Greiff, Samuel[University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) > Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (DBCS) >]
Vögele, Claus[University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) > Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (DBCS) >]
d'Ambrosio, Conchita[University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) > Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (DBCS) >]
[en] Using a unique harmonized real‐time data set from the COME‑HERE longitudinal survey that covers five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden) and applying a non‑parametric machine learning model, this paper identifies the main individual and macro‑level predictors of self‑protecting behaviors against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) during the first wave of the pandemic. Exploiting the interpretability of a Random Forest algorithm via Shapely values, we find that a higher regional incidence of COVID‑19 triggers higher levels of self‑protective behavior, as does a stricter government policy response. The level of individual knowledge about the pandemic, confidence in institutions, and population density also ranks high among the factors that predict self‑protecting behaviors. We also identify a steep socioeconomic gradient with lower levels of self‑protecting behaviors being associated with lower income and poor housing conditions. Among socio‑demographic factors, gender, marital status, age, and region of residence are the main determinants of self‑protective measures.
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