Factors influencing protective behavior in the post-COVID-19 period in China: a cross-sectional study

Background The study aimed to explore the factors influencing protective behavior and its association with factors during the post-COVID-19 period in China based on the risk perception emotion model and the protective action decision model (PADM). Methods A total of 2830 valid questionnaires were collected as data for empirical analysis via network sampling in China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to explore the relationships between the latent variables. Results SEM indicated that social emotion significantly positively affected protective behavior and intention. Protective behavioral intention had significant direct effects on protective behavior, and the direct effects were also the largest. Government trust did not have a significant effect on protective behavior but did have a significant indirect effect. Moreover, it was found that government trust had the greatest direct effect on social emotion. In addition, we found that excessive risk perception level may directly reduce people's intention and frequency of engaging in protective behavior, which was not conducive to positive, protective behavior. Conclusion In the post-COVID-19 period, theoretical framework constructed in this study can be used to evaluate people's protective behavior. The government should strengthen its information-sharing and interaction with the public, enhance people's trust in the government, create a positive social mood, appropriately regulate people's risk perception, and, finally, maintain a positive attitude and intent of protection.