{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T18:41:38Z","timestamp":1778784098523,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,14]],"date-time":"2021-04-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1618358400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,14]],"date-time":"2021-04-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1618358400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research"},{"name":"Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["EPJ Data Sci."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In the absence of medical treatment and vaccination, individual behaviours are key to curbing the spread of COVID-19. Here we describe efforts to collect attitudinal and behavioural data and disseminate insights to increase situational awareness and inform interventions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We developed a rapid data collection and monitoring system based on a cross-national online survey, the \u201cCOVID-19 Health Behavior Survey\u201d. Respondent recruitment occurred via targeted Facebook advertisements in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We investigated how the threat perceptions of COVID-19, the confidence in the preparedness of organisations to deal with the pandemic, and the adoption of preventive and social distancing behaviours are associated with respondents\u2019 demographic characteristics.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We analysed 71,612 questionnaires collected between March 13-April 19, 2020. We found substantial spatio-temporal heterogeneity across countries at different stages of the pandemic and with different control strategies in place. Respondents rapidly adopted the use of face masks when they were not yet mandatory. We observed a clear pattern in threat perceptions, sharply increasing from a personal level to national and global levels. Although personal threat perceptions were comparatively low, all respondents significantly increased hand hygiene. We found gender-specific patterns: women showed higher threat perceptions, lower confidence in the healthcare system, and were more likely to adopt preventive behaviours. Finally, we also found that older people perceived higher threat to themselves, while all respondents were strongly concerned about their family.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Rapid population surveys conducted via Facebook allow us to monitor behavioural changes, adoption of protective measures, and compliance with recommended practices. As the pandemic progresses and new waves of infections are a threatening reality, timely insights from behavioural and attitudinal data are crucial to guide the decision-making process.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1140\/epjds\/s13688-021-00270-1","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,13]],"date-time":"2021-04-13T19:27:04Z","timestamp":1618342024000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":67,"title":["Behaviours and attitudes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: insights from a cross-national Facebook survey"],"prefix":"10.1140","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3014-8551","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniela","family":"Perrotta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Andr\u00e9","family":"Grow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Francesco","family":"Rampazzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Jorge","family":"Cimentada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Emanuele","family":"Del Fava","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Sofia","family":"Gil-Clavel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Emilio","family":"Zagheni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"270_CR1","unstructured":"World Health Organization: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): situation report \u2013 86. https:\/\/www.who.int\/docs\/default-source\/coronaviruse\/situation-reports\/20200415-sitrep-86-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=c615ea20_6. 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National ethics approval from local institutional review committees was deemed unnecessary. This study was conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in agreement with the data protection regulations valid in Germany. Electronic informed consent was obtained from all participants who actively opted in to participate in the online survey, enabling the collection, storage, and processing of their answers. All participants\u2019 data was treated anonymously.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no competing interests.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"17"}}