New Media Literacy, Health Status, Anxiety, and Preventative Behaviors Related to COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study in Taiwan

The Motivation for COVID-19 Vaccination and Preventive Behavior

COVID-19, a viral infection that emerged in late 2019, induces a severe acute respiratory syndrome marked by significant clinical symptoms, and the potential for progressive respiratory failure and death. People facing the threat of COVID-19 not only feared being infected, but were also worried about the side-effects of vaccination. This conflict affected their epidemic prevention behavior. To understand this issue, the present study explored whether infection anxiety affected the psychological avoidance or approach to getting vaccinated and the intention to take epidemic prevention measures. The study implemented a cross-sectional, web-based survey. We created questionnaires using Surveycake, an online e-form questionnaire platform. We used the snowball sampling method via a social media app to recruit participants. If individuals were willing to participate in the research, we emailed the e-form questionnaire link to them to collect data. After questionnaire collection, 288 questionnaires were returned, and 277 valid questionnaires were obtained for structural equation modeling analysis. According to the statistical results, it was found that infection anxiety was positively related to avoidance-avoidance conflict, and the power of infection anxiety on avoidance conflict was 23.0%. Infection anxiety was negatively related to approach-approach conflict regarding vaccination, and the power of infection anxiety on approach-approach conflict was 22.0%. Approach-approach conflict regarding vaccination was negatively related to prevention behavior, while avoidance-avoidance conflict regarding vaccination was positively related to prevention behavior. The two conflicts explained 12.5% of the total variance in prevention behavior. The study results highlight the long-term importance of achieving vaccine goals in order to prepare for future health emergencies similar to the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Understanding the mental health impacts of biological disasters: Lessons from Taiwan's experience with COVID-19

Biological disasters pose a growing challenge in the 21st century, significantly impacting global society. Taiwan has experienced such disasters, resulting in long-term consequences like loss of life, trauma, economic decline, and societal disruptions. Post-disaster, mental health issues such as fear, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and stress surge, accompanied by increased suicide rates. The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (also called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)) pandemic, recognized as a biological disaster, triggered lockdowns and quarantines in Taiwan, causing lifestyle changes, economic recession, and so on. These shifts may elevate uncertainty about the future, intensifying mental stress and leading to a rise in various mental illnesses. This article reviews mental health studies conducted in Taiwan during the pandemic, emphasizing the need to integrate this research for future preparedness and interventions regarding the mental health impacts of biological disasters, including COVID-19. Further research is essential to explore long-term effects, interventions, and generalizability.

Conservative Media Use and COVID-19 Related Behavior: The Moderating Role of Media Literacy Variables

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no vaccine to cure or slow its impact due to the novelty of the virus, nor were there were any other standardized measures to handle its spread. Yet, despite the detrimental consequences of the pandemic and its impact on people’s lives, the behavior of individuals to combat the pandemic was not necessarily consistent with official guidelines. To make things worse, the pandemic was highly politicized in countries such as the U.S. With a help of a national survey from the U.S., we examine the associations between media literacy variables and willingness to perform recommended COVID-19 related health behavior. Moreover, we also examine the moderating role of conservative media use in this relationship. Our findings show that conservative media use was negatively associated with these protective behaviors, and that both media literacy variables were positively related with willingness to perform recommended COVID-19 related health behavior. Our results show that media literacy can mitigate some of the impact of conservative media use on individuals. Our findings help understand the complexity of protective behavior against the virus during a highly politicized pandemic.

How Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect People's Willingness to Pay for Health in the Short and Long Term? A Longitudinal Study during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic in China

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a substantial threat to people’s lives and aroused health concerns. This study aims at exploring the following questions. First, how does the COVID-19 pandemic affect people’s willingness to pay for health (WPH) in the short and long term? Second, what is the psychological mechanism underlying such an effect? Finally, what are the boundary conditions for this effect? To answer these questions, we conducted three longitudinal surveys. The first survey was launched in February 2020—the time of the most serious outbreak of COVID-19 in China. Data were obtained from 1548 participants through questionnaires on an online survey platform. The sample covered 297 prefecture-level cities in 31 provincial administrative regions. Subsequently, we conducted two follow-up surveys in August 2020 and July 2021. The samples of these surveys were randomly selected from the sample of the first survey. The findings showed that the pandemic promoted people’s WPH in the outbreak period. The fear of death and self-esteem mediated and moderated this effect, respectively. Moreover, the effect persisted for six months after the COVID-19 pandemic had been brought under control (August 2020). However, the effect disappeared after a year and a half (July 2021). These results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic promoted people’s WPH and that this effect was sustained in the short term after the pandemic had been brought under control but not in the long term.