JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to an increase in known risk factors for mental health problems. Although Medical information provided by the internet and smartphones has greatly expanded, people’s ability to seek, eschew, and use reliable online medical information and services to promote mental health is unknown.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to assess the mediating effects of eHealth literacy (eHL) on the relationships between Coronaphobia and four frequently reported mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods:

Data used in this study were obtained from a web-based survey conducted in China. The general Chinese population aged between 18 and 30 years old were invited to participate in the survey. A non-probability snowball sampling method was used to collect the data. A Bayesian Structural Equation Model (BSEM) via parameter expansion was used to estimate the mediating effect of eHL on the relationship between Coronaphobia and psychological problems. Posterior mean and 95% Highest Density Interval (HDI) were estimated.

Results:

A total of 4,119 participants completed the questionnaire. There was a statistically significant but minor-to-moderate association between all the measures. A significant heterogeneity between rural and urban residents on eHL and Coronaphobia was observed. The result of BSEM demonstrated that eHL was a significant mediator in reducing the negative effects of Coronaphobia on loneliness (posterior mean=-0.0016, 95% HDI -0.0022, -0.0011), depression (posterior mean=-0.006, 95% HDI -0.0079, -0.004), stigma (posterior mean=-0.0052, 95% HDI -0.0068, -0.0036), and irritability (posterior mean = -0.0037, 95% HDI -0.0052, -0.0022).

Conclusions:

This study using BSEM demonstrated that improving eHL can significantly mitigate the negative effects of Coronaphobia on four COVID-related mental health problems among Chinese young adults. Future eHL initiatives should target rural communities to ensure equal access to information and resources that can help protect their mental health during the pandemic.