Psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID‐related handwashing behaviours: A systematic review
Abstract Background The COVID‐19 pandemic, caused by the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus, has resulted in illness, deaths and societal disruption on a global scale. Societies have implemented various control measures to reduce transmission of the virus and mitigate its impact. Individual behavioural changes are cr...
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| Format: | Article |
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Wiley
2024-09-01
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| Series: | Campbell Systematic Reviews |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1421 |
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| author | Rachel Leonard Sean R. O'Connor Jennifer Hanratty Ciara Keenan Yuan Chi Jenny Ferguson Ariana Axiaq Anna Volz Ceri Welsh Kerry Campbell Victoria Hawkins Sarah Miller Declan Bradley Martin Dempster |
| author_facet | Rachel Leonard Sean R. O'Connor Jennifer Hanratty Ciara Keenan Yuan Chi Jenny Ferguson Ariana Axiaq Anna Volz Ceri Welsh Kerry Campbell Victoria Hawkins Sarah Miller Declan Bradley Martin Dempster |
| author_sort | Rachel Leonard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The COVID‐19 pandemic, caused by the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus, has resulted in illness, deaths and societal disruption on a global scale. Societies have implemented various control measures to reduce transmission of the virus and mitigate its impact. Individual behavioural changes are crucial to the successful implementation of these measures. One commonly recommended measure to limit risk of infection is frequent handwashing. It is important to identify those factors that can predict the uptake and maintenance of handwashing. Objectives We aimed to identify and synthesise the evidence on malleable psychological and psychosocial factors that determine uptake and adherence to handwashing aimed at reducing the risk of infection or transmission of COVID‐19. Search Methods We searched various literature sources including electronic databases (Medline ALL, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, ERIC, PsycInfo, CINAHL and Web of Science), web searches, conference proceedings, government reports, other repositories of literature and grey literature. The search strategy was built around three concepts of interest including (1) context (terms relating to COVID‐19), (2) behaviour of interest and (3) terms related to psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID Health‐Related Behaviours and adherence or compliance with handwashing, to capture malleable determines. Searches capture studies up until October 2021. Selection Criteria Eligibility criteria included observational studies (both retrospective and prospective) and experimental studies that measure and report malleable psychological and psychosocial determinants and handwashing at an individual level, amongst the general public. Screening was supported by the Cochrane Crowd. Titles and abstracts were screened against the eligibility criteria by three independent screeners. Following this, all potentially relevant studies were screened at full‐text level by the research team. All conflicts between screeners were resolved by discussion between the core research team. Data Collection and Analysis All data extraction was managed in EPPI‐Reviewer software. All eligible studies, identified through full‐text screening were extracted by one author. We extracted data on study information, population, determinant, behaviour and effects. A second author checked data extraction on 20% of all included papers. All conflicts were discussed by the two authors until consensus was reached. We assessed methodological quality of all included studies using an adapted version of the Joanna Briggs Institute Quality appraisal tool for cross‐sectional studies. Main Results Our initial searches yielded 23,587 results, of which 56 studies were included in this review. The included studies were cross sectional in design, came from 22 countries and had a combined sample of 199,376 participants. The vast majority of studies had samples from the general public, with eight of the studies focusing on specific samples. All included studies considered people over the age of 18. The quality of the majority of the studies was good (n = 30 rated low risk of bias), with 8 rated high risk of bias, predominately due to lack of reporting of recruitment, sample characteristics and methodology. Thirty‐four studies were included in the narrative synthesis and 28 in the meta‐analysis. Findings indicated that emotions about COVID‐19 (worry [0.381, confidence interval [CI] = 0.270–0.482, I2 = 92%) and anxiety (0.308, CI = 0.154–0.448, I2 = 91%]), knowledge of COVID‐19 (0.323, CI = 0.223–0.417, I2 = 94%), and perceived social norms (0.303, CI = 0.184–0.413, I2 = 92%) were among the malleable determinants most associated with handwashing. Perceived severity (0.006, CI = ‐0.011–0.023) and susceptibility of COVID‐19 (0.041, CI = −0.034 to 0.115) had little to no effect on handwashing behaviour. Authors' Conclusions Understanding the effects of various malleable determinants on COVID‐related handwashing can aid in the development and implementation of interventions and public health campaigns to promote handwashing behaviour in potential new waves of COVID‐19 or other respiratory infections. Emotions about COVID, knowledge of COVID and perceived social norms warrant further consideration in future research and policy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e064087af7004497a56e5dc285044e43 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1891-1803 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Campbell Systematic Reviews |
| spelling | doaj-art-e064087af7004497a56e5dc285044e432025-08-20T03:32:57ZengWileyCampbell Systematic Reviews1891-18032024-09-01203n/an/a10.1002/cl2.1421Psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID‐related handwashing behaviours: A systematic reviewRachel Leonard0Sean R. O'Connor1Jennifer Hanratty2Ciara Keenan3Yuan Chi4Jenny Ferguson5Ariana Axiaq6Anna Volz7Ceri Welsh8Kerry Campbell9Victoria Hawkins10Sarah Miller11Declan Bradley12Martin Dempster13School of Psychology Queen's University Belfast Belfast UKSchool of Psychology Queen's University Belfast Belfast UKCentre for Evidence and Social Innovation Queen's University Belfast Belfast UKNational Children's Bureau Belfast UKYealth Network, Beijing Yealth Technology Co., Ltd. Shanghai ChinaSchool of Psychology Queen's University Belfast Belfast UKSchool of Psychology Queen's University Belfast Belfast UKSchool of Psychology Queen's University Belfast Belfast UKSchool of Psychology Queen's University Belfast Belfast UKSchool of Psychology Queen's University Belfast Belfast UKSchool of Psychology Queen's University Belfast Belfast UKCentre for Effective Education Queen's University Belfast Belfast UKCentre for Public Health Queens University Belfast Belfast UKSchool of Psychology Queen's University Belfast Belfast UKAbstract Background The COVID‐19 pandemic, caused by the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus, has resulted in illness, deaths and societal disruption on a global scale. Societies have implemented various control measures to reduce transmission of the virus and mitigate its impact. Individual behavioural changes are crucial to the successful implementation of these measures. One commonly recommended measure to limit risk of infection is frequent handwashing. It is important to identify those factors that can predict the uptake and maintenance of handwashing. Objectives We aimed to identify and synthesise the evidence on malleable psychological and psychosocial factors that determine uptake and adherence to handwashing aimed at reducing the risk of infection or transmission of COVID‐19. Search Methods We searched various literature sources including electronic databases (Medline ALL, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, ERIC, PsycInfo, CINAHL and Web of Science), web searches, conference proceedings, government reports, other repositories of literature and grey literature. The search strategy was built around three concepts of interest including (1) context (terms relating to COVID‐19), (2) behaviour of interest and (3) terms related to psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID Health‐Related Behaviours and adherence or compliance with handwashing, to capture malleable determines. Searches capture studies up until October 2021. Selection Criteria Eligibility criteria included observational studies (both retrospective and prospective) and experimental studies that measure and report malleable psychological and psychosocial determinants and handwashing at an individual level, amongst the general public. Screening was supported by the Cochrane Crowd. Titles and abstracts were screened against the eligibility criteria by three independent screeners. Following this, all potentially relevant studies were screened at full‐text level by the research team. All conflicts between screeners were resolved by discussion between the core research team. Data Collection and Analysis All data extraction was managed in EPPI‐Reviewer software. All eligible studies, identified through full‐text screening were extracted by one author. We extracted data on study information, population, determinant, behaviour and effects. A second author checked data extraction on 20% of all included papers. All conflicts were discussed by the two authors until consensus was reached. We assessed methodological quality of all included studies using an adapted version of the Joanna Briggs Institute Quality appraisal tool for cross‐sectional studies. Main Results Our initial searches yielded 23,587 results, of which 56 studies were included in this review. The included studies were cross sectional in design, came from 22 countries and had a combined sample of 199,376 participants. The vast majority of studies had samples from the general public, with eight of the studies focusing on specific samples. All included studies considered people over the age of 18. The quality of the majority of the studies was good (n = 30 rated low risk of bias), with 8 rated high risk of bias, predominately due to lack of reporting of recruitment, sample characteristics and methodology. Thirty‐four studies were included in the narrative synthesis and 28 in the meta‐analysis. Findings indicated that emotions about COVID‐19 (worry [0.381, confidence interval [CI] = 0.270–0.482, I2 = 92%) and anxiety (0.308, CI = 0.154–0.448, I2 = 91%]), knowledge of COVID‐19 (0.323, CI = 0.223–0.417, I2 = 94%), and perceived social norms (0.303, CI = 0.184–0.413, I2 = 92%) were among the malleable determinants most associated with handwashing. Perceived severity (0.006, CI = ‐0.011–0.023) and susceptibility of COVID‐19 (0.041, CI = −0.034 to 0.115) had little to no effect on handwashing behaviour. Authors' Conclusions Understanding the effects of various malleable determinants on COVID‐related handwashing can aid in the development and implementation of interventions and public health campaigns to promote handwashing behaviour in potential new waves of COVID‐19 or other respiratory infections. Emotions about COVID, knowledge of COVID and perceived social norms warrant further consideration in future research and policy.https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1421anxietyCOVID‐19handwashingsocial norms |
| spellingShingle | Rachel Leonard Sean R. O'Connor Jennifer Hanratty Ciara Keenan Yuan Chi Jenny Ferguson Ariana Axiaq Anna Volz Ceri Welsh Kerry Campbell Victoria Hawkins Sarah Miller Declan Bradley Martin Dempster Psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID‐related handwashing behaviours: A systematic review Campbell Systematic Reviews anxiety COVID‐19 handwashing social norms |
| title | Psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID‐related handwashing behaviours: A systematic review |
| title_full | Psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID‐related handwashing behaviours: A systematic review |
| title_fullStr | Psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID‐related handwashing behaviours: A systematic review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID‐related handwashing behaviours: A systematic review |
| title_short | Psychological and psychosocial determinants of COVID‐related handwashing behaviours: A systematic review |
| title_sort | psychological and psychosocial determinants of covid related handwashing behaviours a systematic review |
| topic | anxiety COVID‐19 handwashing social norms |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1421 |
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