Research from JAMA Pediatrics — Predictive Values of Psychiatric Symptoms for Internet Addiction in Adolescents — A 2-Year Prospective Study

Objective: The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is one of the most robust models in explaining health-related behavior. In this study, we tested the extended TPB to predict university students’ intentions to uptake COVID-19 vaccination. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was developed to investigate students’ intention to uptake the COVID-19 vaccine based on the components of the TPB (i.e., attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) and extended components (i.e., knowledge about COVID-19, risk perception of COVID-19, and past influenza vaccination behavior). Non-probability sampling was used to collect data from 3145 students from 43 universities in mainland China in January 2021. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to examine the proposed model. Enrolled students were relatively young (mean age = 20.80 years; SD = 2.09), half of them are female (50.2%), and most of them were studying in undergraduate programs (n = 3026; 96.2%). Results: The results showed that students’ knowledge of the COVID-19 vaccine and risk perception of COVID-19 positively influenced their attitude toward the uptake of a COVID-19 vaccine. Also, students’ attitude toward COVID-19 vaccination uptake and their past influenza vaccination uptake behaviors were positively associated with the intention to uptake COVID-19 vaccination. Subjective norm and perceived behavioral control were not significant predictors for the intention to uptake COVID-19 vaccination (R² = 0.49). Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that the extended TPB appears to be an efficient model with the focus on attitude, knowledge, risk perception, and past influenza vaccination uptake behaviors in explaining students’ intention for COVID-19 vaccination.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the mental health of university students. Objective: This study examined the psychological responses toward COVID-19 among university students from 3 countries—Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand. Methods: We used a web-based, cross-sectional survey to recruit 1985 university students from 5 public universities (2 in Indonesia, 1 in Thailand, and 1 in Taiwan) via popular social media platforms such as Facebook, LINE, WhatsApp, and broadcast. All students (n=938 in Indonesia, n=734 in Thailand, and n=313 in Taiwan) answered questions concerning their anxiety, suicidal thoughts (or sadness), confidence in pandemic control, risk perception of susceptibility to infection, perceived support, resources for fighting infection, and sources of information in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Among the 3 student groups, Thai students had the highest levels of anxiety but the lowest levels of confidence in pandemic control and available resources for fighting COVID-19. Factors associated with higher anxiety differed across countries. Less perceived satisfactory support was associated with more suicidal thoughts among Indonesian students. On the other hand, Taiwanese students were more negatively affected by information gathered from the internet and from medical staff than were Indonesian or Thai students. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that health care providers in Thailand may need to pay special attention to Thai university students given that high levels of anxiety were observed in this study population. In addition, health care providers should establish a good support system for university students, as the results of this study indicate a negative association between support and suicidal thoughts.

Background: People obtain information on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from the internet and other sources. Understanding the factors related to such information sources aids health professionals in educating individuals. Objective: This study used data collected from the online survey study on COVID-19 in Taiwan to examine what major COVID-19 information sources are available and which sources are significantly related to the self-confidence of people in coping with COVID-19 in Taiwan. Methods: A total of 1904 participants (1270 non–health-care workers and 634 health care workers) were recruited from the Facebook advertisement. Their major sources of information about COVID-19, the relationships between the sources and demographic factors, and the relationships between the sources and the self-confidence in coping with COVID-19 were surveyed. Results: Most Taiwanese people relied on the internet for COVID-19 information. Many respondents also used a variety of sources of information on COVID-19; such variety was associated with sex, age, and the level of worry toward COVID-19, as well as if one was a health care worker. For health care workers, the use of formal lessons as an information source was significantly associated with better self-confidence in coping with COVID-19. The significant association between receiving information from more sources and greater self-confidence was found only in health care workers but not in non–health-care workers. Conclusions: Medical professionals should consider subgroups of the population when establishing various means to deliver information on COVID-19.