Older adults' perceptions of government handling of COVID-19: Predictors of protective behaviors from lockdown to post-lockdown.

Background: Distrust, and more broadly, public perception of government's handling of a crisis, has been a widely studied topic within health crisis research and suggests that these perceptions are significantly associated with the behavior of its citizens.

Purpose: To understand which aspects of the public's perception of government handling of the COVID-19 pandemic predicted engagement of protective behaviors among older adults, who are the most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Methods: Participants were recruited from an ongoing biopsychosocial study on aging amongst community-dwelling older adults.