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This 'cohort profile' aims to provide a description of the study design, methodology, and baseline characteristics of the participants in the Corona Behavioral Unit cohort. This cohort was established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the regional public health services. The aim was to investigate adherence of and support for COVID-19 prevention measures, psychosocial determinants of COVID-19 behaviors, well-being, COVID-19 vaccination, and media use. The cohort also examined specific motivations and beliefs, such as for vaccination, which were collected through either closed-ended items or open text responses. In April 2020, 89,943 participants aged 16 years and older were recruited from existing nation-wide panels. Between May 2020 and September 2022, 99,676 additional participants were recruited through online social media platforms and mailing lists of higher education organizations. Participants who consented were initially invited every three weeks (5 rounds), then every six weeks (13 rounds), and since the summer of 2022 every 12 weeks (3 rounds). To date, 66% of participants were female, 30% were 39 years and younger, and 54% completed two or more questionnaires, with an average of 9.2 (SD = 5.7) questionnaires. The Corona Behavioral Unit COVID-19 cohort has published detailed insights into longitudinal patterns of COVID-19 related behaviors, support of COVID-19 preventive measures, as well as peoples' mental wellbeing in relation to the stringency of these measures. The results have informed COVID-19 policy making and pandemic communication in the Netherlands throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The cohort data will continuously be used to examine COVID-19 related outcomes for scientific analyses, as well as to inform future pandemic preparedness plans.

Smoking cessation is a difficult process in which research thus far mainly focused on individuals. However, an important contributor to health behaviour is ones partner. This thesis examined the role of a non-smoking partner in a quit attempt. Non-smokers appeared to have a slightly more negative attitude towards smoking than their smoking partners, which was related to conflicts about smoking. The majority of non-smoking partners indicated the wish for their partner to stop smoking. We examined an intervention to quit smoking in which if-then plans were created (e.g. If I crave a cigarette after diner, then I’m going for a walk instead). Although we expected smokers to be more successful in quitting smoking when plans were created together with their non-smoking partner, this was not the case. After three months, about 30% of the smokers had quit smoking in both groups. This is relatively high compared to other studies in which smokers created plans alone. Perhaps the mere participation of partners in the study already encouraged their commitment to the quit attempt. All participants filled in daily questionnaires during the cessation process. On days when smokers received more support and less negative control from their partner than usual their probability of smoking was lower. On days when smokers and partners were more confident in the quit attempt than usual, the probability of smoking was also lower.