COVID-19 Vaccine-Related Information on the WeChat Public Platform: Topic Modeling and Content Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 vaccine is an effective tool in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. As the main channel of information dissemination in the context of the epidemic, social media influences public trust and acceptance of the vaccine. The rational application of health behavior theory is a guarantee of effective public health information dissemination. However, little is known about the application of health behavior theory in web-based COVID-19 vaccine messages, especially from Chinese social media posts. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to understand the main topics and communication characteristics of hot papers related to COVID-19 vaccine on the WeChat platform and assess the health behavior theory application with the aid of health belief model (HBM). METHODS: A systematic search was conducted on the Chinese social media platform WeChat to identify COVID-19 vaccine-related papers. A coding scheme was established based on the HBM, and the sample was managed and coded using NVivo 12 (QSR International) to assess the application of health behavior theory. The main topics of the papers were extracted through the Latent Dirichlet Allocation algorithm. Finally, temporal analysis was used to explore trends in the evolution of themes and health belief structures in the papers. RESULTS: A total of 757 papers were analyzed. Almost all (671/757, 89%) of the papers did not have an original logo. By topic modeling, 5 topics were identified, which were vaccine development and effectiveness (267/757, 35%), disease infection and protection (197/757, 26%), vaccine safety and adverse reactions (52/757, 7%), vaccine access (136/757, 18%), and vaccination science popularization (105/757, 14%). All papers identified at least one structure in the extended HBM, but only 29 papers included all of the structures. Descriptions of solutions to obstacles (585/757, 77%) and benefit (468/757, 62%) were the most emphasized components in all samples. Relatively few elements of susceptibility (208/757, 27%) and the least were descriptions of severity (135/757, 18%). Heat map visualization revealed the change in health belief structure before and after vaccine entry into the market. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the structural expression of health beliefs in information related to the COVID-19 vaccine on the WeChat public platform based on an HBM. The study also identified topics and communication characteristics before and after the market entry of vaccines. Our findings can inform customized education and communication strategies to promote vaccination not only in this pandemic but also in future pandemics.

A follow-up study depressive and anxiety symptoms of children in Wuhan City, Hubei Province

Objective: To investigate the progression of depressive and anxiety symptoms of children, especially whose parents were frontline workers in the combat of the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), and to provide evidence for children's mental health promotion.

Research progress on mental health of school-age children under major public health emergencies

Children were vulnerable groups in major public health emergencies. In 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was widespread in the world. The mental health of school-age children has become a worldwide concern. Herein, we conducted this review to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of general children and special children with a high risk of psychological problems, focusing on the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder among school-age children in different countries and regions during the COVID-19 epidemic. Considering the susceptibility between individuals and the accessibility of social resources, we further explored the child, family, and social related factors affecting the mental health of school-age children. Finally, some suggestions on the construction of children's mental health service system in major public health emergencies were put forward at the national, school-family-community, and individual levels. Building a safe and reliable child mental health protection network required the joint efforts of all sectors of society.

Psychological Symptom Progression in School-Aged Children After COVID-19 Home Confinement: A Longitudinal Study.

Background: The long-term mental health effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children are rarely reported. We aimed to investigate the progression of depressive and anxiety symptoms among a cohort of children in the initial epicenter of COVID-19 in China. Methods: Two waves of surveys were conducted in the same two primary schools in Wuhan and Huangshi, Hubei province: Wave 1 from 28 February to 5 March, 2020 (children had been confined to home for 30-40 days) and Wave 2 from 27 November to 9 December, 2020 (schools had reopened for nearly 3 months). Depressive and anxiety symptoms were estimated using the Children's Depression Inventory - Short Form (CDI-S) and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), respectively. ΔCDI-S and ΔSCARED scores between Wave 2 and Wave 1 were calculated and further categorized into tertiles. Multivariable linear regression and multinomial logistic regression models were then applied. Results: A total of 1,224 children completed both surveys. The prevalence of mental health outcomes at Wave 2 increased significantly compared to Wave 1, specifically depressive symptoms (age-standardized prevalence rates: 37.5 vs. 21.8%) and anxiety symptoms (age-standardized prevalence rates: 24.0 vs. 19.6%). Higher ΔSCARED scores were observed in females and children in Wuhan, and children with experience of neglect had higher ΔCDI-S (ß = 1.12; 95% CI = 0.67-1.58) and ΔSCARED (ß = 6.46; 95% CI = 4.73-8.19) scores compared with those without experience of neglect. When the Δ scores were further categorized into tertiles, similar results were found. Conclusions: The prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms after schools resumed was increased compared with that during the home quarantine period, even though the COVID-19 pandemic was under control. Females and children in Wuhan, and also children with experience of neglect were at increased risk of mental health disorders.

Multipurpose Mobile Apps for Mental Health in Chinese App Stores: Content Analysis and Quality Evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Mental disorders impose varying degrees of burden on patients and their surroundings. However, people are reluctant to take the initiative to seek mental health services because of the uneven distribution of resources and stigmatization. Thus, mobile apps are considered an effective way to eliminate these obstacles and improve mental health awareness. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the quality, function, privacy measures, and evidence-based and professional background of multipurpose mental health apps in Chinese commercial app stores. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted on iOS and Android platforms in China to identify multipurpose mental health apps. Two independent reviewers evaluated the identified mobile apps using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Each app was downloaded, and the general characteristics, privacy and security measures, development background, and functional characteristics of each app were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 40 apps were analyzed, of which 35 (87.5%) were developed by companies and 33 (82.5%) provided links to access the privacy policy; 21 (52.5%) apps did not mention the involvement of relevant professionals or the guidance of a scientific basis in the app development process. The main built-in functions of these apps include psychological education (38/40, 95%), self-assessment (34/40, 85%), and counseling (33/40, 82.5%). The overall quality average MARS score of the 40 apps was 3.54 (SD 0.39), and the total score was between 2.96 and 4.30. The total MARS score was significantly positively correlated with the scores of each subscale (r=0.62-0.88, P<.001). However, the user score of the app market was not significantly correlated with the total MARS score (r=0.17, P=.33). CONCLUSIONS: The quality of multipurpose mental health apps in China's main app market is generally good. However, health professionals are less involved in the development of these apps, and the privacy protection policy of the apps also needs to be described in more detail. This study provides a reference for the development of multipurpose mental health apps.

COVID-19-related post-traumatic growth in the general public: a cross-sectional study from Yunnan, China.

To investigate post-traumatic growth induced by COVID-19 pandemic in certain Yunnan residents and to analyze its influencing factors. A total of 581 permanent residents of Yunnan province completed the electronic questionnaire from 18 April 2020 to 26 April 2020. Logistic regression analysis showed that the educational levels, self-perceived health status, family history of infectious diseases, family history of infectious diseases, personality and frequency of going through COVID-19 related news were influencing factors of PTG (P < 0.05). As a traumatic event, the threat of COVID-19 may enable some people to gain positive psychological development in adversity. This will provide reference for public psychological crisis intervention following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Willingness to Adopt Health Information Among Social Question-and-Answer Community Users in China: Cross-sectional Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has spread around the world and has increased the public's need for health information in the process. Meanwhile, in the context of lockdowns and other measures for preventing SARS-CoV-2 spread, the internet has surged as a web-based resource for health information. Under these conditions, social question-and-answer communities (SQACs) are playing an increasingly important role in improving public health literacy. There is great theoretical and practical significance in exploring the influencing factors of SQAC users' willingness to adopt health information. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to establish an extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model that could analyze the influence factors of SQAC users' willingness to adopt health information. Particularly, we tried to test the moderating effects that different demographic characteristics had on the variables' influences. METHODS: This study was conducted by administering a web-based questionnaire survey and analyzing the responses from a final total of 598 valid questionnaires after invalid data were cleaned. By using structural equation modelling, the influencing factors of SQAC users' willingness to adopt health information were analyzed. The moderating effects of variables were verified via hierarchical regression. RESULTS: Performance expectation (ß=.282; P<.001), social influence (ß=.238; P=.02), and facilitating conditions (ß=.279; P=.002) positively affected users' willingness to adopt health information, whereas effort expectancy (P=.79) and perceived risk (P=.41) had no significant effects. Gender had a significant moderating effect in the structural equation model (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: SQAC users' willingness to adopt health information was evidently affected by multiple factors, such as performance expectation, social influence, and facilitating conditions. The structural equation model proposed in this study has a good fitting degree and good explanatory power for users' willingness to adopt health information. Suggestions were provided for SQAC operators and health management agencies based on our research results.

Psychological distress in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic: Preliminary development of an assessment scale.

COVID-19 is now spreading worldwide, and poses some public mental health problems which requires close attention. This study aims to develop a scale of COVID-19 related psychological distress in healthy public (CORPD) to assess the severity of psychological distress in uninfected healthy populations. We compiled a 14-item scale which contains two dimensions- Anxiety & fear and Suspicion -using the classical measurement theory. 652 Chinese citizens consented and completed a survey through an online questionnaire APP. The reliability test showed that the scale had good internal consistency reliability and Split-Half reliability, and the validity test showed that it had good structure validity, content validity and criterion correlation validity. This scale can be used to assess the psychological distress of people in China and in other COVID-19-hit regions and countries. It also provides a reference for future studies on COVID-19 or other respiratory infectious diseases related public mental health.