Should we take care of each other? Enhancing COVID-19 protective behaviors, a study in Chile, Mexico, and Colombia

The literature has suggested that social norms and perceptions of risk severity are critical variables in predicting protective health behaviors. Using an integrative conceptual framework, this study evaluates educational level, socioeconomic status, injunctive pro-care norms, perception risk, COVID-19 as predictors hygiene behaviors, mask use, physical distancing. Participants included 2,075 adults from Chile, Mexico, Colombia, three countries with the worst pandemic management. A structural equation model including hypothesized structure relations among fitted data well was invariant Chilean, Mexican, Colombian data. As proposed, against predicted behaviors directly indirectly through COVID-19, level COVID-19. These findings essential light development prevention campaigns promotion care strategies.