The young and the Covid-19 pandemic
Manuela Zambianchi
The Covid-19 pandemic represents a collective traumatic event which suddenly spread all over the world in 2020, posing the question of how to reduce the risk of contagion. An ad hoc questionnaire, based on the Theory of Motivation to Protect, assessed beliefs about the severity of the pandemic, perception of vulnerability, beliefs about the effectiveness of protection used and the use of protection. 126 Italian emerging adults (29% males; 71% females, mean age = 23.82 years) participated in the study. Exploratory Factor Analysis, with Principal Axis Factoring as its method of extraction, highlights a four-factor solution that partly reflects the expected model. The first factor comprises items on the use of protection; the second factor items relating to vaccines, the third factor items on the perception of the effectiveness of the protection used, and the fourth factor items on denial of the seriousness of the pandemic. The preliminary evaluation results of the questionnaire confirm the assumptions of the Theory on Motivation to Protect on the relevance of beliefs and the perception of vulnerability for the adoption of protective behaviours.
Keywords
Questionnaire on Covid-19, Protective behaviours, Young people, Motivation to protect, Health interventions.
