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ERIC Number: ED623349
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Numeracy and COVID-19: Examining Interrelationships between Numeracy, Health Numeracy and Behaviour
Nathan T. T. Lau; Eric D. Wilkey; Mojtaba Soltanlou; Rebekka Lagacé Cusiac; Lien Peters; Paul Tremblay; Celia Goffin; Isabella Starling Alves; Andrew David Ribner; Clarissa Thompson; Jo Van Hoof; Julia Bahnmueller; Aymee Alvarez; Elien Bellon; Ilse Coolen; Fanny Ollivier; Daniel Ansari
Grantee Submission, Royal Society Open Science v9 Article 201303 2022
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people across the globe have been exposed to large amounts of statistical data. Previous studies have shown that individuals' mathematical understanding of health-related information affects their attitudes and behaviours. Here, we investigate the relation between: (1) basic numeracy; (2) COVID-19 health numeracy; and (3) COVID-19 health-related attitudes and behaviours. An online survey measuring these three variables was distributed in Canada, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) (n = 2032). In line with predictions, basic numeracy was positively related to COVID-19 health numeracy. However, predictions, neither basic numeracy nor COVID-19 health numeracy was related to COVID-19 health related attitudes and behaviours (e.g. follow experts' recommendations on social distancing, wearing masks etc.). Multi-group analysis was used to investigate mean differences and differences in the strength of the correlation across countries. Results indicate there were no between-country differences in the correlations between the main constructs but there were between-country differences in latent means. Overall, results suggest that while basic numeracy is related to one's understanding of data about COVID-19, better numeracy alone is not enough to influence a population's health-related attitudes about disease severity and to increase the likelihood of following public health advice.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED); Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada; United States; United Kingdom
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A160295; R305U200004; HD102106
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/qpdnt/