Understanding protective behavior and vaccination adoption among US individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic: A four-wave longitudinal study

Abstract

During the long COVID-19 pandemic, individuals’ attitudes toward protective measures and vaccination vary, yet, research remains unclear about the dynamics underlying them. We collected matched data from US respondents at four time points from the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020) to the time when vaccines became widely available (August 2021). Our analysis shows that protective behavior and actual vaccination at T4 were affected by protective behavior and intention to vaccinate at T3. Protective behavior at T3 was driven by fear and information seeking at T2, while vaccination intention at T3 was affected by fear at T2. Fear at T2 mediated the effects of health status and perceived risk at T1 on protective behavior at T3 and T4, while information seeking at T2 mediated the effect of perceived knowledge on protective behavior at T3. Our findings inform research and public health practice regarding pandemic communication and protective measures.