covid-19 protective behaviors of iranian healthcare workers: a psychological theoretical design analysis

Background: this study aimed to investigate covid-19 protective behaviors of iranian healthcare workers (hcws) using an extended parallel process model (eppm). methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted online on a convenience sample of 418 iranian hcws in 2020. data were gathered using a standardized electronic questionnaire published on the porsline website, designed based on the eppm, to assess the relationships between different constructs of eppm and covid-19 protective behaviors. for data analysis, statistical tests, such as descriptive tests, independent t-test, anova, pearson's correlation test, and multiple regression analysis, were performed in spss version 18. results: most participants (40.4%) were in the age group of 30-40 years, and most were female (70.6%). significant associations were found between covid-19 protective behaviors and eppm constructs of perceived self-efficacy (r = 0.373, p = 0.000), perceived response efficacy (r = 0.120, p = 0.014), and intention (r = 0.462, p = 0.000). perceived self-efficacy (p = 0.000, beta = 0.398) and behavioral intention (p = 0.000; beta = 0.283) were predictors of protective behaviors. also, 34.4% of the hcws were involved in the danger control process. conclusions: only one-third of the hcws contributed to the process of covid-19 danger control. the hcws' motivation for protection against covid-19 depended on their perception of self-efficacy and their perceived efficacy of covid-19 preventive behaviors. the present results can be used to design and implement training programs to improve the protective behaviors of hcws.