Community Attachments are Associated with COVID-19 Public Health Behaviors Among Adolescents in Pakistan

BACKGROUND: Community attachments are thought to promote adolescents’ engagement in public health behaviors. To date, past research has exclusively examined the social benefits of community attachments among adolescents in the United States and less is known about these benefits among youth in low-income adolescent-dense countries such as Pakistan. OBJECTIVE: The present study examined associations between Pakistani adolescents’ community attachments and COVID-19 public health behaviors, including social distancing, disinfecting, hoarding, news monitoring. METHOD: Adolescents living in Pakistan (N = 1,110; 13–18 years; M = 16.70) reported on their COVID-19 public health behavior (social distancing, disinfecting behaviors, hoarding behaviors, news monitoring) and community attachments (social responsibility values, social trust, self-interest values). RESULTS: Greater social responsibility values were associated with greater social distancing (B = .09, p = .009) and disinfecting behavior (B = .39, p < .001). Greater social trust was significantly associated with greater disinfecting (B = .09, p < .001) and greater hoarding behaviors (B = .07, p = .001) and greater self-interest values were associated with lower social distancing (B = -.06, p = .010), greater disinfecting (B = .15, p < .001), and greater hoarding behaviors (B = .11, p = .001). CONCLUSION: Results from this study demonstrate that community attachments may play an important role in guiding adolescents’ public health behavior in Pakistan. These findings extend past research and contribute to an inclusive and culturally sensitive model of the benefits of adolescents’ community attachments for public heatlh. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10566-021-09657-7.