Utility of the Capabilities, Opportunities, Motivations Model for Understanding Changes in Behavior

Background: Wearing face coverings to prevent airborne viral transmission has at times been legally-mandated, followed by periods when rules were relaxed. The present study tracks changes in face covering and the impacts on people’s perceptions of their capabilities, opportunities and motivations. Methods. Three-wave survey. At wave 1 (25 January-6 February 2022), 10,622 UK adults reported: (a) sociodemographic characteristics; (b) face covering in work, public transport and indoor leisure settings; and (c) capabilities, opportunities and motivations. Measures were repeated 1st-18th March 2022 and 20th May- 6th June 2022. Data were analyzed descriptively, within-participants ANCOVA and multiple linear regression.Results: Face covering decreased over time as rules around the wearing of face coverings relaxed. Perceptions of capabilities, opportunities and motivations to wear face coverings were consistently associated with the actual wearing of face coverings, with marked decreases in motivations over time. Conclusions: Decreases in motivations seem to explain best the reasons for declining levels of face covering. Further work is required to develop interventions to change people’s motivations and promote the wearing of face coverings, should they be required in the future.