Predictors of mask wearing across the five waves.

We investigated the social, emotional, and cognitive predictors of adherence to four health behaviors (handwashing, mask wearing, social contact limitations, and physical distancing) during one critical phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected data (N = 5803, mean age = 53; 57% women) in Belgium at five time points between April and July 2021, a time during which infections evolved from high (third wave of the pandemic) to low numbers of COVID-19 cases. The results show that the social, emotional, and cognitive predictors achieved high levels of explained variance (R2 > .60). In particular, the central components of behavioral change (attitudes, intentions, control, habits, norms, and risk) were the strongest and most consistent predictors of health behaviors over time. Likewise, autonomous motivation and empathetic emotions (e.g., attentive, compassionate) had a positive impact on health behavior adherence, whereas it was the opposite for lively emotions (e.g., active, enthusiastic). These results offer policymakers actionable insights into the most potent and stable factors associated with health behaviors, equipping them with effective strategies to curtail the spread of future infectious diseases.本研究针对新冠疫情（COVID-19）某一关键阶段内，民众对四项健康行为——洗手、佩戴口罩、限制社交接触与保持物理距离——的依从性的社会、情绪与认知层面预测因子展开调查。研究于2021年4月至7月间在比利时完成，共设置五个数据采集时间点，累计纳入有效样本5803例，受试者平均年龄53岁，女性占比57%；该时段内新冠感染病例数由疫情第三波的高位逐步回落至低位。 分析结果表明，上述社会、情绪与认知层面的预测因子可解释较高比例的行为依从性变异（决定系数R² > 0.60）。具体而言，行为改变的核心要素——态度、意图、行为控制、习惯、社会规范与风险感知——是随时间推移预测健康行为依从性最强且最稳定的因子。 同样，自主动机与共情类情绪（如专注、悲悯）对健康行为依从性具有正向影响，而活跃类情绪（如主动、热忱）则呈现相反效应。本研究结果可为政策制定者提供与健康行为相关的强效且稳定影响因子的实操性洞见，助力其制定有效策略以遏制未来传染性疾病的传播。