Suchergebnisse

The main goal of this research was to construct a scale to assess health beliefs about COVID-19, in the light of the Health Beliefs Model (Rosenstock, 1966). The study included 420 subjects, mean age M = 31.65 years (SD = 12.72). Two-thirds (76%) of the respondents were female. The respondents filled in a set of questionnaires via the Internet. At the very beginning, the purpose and goal of the research were explained and the consent for participation in the research was obtained. The survey was anonymous, while the data were collected from April to September, 2020. The COVID-19 Health Belief Scale showed satisfactory psychometric characteristics. Factor analysis has shown that four main components can be distinguished, which correspond to the types of beliefs included in the Health Beliefs Model (Rosenstock, 1966). Thus, four subscales were obtained: Perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 (four items), Perceived severity of COVID-19 (four items), Perceived benefit of preventive behaviour (four items), and Observed barriers to preventive behaviour (three items). This scale structure corresponds to other similar scales (HBMS, Champion, 1984; AHBS, Zagumny & Brady, 1998), based on the Health Beliefs Model (Rosenstock, 1966). The obtained average values of scores on the observed susceptibility to COVID-19 show that our respondents do not consider themselves either extremely susceptible or protected from contracting this disease. On the other hand, it is obvious that our respondents do not consider COVID-19 to be a serious enough disease, despite daily warnings that the disease is unpredictable and its consequences are serious, long - term, and even more frequent than of other viral diseases. The observed barriers to preventive behaviour are relatively low, as are the scores on the subscale. The observed benefits of preventive behaviour range from the highest possible scores. When we summarize these results, we can conclude that our respondents apply preventive measures, because they are convinced that they are useful in preventing infection, and that obstacles to their implementation have not been observed to a significant extent. However, it remains unclear why this disease is not considered serious enough. One possibility is that the information placed in the media was initially ambiguous, ranging from describing COVID-19 as a common respiratory infection to a serious illness with severe consequences. We can look for another explanation within our sample. Namely, the age of our average respondent was 31, and as many as two thirds of the respondents were women. Initial information about COVID-19, placed through the media, was that this disease seriously affects older people and, for the most part, males. Women perceived significantly more benefits from preventive behaviour, and men significantly more barriers. Respondents' burden of a chronic disease proved to be significant for two subscales: Perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 and Observed barriers to the implementation of preventive behaviour. People suffering from a chronic disease believe that they are more susceptible to the COVID-19 infection, i.e. that they are more susceptible to this disease compared to those who do not have chronic diseases. However, people burdened with a chronic disease notice several obstacles to the implementation of preventive measures at the same time. When it comes to the higher observed susceptibility to COVID-19 in married people compared to those who are not, we can assume several factors that lead to this: reduced possibility of isolation, double possibility of infection, greater social interaction due to different needs, and the like. This research has its limitations. Most importantly, we could not thoroughly examine the validity of the instrument, due to the lack of similar scales. Another important limitation is that the sample was mostly made up of women. The third important limitation concerns the average age of the respondents; this study covered only a small number of the elderly, who are most at risk during this pandemic. Nevertheless, we believe that the timeliness and novelty of the constructed scale are sufficient to indicate the need to use it, at least as a first step in the development of some future scales with a similar purpose. Recommendations for future research are such that they should respond to the stated limitations of this research; to be directed towards a thorough validation, towards different types of samples, but also towards studying both the predictors of these health beliefs and the value of these beliefs for predicting some forms of health behaviour, quality of life, adherence to medical instructions, etc.

Studying the process of aging and old age is an important question in social sciences. The quality of life at this age, among other things, is being enriched with new life opportunities and challenges, as well as developmental tasks every single individual has to face with. Therefore the focus of this research is the correlation of the quality of life and depressiveness with different demographic characteristics of older people in Serbia. The demographic variables included: gender, age, education, marital status and monthly income of the respondents. The quality of life is measured using the Older People's Quality of Life Questionnaire - OPQOL (Bowling, 2009), as well as several questions on life domain satisfaction and chronical disease, while depressiveness was measured using Geriatric Depression Scale - GDS (Greenberg, 2007). The sample was a convenience one, consisted of 497 respondents, 50,35% of men and 49,7% of women, 65-92 years old. The final results show that the quality of life of older people in Serbia is within the average range, and depressiveness belongs to the -category with the level of mild occurence. Men are more satisfied with a job they have or used to have, while women better estimate their independence and control over their life. The age of respondents positively correlates with marital satisfaction, satisfaction with job, with parental role, health, social relations, independence and monthly incomes. The amount of monthly income positively correlates with job satisfaction and well-being, while it is negatively correlated with health, social relations, independence, home and neighbourhood, financial status and the depressiveness of the respondents. The level of education is significantly correlated with marital satisfaction, job, whole life, health, social relations and activities, satisfaction with home and neighbourhood, emotional and psychic well-being, financial status and the level of depressiveness of the respondents. The persons who are still married are more satisfied with marriage and their own parenthood, with well-being, have a higher level of satisfaction with their religious and cultural life, while there is a lower level of depressiveness in regard to the persons who are not married. The respondents who have some kind of a chronic disease are less satisfied with life, generally speaking, because of poor health; they have a lower level of independence and satisfaction with their own home and neighbourhood, a lower level of well-being and less satisfaction with their monthly income. However, they showed a lower level of depressiveness in regard to the ones who have no chronic diseases. Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, as well as somatic chronic disease and depressiveness are significant indicators of the quality of life of older people. Being aware of the already known quality of life of older people can point out some practical implications important for creating and implementing the programmes intended for older people, while being focused on the improvement of the quality of life and standards.

The end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 were marked by the appearance of the virus SARS-CoV-2, which led to a health crisis around the world. Health preventive behavior was highlighted as, at that time, the only form of prevention of the spread of the disease. Factors that will lead people to adhere to the recommended forms of behavior have become the subject of research in various scientific disciplines. The Model of Health Belief is one of the dominant frameworks for studying health behaviors, and thus behaviors related to COVID-19. Health anxiety and beliefs about illness and preventive behavior are the starting point for considering the level at which individuals adhere to the recommended measures. The main goal of this research was to examine a model in which health anxiety and health beliefs are predictors of preventive health behavior in relation to COVID-19. The sample consisted of 420 respondents, 66.3% of whom were women. They completed an online questionnaire comprising the following instruments: Short Health Anxiety Inventory, COVID-19 Health Belief Scale, and COVID-19 Health Behavior Scale with two subscales-Protection in Social Contacts and Hygiene. After controlling for effects of gender and presence of chronic disease, perceived benefit of preventive behavior and the observed barrier can predict protection in social contacts. Hygiene can be predicted by the perceived benefit of preventive behavior and the perceived barrier. Health anxiety has not been shown to be a significant predictor of health behavior. The paper discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the obtained results. The obtained results partially support the Model of Health Beliefs. In order to increase the degree to which individuals adhere to health behaviors, the benefits of preventive behaviors should be emphasized while the barriers should be reduced.