Efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 rely on trust in public health organizations and practices. These practices include contact tracing, which requires people to share personal information with public health organizations. The central role of trust in these practices has gained more attention during the pandemic, resurfacing endemic questions about public trust and potential racial trust disparities, especially as they relate to participation in public health efforts.

Using an explanatory mixed methods design, we conducted quantitative analysis of state-level survey data in the United States from a representative sample of Michigan residents (n = 1000) in May 2020. We used unadjusted and adjusted linear regressions to examine differences in trust in public health information and willingness to participate in public health efforts by race. From July to September 2020, we conducted qualitative interviews (n = 26) to further explain quantitative results.

Using unadjusted linear regression, we observed higher willingness to participate in COVID-19 public health efforts among Black survey respondents compared to White respondents. In adjusted analysis, that difference disappeared, yielding no statistically significant difference between Black and White respondents in either trust in public health information sources or willingness to participate. Qualitative interviews were conducted to explain these findings, considering their contrast with assumptions that Black people would exhibit lower trust in public health organizations during COVID-19.

Altruism, risk acknowledgement, trust in public health organizations during COVID-19, and belief in efficacy of public health efforts contributed to willingness to participate in public health efforts among interviewees. Our findings underscore the contextual nature of trust, and the importance of this context when analyzing protective health behaviors among communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Assumptions about mistrust among Black individuals and communities may be inaccurate because they overlook the specific context of the public health crisis. These findings are important because they indicate that Black respondents are exhibiting strategic trust during COVID-19 despite systemic, contemporary, and historic barriers to trust. Conceptual specificity rather than blanket generalizations is warranted, especially given the harms of stereotyping and discrimination.

减轻 COVID-19 传播的努力依赖于对公共卫生组织和实践的信任。这些做法包括接触者追踪，这要求人们与公共卫生组织共享个人信息。在大流行期间，信任在这些做法中的核心作用得到了更多关注，重新提出了关于公众信任和潜在种族信任差异的地方性问题，尤其是当它们与参与公共卫生工作有关时。

我们使用解释性混合方法设计，对 2020 年 5 月密歇根州居民代表性样本（n = 1000）在美国的州级调查数据进行了定量分析。我们使用未经调整和调整后的线性回归来检查信任度的差异公共卫生信息和参与种族公共卫生工作的意愿。从 2020 年 7 月到 9 月，我们进行了定性访谈（n = 26）以进一步解释定量结果。

使用未经调整的线性回归，我们观察到与白人受访者相比，黑人受访者更愿意参与 COVID-19 公共卫生工作。在调整后的分析中，这种差异消失了，黑人和白人受访者在对公共卫生信息来源的信任或参与意愿方面没有统计上的显着差异。考虑到这些发现与黑人在 COVID-19 期间对公共卫生组织表现出较低信任度的假设形成对比，进行了定性访谈以解释这些发现。

COVID-19 期间的利他主义、风险认知、对公共卫生组织的信任以及对公共卫生工作有效性的信念有助于受访者参与公共卫生工作的意愿。我们的研究结果强调了信任的背景性质，以及在分析受 COVID-19 严重影响的社区的保护性健康行为时这种背景的重要性。关于黑人个人和社区之间不信任的假设可能不准确，因为它们忽略了公共卫生危机的具体背景。这些发现很重要，因为它们表明黑人受访者在 COVID-19 期间表现出战略信任，尽管存在系统的、当代的和历史的信任障碍。概念的特殊性而不是笼统的概括是有保证的，