RAPID: Reducing the Spread of COVID-19 Through Contact Tracing: The Influence of Age and Interview Protocol

2019冠状病毒病大流行严重扰乱了世界各地的社会和经济日常生活。流行病学家警告说，恢复“正常活动”需要追踪接触者，这首先是与感染者面谈，并允许识别和隔离其他接触者。重要的是，接触追踪访谈基本上是一项记忆任务，但所使用的方法通常不包括记忆促进技术。此外，研究普遍发现，在这场大流行中，儿童和老年人等关键群体在记忆任务中的表现往往不如青少年和青壮年。因此，有理由关注接触者追踪访谈中提供的报告的准确性和完整性，特别是对处于关键生命阶段的个人。这个项目研究了时间关键问题，即增强记忆策略如何改善接触追踪。通过这项研究，发展和认知科学可以在我们从这场大流行以及其他与健康相关的危机中恢复过来方面发挥作用。提出的研究测试是否记忆接触可以提高在整个生命周期利用经验知情的采访技术。具体来说，这项研究测试了9岁至90岁的人在接受认知知情接触追踪访谈时，与基线访谈相比，是否能回忆起更多的接触。这项研究还将检验两种管理方式的有效性：一种是自我管理的调查形式，另一种是通过视频会议进行的现场采访。还将分析所回忆的接触性质的发展差异，例如个体对接触的熟悉程度。本研究的结果将直接告知我们对所有年龄段的个体进行有效接触追踪访谈的能力。调查结果还可以帮助一线工作人员进行安全、高效和有效的与发展相适应的访谈。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted daily life, both socially and economically, worldwide. Epidemiologists have cautioned that a return to “normal activities” requires contact tracing, which begins with interviews of infected persons and allows for the identification and isolation of other exposed individuals. Critically, contact tracing interviews are fundamentally a memory task, yet the methods used generally do not incorporate memory-facilitating techniques. Further, research has generally found that critical groups in this pandemic, children and the elderly, often perform worse on memory tasks than adolescents and young and middle-aged adults. As such, there is reason for concern about the accuracy and completeness of reports provided in contact tracing interviews, particularly for individuals within critical life phases. This project examines the time-critical issue of how enhanced memory strategies can improve contact tracing. Through this research, developmental and cognitive science can play a role in our recovery from this pandemic, as well as other health-related crises.The proposed study tests whether memory for contacts can be improved across the lifespan utilizing empirically-informed interview techniques. Specifically, this study tests whether individuals between the ages of 9 and 90 recall more contacts when queried via a cognitively-informed contact tracing interview, as compared to a baseline interview. The study will also examine the effectiveness of two types of administration: a self-administered survey format, and a live interview via video-conferencing. Developmental differences in the nature of the contacts recalled, such as the individual’s familiarity with the contact, will also be analyzed. The results of this study will directly inform our ability to conduct effective contact tracing interviews with individuals of all ages. Findings can also aid frontline workers’ ability to conduct safe, efficient, and effective developmentally-appropriate interviews.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.