RT Journal Article
T1 Face mask use during the COVID‑19 pandemic: how risk perception, experience with COVID‑19, and attitude towards government interact with country‑wide policy stringency
A1 Wismans, Annelot
A1 Millán Tapia, José María
A1 Thurik, Roy
AB Background: During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, governments imposed numerous regulations to protect publichealth, particularly the (mandatory) use of face masks. However, the appropriateness and effectiveness of face maskregulations have been widely discussed, as is apparent from the divergent measures taken across and within countriesover time, including mandating, recommending, and discouraging their use. In this study, we analyse howcountry-level policy stringency and individual-level predictors associate with face mask use during the early stages ofthe global COVID-19 pandemic.Method: First, we study how (self and other-related) risk perception, (direct and indirect) experience with COVID-19, attitude towards government and policy stringency shape face mask use. Second, we study whether there is aninteraction between policy stringency and the individual-level variables. We conduct multilevel analyses exploitingvariation in face mask regulations across countries and using data from approximately 7000 students collected in thebeginning of the pandemic (weeks 17 through 19, 2020).Results: We show that policy stringency is strongly positively associated with face mask use. We find a positiveassociation between self-related risk perception and mask use, but no relationship of mask use with experience withCOVID-19 and attitudes towards government. However, in the interaction analyses, we find that government trust andperceived clarity of communication moderate the link between stringency and mask use, with positive governmentperceptions relating to higher use in countries with regulations and to lower use in countries without regulations.Conclusions: We highlight that those countries that aim for widespread use of face masks should set strict measures,stress self-related risks of COVID-19, and use clear communication.
PB BMC
SN 1471-2458 (electrónico)
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/22211
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/22211
LA eng
NO Wismans, A., van der Zwan, P., Wennberg, K. et al. Face mask use during the COVID-19 pandemic: how risk perception, experience with COVID-19, and attitude towards government interact with country-wide policy stringency. BMC Public Health 22, 1622 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13632-9
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 1 jun 2026