RT journal article
T1 Illness Perceptions of COVID-19 in Europe: Predictors, Impacts and Temporal Evolution
A1 Dias Neto, David
A1 Nunes da Silva, Ana
A1 Roberto, Magda Sofia
A1 Lubenko, Jelena
A1 Constantinou, Marios
A1 Nicolaou, Christiana
A1 Lamnisos, Demetris
A1 Papacostas, Savvas
A1 Höfer, Stefan
A1 Presti, Giovambattista
A1 Squatrito, Valeria
A1 Vasiliou, Vasilis S
A1 McHugh, Louise
A1 Monestès, Jean-Louis
A1 Baban, Adriana
A1 Álvarez Gálvez, Javier
A1 Paez-Blarrina, Marisa
A1 Montesinos, Francisco
A1 Valdivia-Salas, Sonsoles
A1 Ori, Dorottya
A1 Lappalainen, Raimo
A1 Kleszcz, Bartosz
A1 Gloster, Andrew T.
A1 Karekla, Maria
A1 Kassianos, Angelos P.
A2 BiomedicinaBiotecnología y Salud Pública
K1 illness perceptions
K1 COVID-19
K1 common sense model
K1 illness representations
K1 stress
AB Objective: Illness perceptions (IP) are important predictors of emotional and behavioral responses in many diseases. The current study aims to investigate the COVID-19-related IP throughout Europe. The specific goals are to understand the temporal development, identify predictors (within demographics and contact with COVID-19) and examine the impacts of IP on perceived stress and preventive behaviors.Methods: This was a time-series-cross-section study of 7,032 participants from 16 European countries using multilevel modeling from April to June 2020. IP were measured with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire. Temporal patterns were observed considering the date of participation and the date recoded to account the epidemiological evolution of each country. The outcomes considered were perceived stress and COVID-19 preventive behaviors.Results: There were significant trends, over time, for several IP, suggesting a small decrease in negativity in the perception of COVID-19 in the community. Age, gender, and education level related to some, but not all, IP. Considering the self-regulation model, perceptions consistently predicted general stress and were less consistently related to preventive behaviors. Country showed no effect in the predictive model, suggesting that national differences may have little relevance for IP, in this context.Conclusion: The present study provides a comprehensive picture of COVID-19 IP in Europe in an early stage of the pandemic. The results shed light on the process of IP formation with implications for health-related outcomes and their evolution.
PB FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
SN 1664-1078
YR 2021
FD 2021-04
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/24940
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/24940
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 11-nov-2026