Guarding against COVID-19 vaccine hesitance in Ghana: analytic view of personal health engagement and vaccine related attitude.

Vaccination is the most effective preventive measure against COVID-19 spread. While the WHO and other stakeholders fear vaccine nationalism, vaccine-hesitancy has become a topical issue among experts. Based on the evidence of vaccine hesitancy among Blacks, we explore the interrelatedness of psycho-social factors (personal health engagement, fear of COVID-19, perceived susceptibility, and vaccine-related attitude) likely to thwart vaccine acceptance in Africa. We sampled 1768 Ghanaian adults over 2 weeks from December 14, 2020, the first day a successful COVID-19 vaccine was administered in the US using an online survey. A higher level of personal health engagement was found to promote vaccine-related attitudes while reducing COVID-19 related fears, susceptibility, and vaccine hesitancy. Fear of COVID-19 and perceived vulnerability are significant contributors to the willingness to accept vaccination. This is an indication that health engagement alone will not promote vaccination willingness, but the fear and higher level of perceived susceptibility out of personal evaluation are essential factors in vaccination willingness. We recommend promoting health educational messages on COVID-19 vaccination ahead of any vaccination rollout in Africa, and such messages should contain some element of fear appeal.

Violent Video Games and Aggression Among Young Adults: The Moderating Effects of Adverse Environmental Factors.

Research is divided on the effects of violent video games (VVGs). Some scholars claimed that VVG promotes aggression, reduces empathy, increases self-injury, and externalization, whereas others claim that a minimal or, in some cases, no traits as reported by the former is associated with playing VVGs. This study provides evidence to support claims that VVG is associated with aggressive behavior among young adults. However, the study focused more importantly on the moderating effects of adverse environmental factors on this relationship from a cross-cultural perspective. A total of 3,219 young adults between 18 and 35 years sampled from colleges and game centers in Ghana and China provided support for this study. We adopted a parallel moderated-mediation regression analysis and found that increased exposure to VVG is associated with reduced empathy concerns, aggression-related thoughts, and increased aggressive behavior. Although controlling for gender, setting, and location, the results pointed to the magnifying effects of the adverse environments in explaining the association between VVG and aggressive behavior. This study thus provides strong support for the frequently debated adverse effects of playing VVG among young adults with a particular reference to environmental factors and will hence aid in communicating a more representative viewpoint on the effects of VVG.