The recent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to “social distancing” recommendations from public health organizations, as physical closeness bears the risk of person-to-person Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. Here, it was explored if interpersonal distance preferences and touch behaviors in 41 countries were valid measures of physical distancing in contacts between strangers and whether they related to country-level variation in early dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 spread. The analysis, based on aggregated data from more than 9,000 participants, showed that variation in early dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 spread (i.e., total number of SARS-CoV-2 cases 20 days after the 100th case) was significantly and positively related to nonaffective touch behaviors between strangers, and significantly and negatively related to the preferred interpersonal distance between strangers. These findings suggest that the two measures are suitable for monitoring the extent to which recommendations on physical distance are implemented at the country-level in the context of COVID 19 outbreak. Further, they confirm that “physical distancing” is related to the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic. It seems that an adaptation of social behaviors—that is, strict physical distancing from strangers—may result in a lower SARS-CoV-2 transmission rate. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

中文翻译：

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人际疏远偏好、对陌生人的触摸行为以及 SARS-CoV-2 传播的国家级早期动态。

最近的 2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 大流行已导致公共卫生组织提出“社会疏远”建议，因为身体上的亲密存在人与人之间严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 传播的风险. 在这里，探讨了 41 个国家/地区的人际距离偏好和触摸行为是否是衡量陌生人之间身体距离的有效衡量标准，以及它们是否与 SARS-CoV-2 传播早期动态的国家层面差异有关。该分析基于来自 9,000 多名参与者的汇总数据，表明 SARS-CoV-2 传播的早期动态变化（即第 100 例病例后 20 天的 SARS-CoV-2 病例总数）显着正相关陌生人之间的非情感接触行为，并且与陌生人之间偏好的人际距离显着负相关。这些发现表明，这两项措施适用于监测在 COVID 19 爆发的背景下国家一级实施物理距离建议的程度。此外，他们确认“物理距离”与 COVID-19 大流行的动态有关。似乎社会行为的适应——即与陌生人严格保持身体距离——可能会降低 SARS-CoV-2 的传播率。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）这些发现表明，这两项措施适用于监测在 COVID 19 爆发的背景下国家一级实施物理距离建议的程度。此外，他们确认“物理距离”与 COVID-19 大流行的动态有关。似乎社会行为的适应——即与陌生人严格保持身体距离——可能会降低 SARS-CoV-2 的传播率。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）这些发现表明，这两项措施适用于监测在 COVID 19 爆发的背景下国家一级实施物理距离建议的程度。此外，他们确认“物理距离”与 COVID-19 大流行的动态有关。似乎社会行为的适应——即与陌生人严格保持身体距离——可能会降低 SARS-CoV-2 的传播率。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）