Sattler, S., Taflinger, S., Ernst, A., Hasselhorn, F. (2024). Ein moderiertes Mediationsmodell zur Erklärung der Beziehung zwischen Risikogruppenzugehörigkeit, Wahrnehmung der Bedrohung, Wissen und Einhaltung der COVID-19-Verhaltensmaßnahmen. Pp. 33-69, in: Henzler, I., Hues, H., Sonnleitner, S., Wilkens, U. (eds.), Extended Views. Gesellschafts- und wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf die COVID-19-Pandemie (Köln: Böhlau) Übersetzung aus dem Englischen von: doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.842368.

Background: COVID-19 is a threat to individual and global health, thus, reducing the disease’s spread is of significant importance. However, adherence to behavioral measures against the spread of COVID-19 is not universal, even within vulnerable populations who are at higher risk of exposure to the virus or severe COVID-19 infection. Therefore, this study investigates how risk-group membership relates to adherence to COVID-19 behavioral measures, whether perceived threat of COVID-19 is a mechanism explaining this relationship, and whether knowledge about COVID-19 moderates these effects. Methods: We conducted a web-based survey (N = 4,096) representative of the adult population in Germany with regard to gender, age (18 to 74), and province. Therein, we assessed risk group membership with two indicators (risk of exposure to COVID-19 and risk of severe COVID-19 infection), perceived COVID-19 threat with the Perceived Coronavirus Threat Questionnaire, knowledge about COVID-19 with a knowledge test; and adherence to six behavioral measures to protect against the spread of COVID-19 (e.g., keeping distance, using mouth-nose protection, and following contact restrictions). We used moderated mediation models to test whether perceived threat mediates the relationship between risk-group membership and adherence and whether knowledge about COVID-19 moderates this relationship.