Table 5.
Associations between health behavior engagement and COVID-19–related worry, attention to news, and stress. The table presents the coefficients from ordinary least squares regression models for the continuous outcomes, changes in physical activity, and meditation habit strength on COVID-19–related worry, attention to news, and stress, and logistic regression models for the stopped meditation outcome on COVID-19–related worry, attention to news, and stress. Standard errors were estimated using heteroscedasticity-robust procedures.
| Outcome and covariates | COVID-19 worry | COVID-19 attention | Stress about social distancing | ||||||||
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Coefficient (SE) | P value | Coefficient (SE) | P value | Coefficient (SE) | P value | |||
| Outcome: changes in physical activity | |||||||||||
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COVID-19 worry | –0.04 (0.01) | <.001 | —a | — | — | — | ||||
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COVID-19 attention | — | — | –0.16 (0.06) | .01 | — | — | ||||
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Stress about social distancing | — | — | — | — | –0.16 (0.05) | .003 | ||||
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Demographic covariatesb | ||||||||||
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Age | –0.01 (0.002) | .01 | –0.003 (0.002) | .09 | –0.005 (0.002) | .02 | |||
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Racial minority status | 0.02 (0.10) | .81 | 0.05 (0.10) | .60 | 0.05 (0.10) | .60 | |||
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Female | 0.25 (0.07) | <.001 | 0.22 (0.07) | .002 | 0.24 (0.07) | .001 | |||
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Hispanic | –0.20 (0.11) | .07 | –0.26 (0.11) | .02 | –0.25 (0.11) | .03 | |||
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High school education only | –0.71 (0.19) | <.001 | –0.70 (0.19) | <.001 | –0.69 (0.19) | <.001 | |||
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Undergraduate education | –0.22 (0.06) | <.001 | –0.22 (0.06) | <.001 | –0.22 (0.06) | <.001 | |||
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Income <US $80,000 | –0.29 (0.07) | <.001 | –0.29 (0.07) | <.001 | –0.28 (0.07) | <.001 | |||
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Income of US $81,000-100,000 | –0.16 (0.06) | .01 | –0.17 (0.06) | .01 | –0.16 (0.06) | .01 | |||
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Unemployed | –0.08 (0.09) | .40 | –0.07 (0.09) | .42 | –0.07 (0.09) | .46 | |||
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Underlying medical condition | –0.12 (0.06) | .03 | –0.15 (0.06) | .01 | –0.16 (0.06) | .01 | |||
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Living in a state with high COVID-19 prevalencec | –0.01 (0.05) | .04 | –0.11 (0.054) | .03 | –0.12 (0.05) | .03 | |||
| Outcome: stopped meditation | |||||||||||
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COVID-19 worry | 0.04 (0.02) | .045 | — | — | — | — | ||||
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COVID-19 attention | — | — | 0.36 (0.13) | .004 | — | — | ||||
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Stress about social distancing | — | — | — | — | 0.31 (0.12) | .01 | ||||
| Outcome: strength of meditation habit | |||||||||||
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COVID-19 worry | –0.06 (0.02) | .001 | — | — | — | — | ||||
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COVID-19 attention | — | — | –0.17 (0.12) | .18 | — | — | ||||
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Stress about social distancing | — | — | — | — | –0.45 (0.11) | <.001 | ||||
a—: not applicable.
bThese covariates were included in all the models.
cState-level COVID-19 prevalence is based on the number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 at the time of the first survey distribution (April 22, 2020); high-prevalence states were California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Washington.