An Integrated Health Belief Model: Predicting Uptake of the First COVID-19 Booster Vaccine

Public health campaigns have turned to the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a guiding framework for the past six decades. Carpenter's 2010 HBM meta-analysis revealed important shortcomings as well as a path forward that has largely been ignored by recent COVID-19 research using this framework. Consistent with Carpenter's recommendations, this study on the uptake of the first COVID-19 booster vaccine focused on the overlooked interactional processes of the original HBM founders. Our study used SEM and Hayes's PROCESS 4.1 to explore the possibilities of the interdependent nature of the core three beliefs to form a model that is integrated. The study indicated that the core variables of the original HBM were significant predictors of the intent to take the first COVID-19 booster vaccine when considered in an interactional process framework. Our study results have implications for those designing public health advocacy campaigns regarding COVID-19 as it enters an endemic stage with future vaccines and medications.

A Survey of Fear for Others, Fear for Self, and Pandemic Anxiety Predicting Intention to Take the First Booster Vaccine to Combat COVID-19

This study examined the impact of fear and anxiety on the intent to take the first COVID-19 booster vaccine. The objective of this study is to provide guidance for messaging campaigns of public health practitioners. A survey approach provided insights about individuals' emotions of fear and anxiety related to adopting the first booster vaccine for the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

METHODS

Three independent variables were considered in their ability to predict the intent to take the first COVID-19 booster vaccine (BINT): Fear for Others (FOTH), Fear for SELF (FSELF), and COVID-19 Anxiety (CANX).

RESULTS

The confirmatory factor analysis supported an underlying three-factor solution for three central emotions in this study. A path analysis indicated significant direct effects for FOTH and FSELF in the prediction of BINT. The interdependent nature of these variables on the intent to get the first booster vaccine also was indicated by significant indirect effects.

DISCUSSION

Fear should be more precisely refined to include the fear for others (FOTH) beyond consideration of the fear for self (FSELF) from the impact of COVID-19.

CONCLUSIONS

FOTH and FSELF were demonstrated to be direct predictors of BINT. CANX was only found to be significant as part of indirect effects impacting BINT. Future investigation should be given to the mediating role of anxiety with FOTH and FSELF as the context changes.

Restrictive Group Support Systems as a Source of Process Structure for High and Low Procedural Order Groups

Most Group Support Systems (GSSs) have been designed to provide structure and process support for decision-making groups, but individuals and groups may have preferences for structuring group work that are not always compatible with the assumptions of GSS designers. This research reports a laboratory experiment which manipulated the degree of restrictive structure in a GSS and the preference for procedural order of the group. Performance was generally better when groups used the nonrestrictive GSS, although they were more satisfied with the restrictive environment. The results of this research suggest that preference for procedural order and restrictiveness moderates the manner in which technology-supported decision processes are used and perceived. These results have implications for the organizational implementation of current GSS configurations and for future GSS design.

Test of a Model Linking Cognitive Motivation, Assessment of Alternatives, Decision Quality, and Group Process Satisfaction

The proposed model links cognitive motivation to the assessment of alternatives, decision quality, and group satisfaction in Ventana Corporation's GroupSystemsm environment. The proposed model hypothesized a direct link between cognitive motivation, as operationalized by Petty and Cacioppo's (1986) Need for Cognition (NFC) construct, and assessment of alternatives. This link was confirmed. Group assessment of alternatives was hypothesized to have a direct effect upon the quality of decision and satisfaction with group process. These links were confirmed. The hypothesized link between quality of decision and satisfaction with group process was, however, not supported. The finding that higher quality decisions result from greater member input concerning the value of alternative choices bolsters the importance of establishing a comprehensive survey of the options. Group composition issues are discussed.

Reasons Registered Nurses Report Serious Wrongdoings in a Public Teaching Hospital

This study examined reasons a registered nurse would report a wrongdoing within a public teaching hospital. Of a group of 238 initial respondents, 30% reported they had observed a wrongdoing in the past year, with 68 nurses indicating they had reported a wrongdoing in the past year. The latter group was the focus of this study. They indicated through a self-report survey that incidents threatening the well-being of patients and their professional ethics were more likely to be reported within their organizations. Observer anonymity was perceived to have a small, but important effect on nurses reporting a wrongdoing in this sample. A manipulation check of the initial 238 respondents revealed a very strong tendency for nurses to overlook a serious mistake by a close peer who had a reputation of being a “competent” nurse.

Applicants' preference for impression management tactic in employment interviews by Transportation Security Administration

Following past findings on employment interviews, this study hypothesized applicants would have a preference for using self-promoting tactics of impression management over other focuses. Self-reports of impression management tactics were collected from 124 applicants who had interviews for screener positions with the Transportation Security Administration. Contrary to the hypothesis, analysis indicated participants reported they used more ingratiation tactics attempting to praise the interviewer than self-promotion tactics which focused on their own accomplishments. Special qualifications for security jobs which required well-developed perceptual abilities and the controlling structure of the interview context were perhaps responsible for present results differing from prior findings.

Research note on racially based audience-centered anxiety

The audience-centered explanation of anxiety posits that speakers experience significant anxiety about public speaking when they believe that important racial and cultural differences exist between themselves and their audience. This preliminary report of an on-going four-university study indicates that black male students enrolled in public-speaking classes at a predominantly white university report higher anxiety about public speaking than black females and white students.