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

COVID-19疫情严重扰乱了全球社会及经济的日常生活。流行病学家警告说，恢复“正常活动”需要接触者追踪，首先是对感染者进行访谈，并允许识别和隔离其他接触者。至关重要的是，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促进记忆的技术。此外，研究普遍发现，这种流行病中的关键群体，儿童和老年人，在记忆任务中的表现往往比青少年和年轻人和中年人更差。因此，有理由对接触者追踪访谈中提供的报告的准确性和完整性表示关切，特别是对处于关键生命阶段的个人。这个项目探讨了如何增强记忆策略可以提高接触跟踪的时间关键问题。通过这项研究，发展和认知科学可以在我们从这场大流行病以及其他健康相关危机中恢复过来的过程中发挥作用。这项拟议中的研究测试了接触记忆是否可以在整个生命周期中利用知情访谈技术来改善。具体来说，这项研究测试了9岁至90岁之间的人是否回忆起更多的接触时，通过认知知情的接触追踪采访，与基线采访。这项研究还将审查两种管理方式的有效性：自我管理的调查格式和通过视频会议进行的现场访谈。还将分析回忆起的联系人的性质的发展差异，例如个人对联系人的熟悉程度。这项研究的结果将直接告知我们对所有年龄段的个人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，高效和有效的发展适当的采访的能力。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

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.