and the PRIME theory of motivation. Qeios https://www.qeios.com/read/article/564 (2020). · DOI
  26. Janis, I.L. & Mann, L. Decision Making: A Psychological Analysis of Conflict, Choice, and Commitment (Free Press, 1977).
  27. Greenwald, A. G. & Ronis, D. L. Twenty years of cognitive dissonance: case study of the evolution of a theory. Psychol. Rev. 85, 53–57 (1978). · DOI
  28. McCrae, R. R. & Costa Jr, P. T. The five-factor theory of personality. in Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research (eds John, O. P., Robins, R. W. & Pervin, L. A.) 159–181 (Guilford Press, 2008).

Cited by

Sorted by citations

See all 658

Metadata

Authors
West, R., Michie, S., Rubin, G. J., & Amlôt, R.
Affiliations
  • University College London (GB)
  • King's College London (GB)
  • Public Health England (GB)
Corresponding author
West, Robert
ORCID
Venue
Nature Human Behaviour
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2020-05-06
Volume
4
Issue
5
Pages
451-459
ISSN
2397-3374 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41562-020-0887-9
OpenAlex
W3021447918
Cited by
658
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 26 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 96 · 2022: 133 · 2021: 206 · 2020: 109
FWCI
21.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature Human Behaviour (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit
  • National Institute for Health and Care Research
  • Department of Health and Social Care
  • University of East Anglia
  • King's College London
  • Public Health England
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › COVID-19 Prevention and Impact
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2 transmission, COVID-19 pandemic, behaviour change interventions, face masks, hand washing, social distancing, behavioral science, droplet transmission
MeSH terms
Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Communicable Disease Control, Disease Outbreaks, Hand Disinfection, Humans, Pneumonia, Viral, Quarantine, Health Behavior, Coronavirus, Coronavirus Infections, Disease Transmission, Infectious, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Pandemics, Hand Hygiene

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review