El comportamiento preventivo de la juventud ante la COVID-19

Abstract

As of March 2020, following the declaration of a state of alarm throughout the whole country by activating Royal Decree 463/2020, the Spanish Government set out several measures aimed at addressing the health and social crisis caused by Covid-19, which demanded a social commitment from various sectors of the population. Social work has been providing knowledge not only through intervention but also in the field of research based on reality to look at preventive measures, amongst others, to tackle the pandemic. A quantitative cross-sectional study is now presented that was conducted in collaboration with Malaga City Council’s Department of Youth Services and the Civic Association for Prevention (Asociación Cívica para la Prevención, or ACP) for the purpose of measuring the behaviours and attitudes of 1,066 youngsters in Malaga with respect to the preventive measures put forward to alleviate contagion and the spread of the virus to more people. The results show that young people in the city of Malaga are more committed to slowing down the spread of the virus rather than merely to avoid being punished for not wearing a face mask, there being a greater concern about not infecting people close to them or becoming infected themselves. It is concluded that there is a need to continue to raise awareness to the prevention of personal and social contagion and thus reduce the likelihood of passing Covid on to someone else. Such measures may have a greater impact than merely meting out punishment, where, in addition, young people are not the only ones to be blamed for increasing the rate of infection.