In March, seeking to control the spread of COVID-19 within their jurisdictions, countries and states ordered businesses closed and asked employees to work from home, if possible. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control developed a list of recommended preventative health behaviors for all Americans, including social distancing, wearing facial coverings in public, frequent handwashing, and limiting non-essential trips from home.
![Hyun Jung Lee.](https://wpcdn.web.wsu.edu/wp-cas/uploads/sites/648/2020/08/lee_hyun_jung-grad-student-1.jpg)
![Tahira Probst.](https://wpcdn.web.wsu.edu/wp-cas/uploads/sites/648/2020/08/probst_tahira.jpg)
Tahira Probst, professor of psychology at WSU Vancouver and an expert in occupational health psychology, and Hyun Jung Lee, a graduate student in her lab, were curious to know more. Based on her lab’s prior work linking economic stressors (such as job insecurity and financial strain) with workplace safety behaviors, they designed a study to explore the relationship between these stressors and COVID-19 prevention behaviors among employees.