Trust in science, medicine and medical providers and its relations to vaccine beliefs: A latent class analysis.

AIM: People may differ in their vaccine-related beliefs (i.e. efficacy, safety, purpose), with a host of factors influencing these differences. This can produce homogeneous groups of individuals who share certain beliefs, attitudes and opinions not only towards vaccines but science and medicine in general. This study aims to characterise distinct subgroups and identify ideal targets for tailored public health interventions to reinforce favourable vaccine beliefs. METHODS: Latent class analysis was used to derive unique profiles using the 2019 Gallup survey of 140 countries. We modelled a composite of vaccine beliefs and regressed this on class membership and relevant covariates. RESULTS: Patterns of item endorsement indicated a well-fitting five-class model, with classes distinguished based on whether individuals sought personal knowledge about science, medicine and health; trusted science and scientists; and reported confidence in the health care system. The lowest levels of vaccine beliefs were reported by a class lacking trust and confidence and the highest levels were reported by a class endorsing trust, confidence and desiring medical and scientific knowledge. Country-level income was moderately related to class membership, and vaccine beliefs were higher in lower-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that public health campaigns can focus on improving trust in science and medical providers. Efforts to improve vaccination rates can only be achieved when individuals trust science, view the work of scientists as beneficial and hold favourable views towards health care providers. Individuals will then accrue the necessary wisdom to make good health care decisions that affect not only themselves but also their fellow citizens.

Typologies of stress appraisal and problem-focused coping: associations with compliance with public health recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Given prior research finding that young adults are less likely to engage in recommended public health behaviors (PHBs) than older adults, understanding who is and is not likely to engage in PHBs among young adults is crucial to mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, this study examined how typologies of stress appraisal (SA) and problem-focused coping (PFC) among young adults were associated with compliance with public health recommendations during the pandemic. METHODS: An online sample of young adults in the United States, ages 18-35, was recruited during the early phase of the pandemic (April-May 2020). Participants reported their appraisals of how central, threatening, and uncontrollable the pandemic was, their tendencies to engage in instrumental, problem-focused coping strategies, and how frequently they engaged in three recommended PHBs (social distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing). RESULTS: Using latent class analysis, we identified three classes of individuals: Low-SA/Low-PFC, Low-SA/High-PFC, and High-SA/High-PFC. Demographics did not efficiently distinguish membership in the three classes. The former two classes reported less compliance with public health recommendations than did the latter class. Tests of measurement invariance for gender indicated trivial differences in the composition of class membership and relations to compliance. CONCLUSIONS: This research uncovered three qualitatively distinct classes of people who differed in their appraisal of the pandemic and their tendency to engage in PFC. Individuals who view the pandemic as central and threatening and engage in problem-focused coping were more likely than their peers to comply with guidelines recommending social distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing. These results contribute to our understanding of why people do and do not comply with public health guidelines and highlight the importance of attending to psychological variables in public health research. Understanding what drives poor compliance with public health recommendations can contribute to efforts promoting better compliance, and ultimately better health outcomes.

Assessing the Role of Trust in Information Sources, Adoption of Preventive Practices, Volunteering and Degree of Training on Biological Risk Prevention, on Perceived Risk of Infection and Usage of Personal Protective Equipment Among Italian Medical Students During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.

Background: During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Bologna Medical School surveyed medical students to learn more about their preparation to confront challenges posed by the pandemic and whether it affects perceptions of viral infection risk. This information could help design risk-reduction interventions with training to mitigate possible viral exposure. Method: A cross-sectional online survey examining students' characteristics, volunteer status, adoption of evidence-based preventive measures, trust in information sources used, infectious disease training, and knowledge of PPE usage in relation to perceived risk of infection from SARS-CoV-2 in daily living, academic, and healthcare activities. A multivariate path model estimated the simultaneous influences of all exogenous factors on perceived risk. A Poisson regression model assessed the same multivariate effects on knowledge of PPE usage. Results: The analysis sample included 537 respondents. Perceived risk of infection was highest in hospital activities. On average, students were able to use only four out of seven types of PPE albeit they adopted most of the evidence-based preventive measures. Adoption of preventive measures was positively associated with perceived risk of COVID infection. Conversely, training on PPE usage and volunteer work were associated with lower perceived risk in healthcare setting and higher PPE knowledge. Conclusion: Implementing early safety-based educational programs remedy students' lack of knowledge in infectious disease prevention and mitigate their risk of infection. Voluntary work should be encouraged with potential benefit for both their continued medical training and strengthening the healthcare system's response to public health emergencies.

Typologies of coping in young adults in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created major upheavals in the lives of people worldwide. The virus has mostly affected elderly populations, but there may be corollary effects on young adults' psychosocial adjustment due to educational, economic, and occupational disruptions. Using latent class analysis, we examined unique typologies of coping in response to the pandemic among young adults. We used an expanded set of indicators including traditional measures of problem- and emotion-focused coping as well as measures of resilience and coping flexibility. We also examined whether class membership could be predicted by demographics, stress appraisal, and psychosocial characteristics including catastrophic thinking and impulsivity. The sample of 1,391 young adults (ages 18-35) was recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and snowball methods from late-April to early-May 2020. Six classes were identified: (1) Resilient Flexible Problem-Focused Copers, (2) Resilient Inflexible Problem-Focused Copers, (3) Non-Resilient Flexible Problem-Focused Venters, (4) Non-Resilient Flexible Problem-Focused Copers, (5) Non-Resilient Flexible Non-Copers, and (6) Non-Resilient Inflexible Non-Copers. Using Class 1 as the reference class, we found perceived centrality and uncontrollability of the pandemic as well as catastrophic thinking and impulsivity were significant predictors of class membership. The mean levels of stress appraisal and psychosocial characteristics varied significantly between the classes, reinforcing the structural validity of these classes. The findings suggest the importance of training young adults to develop resilience and flexibility as well as specific coping skills that can help offset the psychological effects of dramatic lifestyle changes that may result from pandemics or other health crises in the future.