Covid in Scotland: Research says women more likely to follow rules
- Published
Women are said to be leading the way in preventative behaviours
Research suggests that women are better than men and young people at following coronavirus rules.
The findings are based on a survey of 7,000 people by a team at the University of Aberdeen.
They said their results showed the majority of those who took part had adopted preventative behaviours such as wearing face masks and washing hands.
However men and young people were identified as important groups to target for behaviour change.
The preliminary findings are part of the nationwide Covid Health and Adherence Research in Scotland (CHARIS, external) project.
During this stage of the project, the team from the university's Institute of Applied Health Sciences focussed on adherence - looking at how well people were sticking to the rules and identifying if there were groups of people less likely to comply.
The team asked their Scottish volunteers if they were sticking to social distancing guidance such as the two-metre rule, wearing face coverings in public and washing hands regularly.
They said the results showed that while the majority of Scots were following public health guidance, women were better than men and young people at following the rules.
Prof Diane Dixon said: "These initial results are encouraging in the sense that the majority of people in Scotland are adhering to the behaviours designed to protect ourselves and others from Covid-19.
"However, our work also found that there are groups of people - men and young people - for whom this behaviour change may be proving more difficult.
"Although preliminary at this stage, it does suggest that these groups may benefit from more targeted campaigns and messaging to promote this behaviour change."
The findings suggest men may need targeted infection prevention guidance in future
The team said handwashing, physical distancing and wearing face coverings had been adopted with a "high degree of automaticity", with handwashing the most established behaviour of the three, followed by face coverings and physical distancing.
'Underlying factors'
Dr Chantal den Daas said of adherence scales: "Having this measurement means that we have a way in which we can look at how things are going over time, as government directions change, or as sentiments change - as people get tired of the new restrictions.
"We are also able to use it to identify groups who adhere less and explore what predicts adherence".
She said "underlying factors" such as having confidence in being able to stick to the rules were important.
"It was particularly interesting to find that people have a personal style such that if they adhere to one of the behaviours they are likely to adhere to all three behaviours - physical distancing, wearing face covering, and hand washing", she said.
"Similarly, people who keep a two-metre distance, wash their hands frequently, and wear face coverings are also more likely to stay at home or only go out for the permitted reasons."
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: "We welcome the fact that the majority of people are following the rules and this research will help inform the Scottish government's approach when asking the public to stick with it in our ongoing effort to suppress this virus.
"It emphasises the importance of research in our decision-making. Adherence to guidance and rules is a collective effort and, while it has been an extremely difficult period for everybody, we will get there faster if we all stick together."
- Published16 March 2022
- Published19 July 2020
