Academic Journal
The role of personal experience, contemptuous beliefs and accountability after the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: a mixed methods study.
| Τίτλος: | The role of personal experience, contemptuous beliefs and accountability after the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: a mixed methods study. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Dau PH; Heisenberg Chair for Medical Risk Literacy & Evidence-Based Decisions, Clinic for Anesthesiology & Intensive Care Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: paula.dau@charite.de., Giese H; Heisenberg Chair for Medical Risk Literacy & Evidence-Based Decisions, Clinic for Anesthesiology & Intensive Care Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany., Rumpel M; Heisenberg Chair for Medical Risk Literacy & Evidence-Based Decisions, Clinic for Anesthesiology & Intensive Care Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany., Hertwig R; Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany., Wegwarth O; Heisenberg Chair for Medical Risk Literacy & Evidence-Based Decisions, Clinic for Anesthesiology & Intensive Care Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany. |
| Πηγή: | Health policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands) [Health Policy] 2026 Oct; Vol. 172, pp. 105709. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jul 17. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Elsevier Scientific Publishers Country of Publication: Ireland NLM ID: 8409431 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1872-6054 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01688510 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Health Policy Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Limerick : Elsevier Scientific Publishers Original Publication: Amsterdam : Elsevier, 1984- |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | COVID-19*/prevention & control , COVID-19*/epidemiology , COVID-19*/psychology , Social Responsibility*, Germany/epidemiology ; Humans ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Adult ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Pandemics ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Aged ; Young Adult |
| Περίληψη: | Background: Acceptance of containment measures during a pandemic depends not only on perceived effectiveness but also on personal experience, individual beliefs, and transparent public health communication. Objective: To assess the perceived usefulness of 15 non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to contain the spread of COVID-19, the association with personal experience, temporal perspective, individual beliefs, and public demands for accountability for politicians and scientists. Methods: In a cross-sectional online survey, 5116 adults in Germany rated the perceived usefulness of 15 pandemic NPIs across 3 points in time (temporal change). COVID-19-related experiences and agreement with eight contemptuous beliefs about pandemic management were assessed. Associations between temporal change, contemptuous beliefs, personal experience, and perceived usefulness of NPIs were investigated. Open questions were analysed using inductive content analysis. Results: Perceived usefulness of NPIs varied, with indoor mask mandates evaluated as most useful and nightly curfews as least. Temporal perspectives and personal experiences with COVID-19 infection or with Long-Covid showed small effects. Vaccination yielded the strongest group differences: vaccinated individuals rated the NPIs more useful than unvaccinated participants. Low perceived usefulness of NPIs was associated with stronger endorsement of contemptuous beliefs. Nearly half of participants supported accountability demands, primarily for politicians. Conclusion: Evaluations of NPIs were strongly shaped by personal experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic, especially vaccination status. Perceptions that NPIs were useless or that rationales were not communicated transparently were strongly associated with negative evaluations and higher contempt. To sustain trust and compliance in future crises, policymakers should engage early with public concerns while acknowledging uncertainty. (Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Accountability; COVID-19 pandemic; Experiences; Pandemic preparedness; Public health communication |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260723 Date Completed: 20260807 Latest Revision: 20260818 |
| Update Code: | 20260819 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.healthpol.2026.105709 |
| PMID: | 42492424 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1872-6054 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.healthpol.2026.105709 |