Study on awareness of COVID-19 and compliance with social distancing during COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia.

Public compliance with social distancing policy is necessary to slow down the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). One of the factors that contribute to compliance with social distancing policy is awareness of COVID-19. This study aimed to examine the relationship between awareness of COVID-19 and compliance with social distancing policy. The study used an online survey through Google Form to 404 respondents aged 18-63 years. The data were collected by using awareness on the COVID-19 scale and compliance with the social distancing scale. The data were analyzed using the Spearman correlation and Kruskal-Wallis, followed by Mann-Whitney U with Bonferroni correction. The awareness of COVID-19 was significantly and positively associated with compliance with social distancing order. Based on demographic variables found that the awareness was significantly higher in postgraduates. The awareness of COVID-19 was also significantly higher in working participants. The compliance with social distancing order was found higher in women. The study's primary result is that the awareness of COVID-19 positively correlates with public compliance on social distancing order. In particular, there is a need to provide means and interventions to raise public awareness of this challenging situation.

BACKGROUND

Coronavirus disease or COVID‐19 has spread in 114 countries, and on March 11, 2020, it was declared a pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020a). A total of 77,083,763 cases of positive COVID‐19 were confirmed globally, with 1,698,142 deaths (Worldometer, 2020). In Indonesia, the first COVID‐19 case was established on March 2, 2020 (Guardian, 2020; The Straits Times Asia, 2020). Then, the latest data on December 20, 2020 confirmed 664,930 cases of positive COVID‐19 with 19,880 deaths in Indonesia (Satgas Penanganan, 2020).

To minimize the spread of COVID‐19, the stay at home and social distancing policy have been implemented, as well as Large‐Scale Social Restrictions or Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar (PSBB) in 2 provinces and 22 cities in Indonesia (Kunjana, 2020). Social distancing order can minimize the spread of COVID‐19 if accompanied by public compliance. Compliance with social distancing policy is needed to reduce the spread of COVID‐19 (Chan, 2020). Compliance with social distancing order, especially in the workplace, will reduce virus transmission (Ahmed et al., 2018) and has been proven to reduce the spread of COVID‐19 (Milne & Xie, 2020).

Unfortunately, there are instances where individuals have broken the rules that were implemented to protect their health and society. We still remember 2584 campaign activities that violated health protocols during the implementation of the 2020 regional head elections, which were held simultaneously (CNN Indonesia, 2020). Based on Garut Government's reports (District in West Java, Indonesia), the level of public compliance in implementing social distancing was still low (Yusuf, 2020). There were still many people who did activities outside. The South Tangerang Government reported that public compliance on PSBB regulations was low, around 60%. Hence, the lockdown is said to be successful if the compliance with the order reaches 80%–90% (Kurniawan, 2020). One of the reasons for low public compliance was public dissatisfaction with the government's pandemic management policy (Li et al., 2020). If the people are dissatisfied and distrustful of the government, the public compliance on social distancing during a pandemic will be challenging to reach.

Demographic factors also contribute to the emergence of compliance. Studies have shown that being unable to work from home, having a low income when not working during a pandemic and self‐employment are associated with a lack of compliance with mitigation recommendations during a pandemic (Blake et al., 2010). Based on a systematic review study conducted by Kooistra and van Rooij (2020) shows that age, gender, and knowledge are correlated with compliance. Older individuals and women tend to exhibit submissive behavior. Likewise, individuals who have better knowledge or obtain sufficient information related to COVID‐19 tend to comply with mitigation.

To be able to increase public compliance on social distancing, awareness on COVID‐19 is required. Having better awareness can increase compliance (Bharucha & Kuruvilla, 2003). Other research results that also report that awareness during the COVID‐19 pandemic correlated with social distancing behavior (Qazi et al., 2020). Social distancing behavior can be improved by increasing the awareness on COVID‐19 through reliable information sources. Through correct and reliable information sources, the individuals will be more aware so that they can increase social distancing. According to Endsley and Garland (2000), situation awareness is an individual's understanding of a situation obtained through information perception, information understanding, and future projection of the information. By having awareness, the individuals strive to seek and understand the information related to COVID‐19 so as to make individuals aware of the symptoms, dangers, and prevention of the disease.

One of the frameworks to understand the public compliance on social distancing order for the sake of decreasing the spread of COVID‐19 is Health Belief Model (HBM), an approach related to health decision‐making explaining that the conditions experienced by individuals are usually related to health behaviors (Luger, 2013). Manika et al. (2017) proposed that HBM focuses on the importance of communicating risk perceptions, namely, providing information related to recommended preventive behavior. In this context, the health decision‐making process involves knowledge and understanding of information about COVID‐19 so that individuals are aware to take preventive action. This approach believes that individuals will take precautions due to three factors, namely (1) severity; individuals consider how severe the physical and social consequences are if they suffer from a disease and leave it untreated; (2) vulnerability; individuals' beliefs about the risks as a result of their behavior toward the health conditions; and (3) signs or reminders; anything that can remind individuals about the potential health problems they encounter.

Awareness on COVID‐19 will make individuals perceive COVID‐19 as a dangerous disease so that individuals take prevention. To prevent COVID‐19, individuals must have knowledge regarding the etiology, virus transmission, and prevention measures (Mya et al., 2020). A basic understanding of a pandemic is linked to a willingness to comply with self‐quarantine, avoid public activities, and delay social gatherings (Eastwood et al., 2009). Awareness is a significant factor increasing the level of compliance (Shon et al., 2016).

HBM also emphasizes “cues to act” such as the gained information indicating an individuals' readiness to act. This allows individuals to take precautions if they are more receptive to information (Manika et al., 2017). The increased perception of knowledge about a disease will make them more likely to engage in preventive behavior. One of the behaviors to prevent COVID‐19 is compliance on social distancing.

Demographic distribution makes an important contribution to public awareness of COVID‐19. High levels of prevention during swine influenza pandemics were found in the group of men, who were older, had a high level of education and had a high level of knowledge (Balkhy et al., 2010). Supported by other research conducted by Labban et al. (2020) results that higher education levels and high‐income levels play an important role in awareness about COVID‐19. In addition, Labban et al. (2020) also found that individuals aged 30–59 years also have a better level of awareness which can be explained that many individuals of that age are actively involved in the COVID‐19 campaign.

This study is needed considering the lack of compliance of the Indonesian people to social distancing which is one of the health protocols that needs to be implemented during the pandemic. Awareness of COVID‐19 is one of the variables that play an important role in making people comply with health protocols. For this reason, this study seeks to reveal whether there is a positive relationship between awareness of COVID‐19 and compliance with social distancing. In particular, the respondents' demographics consisting of age, sex, education, income, and employment status were also a concern in this study. This study was conducted because the previous studies had studied more descriptively, and not so many studies had examined the relationship between awareness on COVID‐19 and compliance on social distancing order in Indonesia.

METHODS

Sample size

The subjects involved in the study were Indonesians aged at least 18 years. The sample size was calculated by detecting correlation (r) of 0.2, using one tail(s), α error probability of 0.05, and power (1˗β error probablity) of 0.8. The sample size calculation was done with G*Power 3.1.9.7 software. Based on these criteria, the minimum sample was 153.

Subjects

The subjects' sociodemographic characteristics are shown in Table 1. A total of 404 Indonesians aged 18–63 years (Mean = 27.17, SD = 8.468) participated in the study. There were four missing data from the initial 408 data due to filling duplication from the same subject so that the final data were 404 subjects. Subjects consisted of 95 men (23.5%) and 309 women (76.5%). In terms of education, 142 were high school graduates (35.1%), 131 were bachelor's degree graduates (32.4%), 131 were master or doctoral graduates (32.4%). A total of 168 subjects had an income of <1,000,000 IDR (41.6%), 91 subjects had an income of 1,000,000–3,000,000 IDR (22.5%), 90 subjects had an income of 3,000,000–5,000,000 IDR (22.3%), and 55 subjects had an income of >5,000,000 IDR. A total of 171 subjects were unemployed (42.3%), and 233 subjects worked (57.7%).

Table 1

Sociodemographic of subjects (N = 404)

Variables	Distribution	Frequency	%
Age	18–30	300	74.3
	31–45	84	20.8
	>46	20	5.0
Sex	Male	95	23.5
	Female	309	76.5
Education	High school	142	35.1
	Bachelor	131	32.4
	Postgraduate	131	32.4
Income	<1,000,000 IDR	168	41.6
	1,000,000–3,000,000 IDR	91	22.5
	3,000,000–5,000,000 IDR	90	22.3
	>5,000,000 IDR	55	13.6
Employment status	Unemployed	171	42.3
	Employed	233	57.7

Research design and data collection

This study was a survey research involving two research variables. The independent variable in the study was awareness on COVID‐19. The dependent variable was compliance on social distancing order. The data were collected on May 19–26, 2020. The subjects were asked to fill out the survey consisting of two measuring scales through an online survey link shared on various social media platforms, such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Email, and Facebook. At the beginning of filling out the survey, the subjects were asked consent to participate in the study. The subjects were also asked to fill out sociodemographic data including age, education, employment status, and income. The subjects were told that the researchers also provided rewards in the form of 25,000 IDR phone credit for 12 selected subjects.

Instrumentation

Two instruments were used to collect research data, namely, awareness scale on COVID‐19 and compliance scale on social distancing. Information regarding the reliability of instruments of both scales can be seen in Table 2.

Table 2

Reliability of instruments

Scales	Items	Cronbach's α
Awareness on COVID‐19	15	0.831
Compliance on social distancing	15	0.778

Abbreviation: COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019.

Awareness scale on COVID‐19

The awareness scale of COVID‐19 was developed by the researchers based on the situational awareness theory from Endsley and Garland (2000), which divides situational awareness into three levels, namely: perception of information, integration of data with goals, and projection of the near future. The items refer to the understanding that individuals need to know, adapted by the researchers from the World Health Organization website (World Health Organization, 2019b) including: (1) awareness on the dangers and efforts to avoid COVID‐19, (2) awareness on the symptoms of COVID‐19, and (3) prevention and treatment of COVID‐19. The items of a Likert‐scale with 5‐point responses were 1 (very inappropriate), 2 (inappropriate), 3 (somewhat appropriate), 4 (appropriate), and 5 (very appropriate). The initial items of the awareness scale of COVID‐19 consisted of 18 favorable items. Three items with item‐total correlation lower than 0.3 were deleted (item 7, 16, 17). The 15‐item of awareness on COVID‐19 have item‐total correlation of 0.339–0.578. The reliability of the Cronbach's α of 15 items of the awareness scale of COVID‐19 was 0.831 indicated a good internal consistency. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with a varimax rotation showed that awareness scale of COVID‐19 loaded in a single factor. The single factor had an eigenvalue of 4.346 and accounted for 29% of variation. Items had factor loading of 0.335–0.639. Sample of item from the awareness scale of COVID‐19 are presented in Table 3.

Table 3

Sample items of instruments

Scales	No	Items
Awareness on COVID‐19	13	It is essential to always keep a distance of at least 1 meter from other people
	14	I realize the importance of wearing a mask when going out of the home
Compliance on social distancing	2 F	I am willing to abide by the order of staying at home during a pandemic
	5UF	The travel ban imposed by the government simply does not work for me

Note: F is a favorable item, UF is an unfavorable item.

Abbreviation: COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019.

Compliance on social distancing order scale

The compliance on social distancing order scale was prepared by the researchers based on the compliance construct from Feldman (2008). Compliance is defined as a behavior influenced by social pressure. Compliance is measured through belief, acceptance, and action. Belief means that individuals believe that following the order will have a good impact on the individual. Accept means that individuals accept existing order. Action means when individuals do what is accepted and believed from a rule. Statements in compliance on the social distancing order scale were compiled based on social distancing guide from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2019 (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019).

The initial items of compliance on the social distancing order scale consisted of 18 items. Three items with item‐total correlation lower than 0.3 were eliminated (Item 14, 15, 17). The final item of compliance on social distancing order scale was 15 items consisting of 11 favorable items and 4 unfavorable items (Items no. 5, 8, 10, 16). Items were rated 1 for “very inappropriate,” 2 for “inappropriate,” 3 for “somewhat appropriate,” 4 for “appropriate,” and 5 for “very appropriate.” The unfavorable items were scored in reverse. Item‐total correlation ranged from 0.328 to 0.545. Cronbach's α reliability of 15 items of compliance on social distancing order scale was 0.778 indicated a good internal consistency. The EFA with a varimax rotation showed that item of compliance on social distancing order scale loaded in two factors. The favorable item loaded in Factor 1 with an eigenvalue of 3.123 and accounted for 20.8% of variation. The unfavorable item (Items no. 5, 8, 10, 16) loaded in Factor 2 with an eigenvalue of 1.717 and accounted for 11.4% of variation. The two factors accounted 32.3% of variation. Items had factor loading of 0.408–0.720.

Data analysis

To test the research hypothesis that awareness on COVID‐19 correlated with compliance on social distancing order, the Spearman correlation test was used. The Spearman correlation was chosen because the measured data were not normally distributed based on the Shapiro–Wilk test. The Spearman correlation was done with the JASP 0.13.00 software. The rejection of the null hypothesis was carried out at the 95% confidence level. Additional analysis by Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U test was conducted to see the awareness on COVID‐19 and compliance based on the data socio‐demography data. In the Kruskal–Wallis test, significant test results were followed up or post hoc tested with Bonferroni correction to avoid Type Error I (Field, 2009).

RESULTS

The research data were analyzed by means of a correlation test to test the main hypothesis, namely, the existence of a correlation between awareness on COVID‐19 and compliance on social distancing order. To better understand the awareness on COVID‐19 and compliance on social distancing order, the researchers also looked at these variables from the subjects' sociodemographic data with different tests. Statistical descriptions of each variable (data min, max, mean) are presented in Table 4.

Table 4

Descriptive statistics (N = 404)

Variable	Min	Max	Mean	SD
Awareness on COVID‐19	45	75	69.025	5.456
Compliance on social distancing	39	60	52.748	5.198

Abbreviation: COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019.

Relationship between awareness on COVID‐19 and compliance on social distancing

The results of the Spearman correlation test between awareness on COVID‐19 and compliance on social distancing are presented in Table 5. Before the correlation test was carried out, the researchers tested the normality and linearity assumptions. Regarding abnormal data distribution, the Spearman correlation was used. Based on the analysis, results using one‐tailed significance showed a significant positive correlation between awareness on COVID‐19 and compliance on social distancing order (r = 0.460; p < 0.001).

Table 5

Spearman correlation between awareness on COVID‐19 and compliance (N = 404)

Variables		Awareness	Compliance
Compliance	Spearman's rho	0.460***	—
	p value	<0.001	—

p < 0.001.

Awareness on COVID‐19

The results of the Mann–Whitney U test for the awareness on COVID‐19 variable in terms of sex and employment status are presented in Table 6. The awareness on COVID‐19 did not differ significantly between men and women (W = 140680.5, p > 0.05). However, the awareness on COVID‐19 was found significantly different in term of the employment status (W = 17261, p < 0.05), namely working individuals (M = 69.485) had a higher awareness than individuals who did not work (M = 68.588). The results of the Kruskal–Wallis test for the awareness on COVID‐19 variable in terms of age, education level, and income are presented in Table 7. Awareness on COVID‐19 did not differ from age category (H = 4461, p > 0.05) and income level (H = 7768, p > 0.05). However, the awareness on COVID‐19 was found to differ significantly by level of education (H = 4641, p < 0.01).

Table 6

Mann–Whitney U awareness on COVID‐19 and compliance on social distancing in terms of sex and employment status (N = 404)

			Awareness on COVID‐19				Compliance
Variables	Characteristics	N	Mean	W	p	Rank‐biserial correlation	Mean	W	p	Rank‐biserial correlation
Sex	Men	95	68.588	14080.5	0.548	−0.041	51.421	12031.5**	0.008	−0.180
	Women	309	69.165				53.155
Employment status	Unemployed	171	68.398	17261.0*	0.021	−0.134	53.164	21373.5	0.210	0.073
	Employed	233	69.485				52.442

Abbreviation: COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019.

p <0.05; **p <0.01.

Table 7

Kruskal–Wallis awareness on COVID‐19 and compliance on social distancing in terms of age, education, and income (N = 404)

			Awareness on COVID‐19			Compliance on social distancing
Variables	Characteristics	N	Mean	H	p	Mean	H	p
Age	18–30	300	68,683	4641	0.098	52,523	2679	0.262
	31–45	84	70,083			53,369
	>46	20	69.700			53,500
Education	High school	142	68,275	10,457**	0.005	52,993	3149	0.207
	Bachelor's degree in graduate	131	68,725			51,992
	Postgraduate	131	70,137			53,237
Income	<1,000,000 IDR	168	68,214	7768	0.051	52,756	1640	0.650
	1,000,000–3,000,000 IDR	91	69,791			52,758
	3,000,000–5,000,000 IDR	90	69,400			53,267
	>5,000,000 IDR	55	69,618			51,855

Abbreviation: COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019.

p < 0.01.

To see which level of education has a higher awareness on COVID‐19, the Mann–Whitney post hoc test was performed with Bonferroni correction. The significance test was carried out at the 0.0167 confidence level (obtained from 0.05 divided by 3, namely, the number of post hoc tests performed). The post hoc test with Bonferoni correction is presented in Table 8. It was found that there was no difference in the awareness on COVID‐19 between high school graduates and bachelor degree graduates (W = 8558.5, p > 0.0167) and between bachelor degree graduates and postgraduates (U = 7317, p > 0.0167). Awareness on COVID‐19 was significantly higher among postgraduate graduates than among high school graduates (W = 7242, p < 0.0167).

Table 8

Mann–Whitney U for post hoc Kruskal–Wallis test awareness on COVID‐19 in term of education (N = 404)

			Awareness on COVID‐19
Variables	Characteristics	F	Mean	W	p
Education	High school	142	68,275	8558.5	0.253
	Bachelor's degree graduate	131	68,725
	High school	142	68,275	7242.5****	0.002
	Postgraduate	131	70,137
	Bachelor's degree graduate	131	68,725	7317.0	0.038
	Postgraduate	131	70,137

Abbreviation: COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019.

p < 0.0167 for Bonferroni correction.

Compliance on social distancing order

Based on the Mann–Whitney U test, compliance based on sex and employment status in Table 6, compliance to social distancing order was found to be higher in women (Mean = 53,155) than men (Mean = 51,421) (W = 12031.5, p < 0.01). However, compliance did not differ between employed and unemployed individuals (W = 19546, p > 0.05). Then based on the Kruskal–Wallis test to see whether there were differences in compliance based on age category, education, and income level in Table 6, A.1., B.1., it was found that there was no difference in compliance on social distancing order seen from age (H = 2.679, p > 0.05), education level (H = 3.149, p > 0.05), and income (H = 1.640, p > 0.05).

Table A.1.

Items of awareness on the COVID‐19 scale (English and Bahasa Indonesia Version)

Num	Item
1	I am aware that the covid‐19 virus is dangerous
	Saya menyadari bahwa virus covid‐19 berbahaya
2	I understand that anyone can catch Covid‐19, including me
	Saya memahami bahwa siapa saja bisa terjangkit covid‐19, termasuk saya
3	Even though young people are less vulnerable, they can spread Covid‐19 to others
	Meski orang usia muda lebih tidak rentan, mereka bisa menjadi agen penyebar covid‐19 bagi orang lain
4	I know that elderly people with high blood pressure, heart, lung, and cancer have a higher risk of contracting Covid‐19
	Saya tahu bahwa orang usia lanjut dengan masalah tekanan darah tinggi, jantung, paru‐paru, kanker memiliki resiko lebih tinggi terinfeksi covid‐19
5	I know that Covid‐19 spreads from person to person through nasal or mouth fluids from the sneeze or cough of a person with Covid‐19
	Saya tahu bahwa covid‐19 menyebar dari orang ke orang melalui cairan hidung atau mulut dari bersin atau batuk orang terkena covid‐19
6	I realized that we can become infected with Covid‐19 by touching an object that is exposed to the virus
	Saya menyadari bahwa kita dapat terinfeksi covid‐19 dengan menyentuh objek yang terpapar virus
7	I know that people without symptoms can spread the covid‐19 virus
	Saya tahu bahwa orang tanpa gejala dapat ikut menyebarkan virus covid‐19
8	I know that fever, dry cough, and fatigue can all indicate covid‐19 infection
	Saya mengetahui bahwa demam, batuk kering, kelelahan bisa mengindikasikan terinfeksi covid‐19
9	I know that some people infected with Covid‐19 have only a mild cough without serious symptoms
	Saya tahu bahwa beberapa orang yang terinfeksi covid‐19 hanya mengalami batuk ringan tanpa gejala serius
10	I know that some people infected with Covid‐19 have serious symptoms that make them difficult to breathe
	Saya tahu bahwa beberapa orang yang terinfeksi covid‐19 memiliki gejala serius hingga kesulitan bernafas
11	It is very important to wash your hands regularly with soap and water
	Sangat penting untuk rutin mencuci tangan dengan sabun dan air
12	It is important to always keep a distance of at least 1 meter from other people
	Penting untuk selalu menjaga jarak paling tidak 1 meter dari orang lain
13	I realize the importance of wearing a mask when going out of the house
	Saya menyadari pentingnya untuk penggunaan masker ketika pergi keluar rumah
14	I recognize the importance of staying at home during the Covid‐19 pandemic
	Saya menyadari pentingnya untuk tetap di rumah selama masa pandemi covid‐19
15	I know that until now, no vaccine has been found for Covid‐19
	Saya mengetahui bahwa hingga detik ini, belum ditemukan vaksin untuk covid‐19

Table B.1.

Items of compliance with social distancing scale (English and Bahasa Indonesia Version)

Num	Item
1 F	I am sure that following the order to stay at home will prevent COVID‐19
	Saya yakin menaati aturan tetap di rumah akan terhindar dari COVID‐19
2 F	I am willing to abide by the order of staying at home during a pandemic
	Saya bersedia menaati aturan tetap berada di rumah selama pandemik
3 F	I reduced my outdoor activities during the pandemic
	Saya mengurangi kegiatan di luar rumah selama masa pandemik
4 F	I believe that distancing regulations during a pandemic can reduce virus transmission
	Saya yakin bahwa aturan menjaga jarak selama pandemik dapat mengurangi penularan virus
5 F	The travel restrictions imposed by the government makes absolutely no sense to me
	Larangan bepergian yang diterapkan pemerintah sama sekali tidak masuk akal buat saya
6 F	I stay away from crowded places during the pandemic
	Saya menjauhi tempat‐tempat yang ramai selama pandemik
7 F	I am sure wearing a mask when going out of the house will keep me from being threatened by this pandemic
	Saya yakin mengenakan masker saat keluar rumah akan menghindarkan saya dari ancaman pandemi ini
8UF	In my opinion, order for social distancing are less effective
	Himbauan untuk melakukan social distancing menurut saya kurang efektif
9 F	I avoid outside group or mass gatherings
	Saya menghindari pertemuan kelompok atau massa di luar
10UF	For me, the government's order regarding the prevention of COVID‐19 does not really matter
	Bagi saya, himbauan pemerintah terkait pencegahan COVID‐19 tidak terlalu penting
11 F	I feel that sanctions are necessary for those who break the order of staying at home
	Saya merasa sanksi diperlukan bagi mereka yang melanggar aturan tetap berada di rumah
12 F	I keep 2 meters away when I have to leave the house
	Saya tetap menjaga jarak 2 meter apabila saya terpaksa harus keluar rumah
13 F	Government's restrictions on social and physical activity are the best step for me
	Pembatasan aktivitas sosial dan fisik yang diterapkan pemerintah merupakan langkah yang terbaik bagi saya
14UF	The sanctions given to those who violate the Large‐Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) regulations only suffer the people
	Sanksi yang diberikan bagi yang melanggar aturan PSBB hanya menyengsarakan rakyat
15 F	I immediately sought help if my body felt the symptoms as informed by the government
	Saya segera mencari pertolongan jika tubuh saya merasakan gejala‐gejala seperti yang diinformasikan pemerintah

Note: F is a favorable item, UF is an unfavorable item.

DISCUSSION

The results showed that the awareness on COVID‐19 was positively related to compliance on social distancing. The results of this study supported the previous study that social distancing was significantly correlated by situational awareness (Qazi et al., 2020). Awareness on the situation during a health crisis by using formal information sources (government and mass media) can increase protective health behavior which in turn reduces the spread of the virus (Qazi et al., 2020). Obtaining reliable information can make decisions to utilize any source of information (Calman, 2002), thus leading to protective behavior in the form of personal hygiene and safety (Johnson & Hariharan, 2017). With awareness on COVID‐19, individuals try to find and understand information about COVID‐19 and take precautions.

Several previous studies stated that compliance on social distancing was correlated by trust on the government (Bargain & Aminjonov, 2020; Newton, 2020). The lockdown policy must be accepted by the support of the wider public to be more efficient. Trust on government policy is highly correlated with the decreased mobility outside the home (Bargain & Aminjonov, 2020). Conversely, low trust on government makes people disobedient. To achieve this, it is not enough to only involve external factors such as trust on the government. This study succeeded in finding that internal factors in the form of awareness on COVID‐19 can make people comply. Awareness on COVID‐19 causes the public to take preventive action by complying with health protocols, one of which is compliance on social distancing.

Based on the HBM theory, individuals will take preventive steps determined by their perception of threats that can affect their health problems and the pros and cons in their action (Sarafino & Smith, 2014). HBM theory proposes that individuals will take precautions due to three factors, namely (1) severity, individuals consider how severe the physical and social consequences are if they suffer from a disease and leave it untreated; (2) vulnerability, individual beliefs about the risks that arise from their behavior toward health conditions; and (3) signs or reminders, anything that can remind individuals of their potential health problems. Awareness on COVID‐19 will make individuals perceive COVID‐19 as a dangerous disease so that individuals take action for prevention. To prevent COVID‐19, individuals must have knowledge regarding the etiology, virus transmission, and prevention measures (Mya et al., 2020). A basic understanding of pandemic influenza is associated with a willingness to comply with self‐quarantine, avoid public activities, and delay social gatherings (Eastwood et al., 2009). Awareness is a significant factor increasing the level of compliance (Shon et al., 2016).

Previous study conducted by Alahdal et al. (2020) successfully showed that there was a correlation between awareness with attitude and the correlation between attitude with practice during pandemic COVID‐19. Awareness is significant positive correlation with attitude, indicating that high level of awareness is reflected in individual attitude in turn individuals will practice complying with health protocols. By having awareness of COVID‐19, individuals will show positive attitude, and from that attitude, it can lead to practice which in this study is compliance with social distancing. On the other hand, if individuals have lacks of awareness, it will lead to undesirable attitudes and practices that contribute to negative impacts of controlling the virus infection (Desai & Patel, 2020).

There is a difference in awareness on COVID‐19 in term of employment status. Individuals who work have a higher level of awareness on COVID‐19 because they are aware of the need for self‐protection to prevent COVID‐19 while working. Rabinowitz et al. (2013) found that 78% of workers had awareness on the risk of influenza, 93% of workers took a shower after going outside, 97% of workers participated in occupational health and safety programs, and 93% of workers were aware of following influenza guidelines. Workers also reported using personal protective equipment and washing hands after work.

Another finding is that there is a difference in awareness on COVID‐19 based on the education level. This is in line with the findings of Bawazir et al. (2018) which stated that a higher level of education affected individual and group awareness on preventing the spread of a pandemic outbreak. In addition, Labban et al. (2020) also showed that educational backgrounds differentiate the level of awareness on COVID‐19, namely, individuals with bachelor degree had a higher level of awareness. Higher education subjects had awareness on COVID‐19 because they had better knowledge and understanding of the disease, so they seek to take preventive action.

For compliance on social distancing, this study found differences in compliance on social distancing in term of sex. Most women are more willing to obey the stay at home policy than men, possibly because women display more positive health‐related behaviors so that they better comply with order related to social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID‐19 (Bass et al., 2010). A research by Marshall et al. (2012) found that when faced with H1N1 in 2007 and 2009, women were more likely to comply with the use of masks and to the stay‐at‐home order. Employment status, age, education, and income did not appear to differentiate the compliance in this study.

This study also shows that awareness on COVID‐19 is linked to compliance on social distancing during a pandemic. With awareness on COVID‐19, the public will seek information related to disease such as disease symptoms, risks or impacts of disease, and treatment so that they seek to take preventive measures, one of which is compliance on social distancing order.

CONCLUSION

The research found that there was a significant positive relationship between the variable awareness of COVID‐19 and compliance to social distancing. Awareness of COVID‐19 was found significantly in working individuals, as well as in individuals with postgraduate education levels. The difference in adherence to social distancing was found to be higher in women than men. Based on the results of the study, awareness of COVID‐19 is an important indicator to increase adherence to health protocols. Awareness of COVID‐19 can be obtained by searching for valid information related to COVID‐19, thus the public will gain sufficient knowledge so that it can lead to healthy behavior to prevent being infected with COVID‐19.

LIMITATIONS

Online data collection via Google Form is a limitation in this study. This is because there may be groups that cannot be reached as research respondents, namely, groups who are unfamiliar with online survey such as groups with lower education and older age. Most of the research respondents who graduated from high school in this study belong to a highly educated group. This may be why the data in this study were not normally distributed, namely, the relatively high awareness of COVID‐19 and relatively high compliance. The variable of compliance with a government order in preventing the spread of COVID‐19 needs to be supported by many parties. A research is needed from various other variables such as public political trust (Painter & Qiu, 2021) to get a more comprehensive view of what factors can predict public compliance besides awareness on COVID‐19. Besides that, the construct validity or internal structure of the instruments need to be improved. Both instruments have variance <50% (29% for awareness scale on COVID‐19% and 32.3% for compliance on social distancing order scale).

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

All authors have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (a) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, (b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and (c) final approval of the version to be submitted.

PEER REVIEW

The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1002/jcop.22735