Psychological correlates of COVID safety protocol adherence among university students

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a global concern. Reports of insidious asymptomatic variants of the virus raise concerns about the safety of huge numbers of students on university campuses.

The study aimed to delineate psychological correlates for students' adherence to safety protocols for appropriate context-specific coping intervention designs.

751 students from the various colleges of the KNUST were conveniently sampled for this cross-sectional survey.

Psychological instruments with good psychometric properties (DASS-21; Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Perceived Control Scales) were used in addition to demographics and questions on COVID safety protocol adherence.

Self-esteem positively correlated with perceived control (r = 0.40, p<0.001) and COVID adherence (r = 0.16, p<0.001); but negatively correlated with psychological distress (r = -0.44 p<0.001). Greater perceived control was associated with lower psychological distress (r = -0.20 p<0.001) and greater adherence to safety protocols (r = 0.24 p<0.001). Protocol adherence was regressed on psychological distress, self-esteem, and perceived control to determine any significant prediction. All the variables accounted for 7% of the variance in COVID protocol adherence (R² = 0.07, F (3, 661) =17.29, p<0.001) with perceived control significantly predicting adherence to COVID safety protocol (B = 0.11, β=0.23, t=5.54 p<0.001).

Results indicated that perceived control over important life events and healthy self-esteem would likely facilitate adherence to COVID safety protocols and attenuate psychological distress. Implications for further research and design of appropriate COVID coping response interventions are discussed.

Internally generated.