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1. Social distancing decreases an individual’s likelihood of contracting COVID-19

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023131118  

   Fazio, Russell H.; Ruisch, Benjamin C.; Moore, Courtney A.; Granados Samayoa, Javier A.; Boggs, Shelby T.; Ladanyi, Jesse T. (February 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   null (Ed.)

   Past research has established the value of social distancing as a means of deterring the spread of COVID-19 largely by examining aggregate level data. Locales in which efforts were undertaken to encourage distancing experienced reductions in their rate of transmission. However, these aggregate results tell us little about the effectiveness of social distancing at the level of the individual, which is the question addressed by the current research. Four months after participating in a study assessing their social distancing behavior, 2,120 participants indicated whether they had contracted COVID-19. Importantly, the assessment of social distancing involved not only a self-report measure of how strictly participants had followed social distancing recommendations but also a series of virtual behavior measures of social distancing. These simulations presented participants with graphical depictions mirroring specific real-world scenarios, asking them to position themselves in relation to others in the scene. Individuals’ social distancing behavior, particularly as assessed by the virtual behavior measure, predicted whether they contracted COVID-19 during the intervening 4 mo. This was true when considering only participants who reported having tested positively for the virus and when considering additional participants who, although untested, believed that they had contracted the virus. The findings offer a unique form of additional evidence as to why individuals should practice social distancing. What the individual does matters, not only for the health of the collective, but also for the specific individual. 

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2. No Evidence for Social Surrogacy in Fostering Intentions to Follow Social Distancing Guidelines

   https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000450  

   Sacco, Donald F.; Brown, Mitch; Macchione, Alicia L.; Young, Steven G. (October 2021, Social Psychology)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract. We tested whether temporary social needs satisfaction through social surrogacy would ensure greater willingness to adhere to social distancing recommendations elicited by the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were randomly assigned to social exclusion or inclusion via Cyberball ( n = 534) followed by either a social surrogacy manipulation (imagine favorite TV show), or one of two control states. No restorative effects emerged following a social surrogacy prime. An exploratory analysis considering age as a moderator ( M Age  = 36.89 years, SD = 10.88, range = 19–70 years) found that excluded adults (i.e., middle and older ages) reported more intentions to deviate following surrogacy experiences relative to control experiences; no effects emerged for younger adults in this analysis. We discuss the limitations of social surrogacy in fostering compliance with social distancing initiatives. 

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3. The Relationship Between Medical Diagnoses, Risk Perceptions, and Social Distancing Compliance: An Analysis of Data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study

   https://doi.org/10.18061/ojph.v4i2.8352  

   King, Ian Y.; Manning, Wendy D.; Longmore, Monica A.; Giordano, Peggy C. (January 2022, Ohio Journal of Public Health)

   Background: The health belief model suggests that individuals' beliefs affect behaviors associated with health. This study examined whether Ohioans' pre-existing medical health diagnoses affected their belief about personal health risk and their compliance with social distancing during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Prior research examining physical and mental diagnoses and social distancing compliance is nearly nonexistent. We examined whether physical and mental health diagnoses influenced individuals' beliefs that their health is at risk and their adherence with social distancing guidelines. Methods: The study used longitudinal cohort data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n = 790), which surveyed Ohioans prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dependent variables included belief that an individual's own health was at risk and social distancing compliance. Independent variables included physical and mental health diagnoses, pandemic-related factors (fear of COVID-19, political beliefs about the pandemic, friends social distance, family social distance, COVID-19 exposure), and sociodemographic variables (age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational level). Results: Individuals who had a pre-existing physical health diagnosis were more likely to believe that their personal health was at risk during the pandemic but were not more likely to comply with social distancing guidelines. In contrast, individuals who had a pre-existing mental health diagnosis were more compliant with social distancing guidelines but were not more likely to believe their personal health was at risk. Individuals who expressed greater fear of COVID-19 believed their health is more at risk than those who expressed lower levels of fear. Conclusion: Health considerations are important to account for in assessments of responses to the pandemic, beliefs about personal health risk, and social distancing behavior. Additional research is needed to understand the divergence in the findings regarding physical health, beliefs about personal health risk, and social distancing compliance. Further, research is needed to understand how mental health issues impact decision-making related to social distancing compliance. 

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4. Measuring sensitivity to social distancing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20198-4  

   Kontokosta, Constantine E.; Hong, Boyeong; Bonczak, Bartosz J. (September 2022, Scientific Reports)

   Abstract Social distancing remains an effective nonpharmaceutical behavioral interventions to limit the spread of COVID-19 and other airborne diseases, but monitoring and enforcement create nontrivial challenges. Several jurisdictions have turned to “311” resident complaint platforms to engage the public in reporting social distancing non-compliance, but differences in sensitivity to social distancing behaviors can lead to a mis-allocation of resources and increased health risks for vulnerable communities. Using hourly visit data to designated establishments and more than 71,000 social distancing complaints in New York City during the first wave of the pandemic, we develop a method, derived from the Weber-Fechner law, to quantify neighborhood sensitivity and assess how tolerance to social distancing infractions and complaint reporting behaviors vary with neighborhood characteristics. We find that sensitivity to non-compliance is lower in minority and low-income neighborhoods, as well as in lower density areas, resulting in fewer reported complaints than expected given measured levels of overcrowding. 

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5. Video-Based Social Distancing: Evaluation in the COSMOS Testbed

   https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2023.3305587  

   Ghasemi, Mahshid; Yang, Zhengye; Sun, Mingfei; Ye, Hongzhe; Xiong, Zihao; Ghaderi, Javad; Kostic, Zoran; Zussman, Gil (January 2023, IEEE Internet of Things Journal)

   Social distancing is an effective public health tool to reduce the spread of respiratory pandemics such as COVID-19. To analyze compliance with social distancing policies, we design two video-based pipelines for social distancing analysis, namely, Auto-SDA and B-SDA. Auto-SDA (Automated video-based Social Distancing Analyzer) is designed to measure social distancing using street-level cameras. To avoid privacy concerns of using street-level cameras, we further develop B-SDA (Bird’s eye view Social Distancing Analyzer), which uses bird’s eye view cameras, thereby preserving pedestrian’s privacy. We used the COSMOS testbed deployed in West Harlem, New York City, to evaluate both pipelines. In particular, Auto-SDA and B-SDA are applied on videos recorded by two of COSMOS cameras deployed on the 2nd floor (street-level) and 12th floor (bird’s eye view) of Columbia University’s Mudd building, looking at 120th St. and Amsterdam Ave. intersection, New York City. Videos are recorded before and during the peak of the pandemic, as well as after the vaccines became broadly available. The results represent the impact of social distancing policies on pedestrians’ social behavior. For example, the analysis shows that after the lockdown, less than 55% of the pedestrians failed to adhere to the social distancing policies, whereas this percentage increased to 65% after the vaccines’ availability. Moreover, after the lockdown, 0-20% of the pedestrians were affiliated with a social group, compared to 10-45% once the vaccines became available. The results also show that the percentage of face-to-face failures has decreased from 42.3% (pre-pandemic) to 20.7%(after the lockdown). 

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