Social and moral psychology of COVID-19 across 69 countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all domains of human life, including the economic and social fabric of societies. One of the central strategies for managing public health throughout the pandemic has been through persuasive messaging and collective behaviour change. To help scholars better understand the social and moral psychology behind public health behaviour, we present a dataset comprising of 51,404 individuals from 69 countries. This dataset was collected for the International Collaboration on Social & Moral Psychology of COVID-19 project (ICSMP COVID-19). This social science survey invited participants around the world to complete a series of moral and psychological measures and public health attitudes about COVID-19 during an early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (between April and June 2020). The survey included seven broad categories of questions: COVID-19 beliefs and compliance behaviours; identity and social attitudes; ideology; health and well-being; moral beliefs and motivation; personality traits; and demographic variables. We report both raw and cleaned data, along with all survey materials, data visualisations, and psychometric evaluations of key variables.

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning.

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution-individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic.

Building Community Power To Dismantle Policy-Based Structural Inequity In Population Health.

Population health strategies tend to focus on individuals' behaviors, genes, or health care access, yet it is well established that socioecological conditions are fundamental to health and strongly influenced by policy. In the US, health and other policies continue to be shaped by the country's unique legacy of racial and economic segregation. Policy reform must be at the center of population health. This requires communities to have power. We present theoretical and empirical research linking community power and health, and we share an example of our work in which communities organized to hold policy makers accountable for advancing health equity in the distribution of parks. We call this a democratic approach to health improvement and discuss how population health, whether part of public health, philanthropy, or health care, needs to focus on community power and include funding for power-building organizations. We conclude that achieving health equity requires enhancing the quality of democracy.

Predicting attitudinal and behavioral responses to COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 became a global problem. Despite all the efforts to emphasize the relevance of preventive measures, not everyone adhered to them. Thus, learning more about the characteristics determining attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic is crucial to improving future interventions. In this study, we applied machine learning on the multinational data collected by the International Collaboration on the Social and Moral Psychology of COVID-19 (N = 51,404) to test the predictive efficacy of constructs from social, moral, cognitive, and personality psychology, as well as socio-demographic factors, in the attitudinal and behavioral responses to the pandemic. The results point to several valuable insights. Internalized moral identity provided the most consistent predictive contribution—individuals perceiving moral traits as central to their self-concept reported higher adherence to preventive measures. Similar results were found for morality as cooperation, symbolized moral identity, self-control, open-mindedness, and collective narcissism, while the inverse relationship was evident for the endorsement of conspiracy theories. However, we also found a non-neglible variability in the explained variance and predictive contributions with respect to macro-level factors such as the pandemic stage or cultural region. Overall, the results underscore the importance of morality-related and contextual factors in understanding adherence to public health recommendations during the pandemic.

Coronavirus Disease 2019-Related Extensive Thrombosis in a Patient Receiving Therapeutic Anticoagulation With Dabigatran.

Introduction and Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with respiratory failure and a hypercoagulable state. Studies have shown the use of oral anticoagulants, specifically dabigatran, can significantly decrease mortality from COVID-19. Dabigatran is an oral direct thrombin inhibitor commonly used for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and for the treatment or prevention of venous thromboembolism. The association of COVID-19-related extensive thrombosis while receiving full therapeutic anticoagulation with dabigatran has not been well-established in current literature. Case Report: We present a 73-year-old male patient with a history of persistent atrial fibrillation anticoagulated with dabigatran presenting with an active COVID-19 infection admitted to the intensive care unit. On hospital day 7, he developed extensive arterial and venous thromboembolisms. To our knowledge, this is the first published case of COVID-19-related extensive thrombosis while receiving full therapeutic anticoagulation with dabigatran. Discussion: Guidelines recommend prophylactic or therapeutic-dose anticoagulation with unfractionated heparin or low-molecular weight heparin for all patients if no contraindications exist; however, recommendations for the use of therapeutic oral anticoagulants have not been well established. Further studies are warranted to establish appropriate use of oral anticoagulants in the setting of COVID-19. Conclusion: Evidence from this report suggests clinicians should closely monitor patients at risk for hypercoagulability regardless of the anticoagulation therapy the patient may be receiving. Additionally, evidence from this case suggests a possible inferiority in the anticoagulation ability of dabigatran in patients with active COVID-19.

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic.

Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = -0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Analytic thinking predicts accuracy ratings and willingness to share COVID-19 misinformation in Australia.

The classical account of reasoning posits that analytic thinking weakens belief in COVID-19 misinformation. We tested this account in a demographically representative sample of 742 Australians. Participants completed a performance-based measure of analytic thinking (the Cognitive Reflection Test) and were randomized to groups in which they either rated the perceived accuracy of claims about COVID-19 or indicated whether they would be willing to share these claims. Half of these claims were previously debunked misinformation, and half were statements endorsed by public health agencies. We found that participants with higher analytic thinking levels were less likely to rate COVID-19 misinformation as accurate and were less likely to be willing to share COVID-19 misinformation. These results support the classical account of reasoning for the topic of COVID-19 misinformation and extend it to the Australian context.