Factors related to preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors among people with mental illness

Chang, K-C, Strong, C, Pakpour, AH, Griffiths, MD ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8880-6524 and Lin, C-Y, 2020. Factors related to preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors among people with mental illness. Journal of the Formosan Medical Association, 119 (12), pp. 1772-1780. ISSN 0929-6646

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Abstract

Background/Purpose: Because of the spread of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019), preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors become important for individuals, especially those who are vulnerable. The present study proposes a model to explain the preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors among people with mental illness in Taiwan.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was carried out and 414 patients with mental illness (230 males [55.6%]; mean age = 46.32 [SD = 10.86]) agreed to participate in the study. All the participants completed the Preventive COVID-19 Infection Behaviors Scale, Self-Stigma Scale-Short, Believing COVID-19 Information Scale, Fear of COVID-19 Scale, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. Regression models and structural equation modeling (SEM) were applied to examine the factors associated with preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors.

Results: Both regression models and SEM showed that trust in COVID-19 information sources (standardized coefficient [β] = 0.211 in regression; β = 0.194 in SEM) and fear of COVID-19 (β = −0.128 in regression; β = −0.223 in SEM) significantly explained preventive behaviors among individuals with mental illness. The SEM further showed that fear of COVID-19 was significantly explained by trust in COVID-19 information sources (β = 0.220) and self-stigma (β = 0.454).

Conclusions: Based on the results, healthcare providers should help individuals with mental illness reduce self-stigma and fear of COVID-19 which would consequently improve their preventive COVID-19 infection behaviors. Moreover, improving trust in COVID-19 information sources for individuals with mental illness may be another method to improve their preventive behaviors.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
Creators:	Chang, K.-C., Strong, C., Pakpour, A.H., Griffiths, M.D. and Lin, C.-Y.
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date:	December 2020
Volume:	119
Number:	12
ISSN:	0929-6646
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.jfma.2020.07.032 DOI S0929664620303442 Publisher Item Identifier 1354290 Other
Rights:	© 2020, Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	20 Aug 2020 14:04
Last Modified:	31 May 2021 15:11
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/40491

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