en Nursing Orginal research <p><span style="line-height:2;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif=""><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b><i><span new="" roman="" times="">Background:</span></i></b> </span><span new="" roman="" times="">The epidemic of respiratory diseases and their complications and mortalities has always been considered one of the health threats to humans</span><span new="" roman="" times="">. </span></span></span><br> <span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif=""><b><i><span new="" roman="" times=""><span style="color:#2980b9;">Objectives:</span> </span></i></b><span new="" roman="" times="">This study aimed to identify the predictors of COVID-19 prevention behaviors based on the health belief model among the students of the Nursing and Midwifery Faculty of Zanjan City in 2021.</span></span></span><br> <span new="" roman="" times=""><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b><i>Methods:</i></b></span><span style="color:black"> This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 294 nursing students recruited using the convenience sampling method. A three-part questionnaire addressing demographic characteristics, the health belief model, and preventive behaviors was used. The questionnaire was provided to the participants via sharing on social media. For statistical analysis, the independent t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson&rsquo;s correlation, and regression were conducted in SPSS v.22 software.</span></span><br> <span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif=""><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b><i><span new="" roman="" times="">Results</span></i><span new="" roman="" times="">:</span></b></span><span new="" roman="" times=""> The mean (SD) of preventive behaviors and health belief scores were 42.36 (3.23) and 113.11 (10.07), respectively. The highest and lowest scores were related to the constructs of perceived benefits (3.82 from 5) and perceived barriers (3.003 from 5), respectively. According to Pearson&rsquo;s correlation coefficient, preventive behaviors had a direct and statistically significant correlation with the perceived sensitivity, perceived intensity, perceived benefits, self-efficacy, and action guide constructs (P<0.05). The constructs of perceived sensitivity, perceived intensity, self-efficacy, and action guide predicted 13%, 9.7%, 22%, and 19.4% of the variance in preventive behaviors, respectively.</span></span></span><br> <span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif=""><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b><i><span new="" roman="" times="">Conclusion:</span></i></b></span><span new="" roman="" times=""> Based on the findings of the present study, self-efficacy was the most prominent construct predicting COVID-19 prevention behaviors among students. Therefore, methods that enhance self-efficacy, such as boosting awareness and empowerment strategies, can be employed to manage the preventive behaviors of students during emerging infectious diseases.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p> Health Belief Model, Health Behavior, Preventive Behavior, Covid-19, Student 70 80 http://nmcjournal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-86-5&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Sahar Taheri Chorsi staheri7417@yahoo.com 100319475328460013990 0009-0005-7597-1674 No Department of Community Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Masoume Moqaddam Masoumemoqaddam@gmail.com 100319475328460013991 100319475328460013991 Yes Department of Community Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Nasrin Jafari Varjoshani jafari_ns@yahoo.com 100319475328460013992 100319475328460013992 No Department of Community Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Farzane Ahmadi ahmadi.farzan@gmail.com 100319475328460013993 100319475328460013993 No Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran