Caregiver worry about COVID-19 as a predictor of social mitigation behaviours and SARS-CoV-2 infection in a 12-city U.S. surveillance study of households with children
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Understanding compliance with COVID-19 mitigation recommendations is critical for informing efforts to contain future infectious disease outbreaks. This study tested the hypothesis that higher levels of worry about COVID-19 illness among household caregivers would predict lower (a) levels of overall and discretionary social exposure activities and (b) rates of household SARS-CoV-2 infections. Data were drawn from a surveillance study of households with children ( N = 1913) recruited from 12 U.S. cities during the initial year of the pandemic and followed for 28 weeks (data collection: 1-May-2020 through 22-Feb-2021). Caregivers rated how much they worried about family members getting COVID-19 and subsequently reported household levels of outside-the-home social activities that could increase risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission at 14 follow-ups. Caregivers collected household nasal swabs on a fortnightly basis and peripheral blood samples at study conclusion to monitor for SARS-CoV-2 infections by polymerase chain reaction and serology. Primary analyses used generalized linear and generalized mixed-effects modelling. Caregivers with high enrollment levels of worry about COVID-19 illness were more likely to reduce direct social contact outside the household, particularly during the U.S.'s most deadly pandemic wave. Households of caregivers with lower COVID-19 worry had higher odds of (a) reporting discretionary outside-the-home social interaction and (b) SARS-CoV-2 infection. This was, to our knowledge, the first study showing that caregiver COVID-19 illness worry was predictive of both COVID-19 mitigation compliance and laboratory-determined household infection. Findings should inform studies weighing the adaptive value of worrying about infectious disease outbreaks against established detrimental health effects. • Evaluated mitigation behaviours & SARS-CoV-2 risk in the 1st COVID-19 pandemic year. • Outside-the-home social interaction was common even during a severe pandemic wave. • Caregiver COVID-19 illness worry predicted compliance limiting social interaction. • COVID-19 illness worry predicted lower odds of household SARS-CoV-2 infection. • Patterns of outside-the-home social activity were consistent with pandemic fatigue.
Source: Preventive Medicine Reports
Authors: Steven M. Brunwasser, Tebeb Gebretsadik, Anisha Satish, Jennifer C. Cole, William D. Dupont, Christine Joseph, Casper G. Bendixsen, Agustin Calatroni, Samuel J. Arbes, Patricia C. Fulkerson, Joshua Sanders, Leonard B. Bacharier, Carlos A. Camargo, Jr, Christine Cole Johnson, Glenn T. Furuta, Rebecca S. Gruchalla, Ruchi S. Gupta, Gurjit K. Khurana Hershey, Daniel J. Jackson, Meyer Kattan, Andrew Liu, George T. O'Connor, Katherine Rivera-Spoljaric, Wanda Phipatanakul, Marc E. Rothenberg, Max A. Seibold, Christine M. Seroogy, Stephen J. Teach, Edward M. Zoratti, Alkis Togias, Tina V. Hartert
Institutions: Rowan University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt University, Henry Ford Health, Henry Ford Hospital, Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Rho (United States), National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Children's Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado Anschutz, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Northwestern University, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Columbia University, Boston University, Washington University in St. Louis, Boston Children's Hospital, National Jewish Health, Children's National
Language: English
Subfield: Modeling and Simulation
Field: Mathematics
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,720
Awards: G1217549976, G1280345717, Wisconsin Infant Study Cohort (WISC) ECHO Pediatric Follow-Up, G1769589968, G1805747755, G1933960382, G2042864921, G2097069326, G2321842868, G241973223, G2696711167, G2955784685, G3222093166, G398933897, G4632847937, Inner City Asthma consortium 3 (ICAC3), G5728689761, G5774483236, G6231576844, Environmental Risk Factors for Pediatric Sleep Disordered Breathing, G76102219, G7889805384, G8459994227, Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Researchers-HEROs Supplement, G9000001166, G9000043883, G9000078844, G9000099251, G9000101658, G9000109134, G9000122439, G9000145354, G9000206832, G9000330424, G9000332182
OpenAlex ID: W4404755756