Predicting social distancing and compulsive buying behaviours in response to COVID-19 in a United Kingdom sample

Jaspal, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8463-9519, Lopes, B and Lopes, P, 2020. Predicting social distancing and compulsive buying behaviours in response to COVID-19 in a United Kingdom sample. Cogent Psychology, 7 (1): 1800924. ISSN 2331-1908

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Abstract

This study examines differences between key socio-demographic groups and the impact of strength of social network, political trust, and fear of COVID-19 on working from home (a key social distancing behaviour) and compulsive buying (a maladaptive behaviour) in response to COVID-19. This study used a correlational cross-sectional survey design. A sample of 411 participants in the United Kingdom (UK) completed measures of strength of social network, political trust, fear of COVID-19, length of self-isolation and compulsive buying. Results showed that older people and lower income groups are less likely to work from home in response to COVID-19; that people with a diagnosed mental health disorder exhibited less political trust, more fear of COVID-19, and more compulsive buying; and that people reporting COVID-19 symptomatology had been in self-isolation for longer and exhibited more compulsive buying than those with no COVID-19 symptomatology. The structural equation model showed that age, having a diagnosed mental health disorder, having COVID-19 symptomatology and strength of social network impacted on working from home and compulsive buying, through the mediators of political trust, fear of COVID-19 and length of self-isolation. The results demonstrate that some groups in the UK population may be vulnerable to maladaptive behaviours and poor social, psychological, and physical health outcomes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These groups may require special support to cope effectively with the effects of COVID-19.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Cogent Psychology
Creators:	Jaspal, R., Lopes, B. and Lopes, P.
Publisher:	Cogent OA
Date:	7 August 2020
Volume:	7
Number:	1
ISSN:	2331-1908
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/23311908.2020.1800924 DOI 1351704 Other
Rights:	© 2020 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	10 Aug 2020 13:13
Last Modified:	31 May 2021 15:18
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/40408

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