Social Pathways to Side-Effects: Personal Contacts and Social Media Predict COVID-19 Vaccine Side-Effect Expectations and Experience (preprint)

COVID-19 vaccine side-effects remain a substantial barrier to vaccination. Previous studies suggest that the experience of vaccination side-effects is exacerbated by expectations, but the extent to which social communication influences these expectations is currently unclear. A prospective longitudinal study (N=551) assessed whether three different information sources, face-to-face reports from personal acquaintances, social media posts, and news reports predict the development of COVID-19 vaccination side-effects and whether side-effect expectations mediate the relationship between the information sources and side-effect experiences. The number of pre-vaccination social media post views and impressions of severity conveyed from personal acquaintances significantly predicted pre-vaccination side-effect expectations and post-vaccination side-effects. Moreover, pre-vaccination side-effect expectations fully mediated the relationship between both sources of social communication and experienced side-effects. These data illuminate the pathways between social communication and COVID-19 vaccination side-effects and suggest that modifying side-effect expectations can change the COVID-19 vaccination experience.

Between authority and common sense: development and investigation of a model explaining COVID-19 preventive behaviours (preprint)

To protect themselves from COVID-19, people follow the recommendations of the authorities, but they also resort to placebos. To stop the virus, it is important to understand the factors underlying both types of preventive behaviour. This study examined whether our model (developed based on the Health Belief Model and the Transactional Model of Stress) can explain participation in WHO-recommended and placebo actions during the pandemic. Model was tested on a sample of 3,346 participants from Italy, Japan, Poland, Korea, Sweden, and the US. It was broadly supported: objective risk and cues to action showed both direct and indirect (through perceived threat) associations with preventive behaviours. Moreover, locus of control, decision balance, health anxiety and preventive coping moderated these relationships. Numerous differences were also found between countries. We conclude that beliefs about control over health and perceived benefits of actions are critical to the development of interventions to improve adherence to recommendations.