Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, compliance with public health guidelines to reduce the coronavirus spread became a focal point for park managers. Because parks were among the few spaces open to the public during the pandemic, park users may have been willing to accept the risk of noncompliance in exchange for the benefits of being outdoors. In this study, we used the SOPARC observation method to examine what predicted hikers’ compliance with public health guidelines (social distancing or wearing a face mask) during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Noncompliance was associated with being a teenager or young adult and hiking before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the initial public health guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These findings contribute to the literature on noncompliance and risk-taking in parks and protected areas and have implications for parks and public health officials.

摘要

在 COVID-19 大流行期间，遵守公共卫生指南以减少冠状病毒传播成为公园管理人员关注的焦点。由于在大流行期间公园是少数几个向公众开放的空间之一，因此公园使用者可能愿意接受违规风险，以换取户外活动的好处。在这项研究中，我们使用 SOPARC 观察方法来检查在 COVID-19 大流行的早期阶段徒步旅行者遵守公共卫生准则（保持社交距离或戴口罩）的预测。在疾病控制和预防中心 (CDC) 发布最初的公共卫生指南以防止 COVID-19 传播之前，违规行为与青少年或年轻人和远足有关。