The prevalence of feigning and concealment of Covid-19 infections in an international sample

Irena Boskovic*, Esteban Puente-Lopez, Brechje Dandachi-FitzGerald, Harald Merckelbach

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We asked 463 participants from 21 countries whether they had feigned and/or concealed having a coronavirus infection during the pandemic period. 384 respondents (83%) reported having experienced a coronavirus infection. They were, on average, younger and reported more chronic health issues than participants who said they had never been infected. 65 (14%) admitted to having feigned the infection. Prevalence doubled (28%) when asked if they knew anyone who had feigned a coronavirus infection. Main motives for feigning were to stay at home and to obtain sick leave. As to having concealed a coronavirus infection, 56 (12%) responded affirmatively, but when asked about others, the prevalence reached 51% (n = 210). The most common reasons for concealment were to avoid letting others know and to not miss an event. Thus, both feigning and concealing infections can occur on a nontrivial scale, directly affecting prevalence rates in studies that rely on self-reported data collected from social platforms.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)595-607
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Health Psychology
Volume29
Issue number6
Early online date28 Jan 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2024

Keywords

  • concealment
  • coronavirus
  • Covid-19
  • feigning
  • response bias
  • SARS-CoV2
  • BASE RATES
  • PERFORMANCE

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