Taiwanese parents' perspectives on young children's use of information communication technology.

Introduction: How parents think and feel about their children's use of technology can influence how their kids behave online. The family's socioeconomic status (SES) may also affect this influence. In light of this, this research emphasizes the need for more investigation into parental attitudes and the role of SES in shaping how children consume media. Methods: This study surveyed 629 Taiwanese parents to explore their attitudes toward their young children's use of information communication technology (ICT), usage patterns, and the interplay with socioeconomic status. Results: The findings revealed a significant disconnect: although approximately 50% of parents considered above six years old to be a suitable age for children to start ICT, over 80% of children had already engaged with ICT before that age, indicating a large disparity between parental expectations and actual initiation. Furthermore, parents highlighted "learning interest" and "various content" as the most positive impacts of children's ICT use, while "addiction and overreliance" emerged as their primary concern. Notably, parents, as a whole, tended to perceive their child's ICT use more negative than positively, with fathers displaying greater acceptance of negative viewpoints than mothers. Parental attitudes toward children's ICT use were categorized into five clusters, ranging from balanced and optimistic views to value emphasis, conservatism, and negative doubts. This classification underscores the intricate and multifaceted nature of parental perspectives, encompassing both positive and negative outlooks on children's ICT utilization. Discussion: The findings underscore the nuanced character of parents' attitudes toward technology, shaped by the intricacies and challenges posed by the digital era. These insights emphasize that parental attitudes go beyond a simplistic positive-negative divide, reflecting a comprehensive response to the opportunities and complexities inherent in the digital age.

The relationships among Taiwanese youth's polychronicity, multitasking behavior and perceived learning performance in online learning.

Background: The advancement of digital technology implies the importance of polychronic learning. Since polychronicity is not equivalent to multitasking behavior, they need to be considered separately. However, less research has been explored on how polychronicity is related to multitasking behavior in the educational field. Objective: To explore the relationships among polychronicity, multitasking behavior and learning performance (including knowledge acquisition and learning satisfaction) in an online learning environment. Methods: The relationship among variables was analyzed from 865 responses obtained from a questionnaire survey, and independent sample t tests and SEM analysis were used to examine the research hypotheses. Results: College students showed a higher frequency of multitasking behavior, time tangibility and scheduling preference, and learning satisfaction in multitasking online learning environments than high school students. Additionally, college students were different from high school students on the paths of involvement with people to multitasking behavior (Δ χ 2= 5.42, p = 0.02) and scheduling preference to learning satisfaction (Δχ 2 = 9.54, p = 0.002). Conclusion: The relationship among polychronicity, multitasking behavior and perceived learning performance in an online learning environment varies by student educational stage.

Exploring the Impacts of Preventative Health Behaviors with Respect to COVID-19: An Altruistic Perspective.

This study aims to explore the impact of gender and anxiety on various preventative health behaviors, and the relationships among these preventative health behaviors, individual well-being and depression, from the perspective of altruism. This study employed an online questionnaire survey, and 136 males and 204 females participated in the survey. The results of this study showed that females exhibited better preventative health behaviors than males, including hygiene habits, social distancing and behaviors intended to help others mitigate the epidemic. Anxiety regarding COVID-19 infection encouraged individuals to adopt hygienic habits and social distancing measures rather than to help others mitigate the epidemic. Hygiene habits improved the individual's psychological well-being. Helping others mitigate the epidemic improved the individual's psychological well-being and social well-being and contributed to reducing individual depression. However, the preventative health behavior involved in social distancing was not conducive to emotional well-being or social well-being. Affective elements are related to individual behaviors. Therefore, the use of prosocial, altruistic language may play an important role with respect to encouraging people to comply with preventative health behaviors in the context of COVID-19. In addition, it is worth noting that different preventative health behaviors may have different effects on people's mental health, especially when implementing social distancing-related epidemic mitigation behaviors. The question of how to prevent negative psychological effects in restricted actors must be answered, and the degree of life satisfaction experienced by those actors must also be taken into account.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) toward COVID-19 Pandemic among the Public in Taiwan: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) models are often used by researchers in the field of public health to explore people's healthy behaviors. Therefore, this study mainly explored the relationships among participants' sociodemographic status, COVID-19 knowledge, affective attitudes, and preventive behaviors. Method: This study adopted an online survey, involving a total of 136 males and 204 females, and used a cross-sectional study to investigate the relationships between variables including gender, age, COVID-19 knowledge, positive affective attitudes (emotional wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, and social wellbeing), negative affective attitudes (negative self-perception and negative perceptions of life), and preventive behaviors (hygiene habits, reducing public activities, and helping others to prevent the epidemic). Results: The majority of participants in the study were knowledgeable about COVID-19. The mean COVID-19 knowledge score was 12.86 (SD = 1.34, range: 7−15 with a full score of 15), indicating a high level of knowledge. However, the key to decide whether participants adopt COVID-19 preventive behaviors was mainly their affective attitudes, especially positive affective attitudes (ß = 0.18−0.25, p< 0.01), rather than COVID-19 disease knowledge (ß = −0.01−0.08, p > 0.05). In addition, the sociodemographic status of the participants revealed obvious differences in the preventive behaviors; females had better preventive behaviors than males such as cooperating with the epidemic prevention hygiene habits (t = −5.08, p< 0.01), reducing public activities (t = −3.00, p< 0.01), and helping others to prevent the epidemic (t = −1.97, p< 0.05), while the older participants were more inclined to adopt preventive behaviors including epidemic prevention hygiene habits (ß = 0.18, p = 0.001, R2 = 0.03), reducing public activities (ß = 0.35, p< 0.001, R2 = 0.13), and helping others to prevent the epidemic (ß = 0.27, p< 0.001, R2 = 0.07). Conclusions: Having adequate COVID-19 knowledge was not linked to higher involvement in precautionary behaviors. Attitudes toward COVID-19 may play a more critical function in prompting individuals to undertake preventive behaviors, and different positive affective attitudes had different predictive relationships with preventive behaviors.

The Relationships among Anxiety, Subjective Well-Being, Media Consumption, and Safety-Seeking Behaviors during the COVID-19 Epidemic.

The COVID-19 epidemic has been confirmed as the largest scale outbreak of atypical pneumonia since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and it has become a public health emergency of international concern. It exacerbated public confusion and anxiety, and the impact of COVID-19 on people needs to be better understood. Indeed, prior studies that conducted meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort research compared mental health before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic and proved that public health polices (e.g., city lockdowns, quarantines, avoiding gatherings, etc.) and COVID-19-related information that circulates on new media platforms directly affected citizen's mental health and well-being. Hence, this research aims to explore Taiwanese people's health status, anxiety, media sources for obtaining COVID-19 information, subjective well-being, and safety-seeking behavior during the COVID-19 epidemic and how they are associated. Online surveys were conducted through new media platforms, and 342 responses were included in the analysis. The research results indicate that the participants experienced different aspects of COVID-19 anxiety, including COVID-19 worry and perceived COVID-19 risk. Among the given media sources, the more participants searched for COVID-19 information on new media, the greater they worried about COVID-19. Furthermore, COVID-19 worry was positively related to safety-seeking behavior, while perceived COVID-19 risk was negatively related to subjective well-being. This paper concludes by offering some suggestions for future studies and pointing out limitations of the present study.

New Media Literacy, Health Status, Anxiety, and Preventative Behaviors Related to COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study in Taiwan.

Internet media may exacerbate public confusion and anxiety about COVID-19. New media health literacy (NMHL) is considered to play a protective role against health-related misinformation from the media for individuals to maintain their health. The current study aims to examine the relationship among Taiwanese adults' NMHL, health status, anxiety, and prevention behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey, and 342 responses were included in the analysis. The survey tools include Health Status, COVID-19-Related New Media Health Literacy, COVID-19 Anxiety, and COVID-19 Preventive Behaviors. The research showed that both functional and critical prosuming literacy had positive relationships with health status. Functional consumption literacy had a weak negative correlation with COVID-19 anxiety. Furthermore, critical consumption literacy had a positive relationship with COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Therefore, individuals' health, anxiety, and prevention behaviors are affected by different aspects of COVID-19-related new media health literacy. Compared to their consuming media literacy, Taiwanese adults have insufficient prosuming media literacy in regard to COVID-19 health issues.

Electronic Health Literacy and Dietary Behaviors in Taiwanese College Students: Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Given the recognized importance of preventing poor dietary behaviors during adolescence, we need a better understanding of college students' dietary behaviors. Studies have found that individual factors and electronic health (eHealth) literacy may affect one's dietary behaviors. However, few studies have fully investigated the effect of the three levels of eHealth literacy (functional, interactive, and critical) and the interactive effect of individual factors (eg, gender, monthly expenses, and frequency of cooking) and the three levels of eHealth literacy on the four aspects of dietary behaviors (consumer health, balanced diet, regular eating habits, and unhealthy food intake). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate whether individual differences and higher eHealth literacy are associated with more positive dietary behaviors and less unhealthy dietary intake. METHODS: The eHealth Literacy Scale is a 12-item instrument designed to measure college students' functional, interactive, and critical eHealth literacy. The Dietary Behaviors Scale is a 14-item instrument developed to measure four aspects of dietary behaviors of college students. A questionnaire was administered to collect background information about participants' gender, monthly expenses, and frequency of cooking. A national sample of college students was surveyed, and 813 responses were obtained. We conducted a multiple regression analysis to examine the association among individual factors, eHealth literacy, and dietary behaviors. RESULTS: This study found that functional eHealth literacy was negatively related to unhealthy food intake (beta=-.11; P=.01), and interactive eHealth literacy was positively related to balanced diet (beta=.25; P<.001) and consumer health (beta=.15; P=.02). Moreover, critical eHealth literacy was positively related to consumer health (beta=.30; P<.001) and regular eating habits (beta=.20; P=.002). Finally, the interactive effect between gender and interactive eHealth literacy was negatively related to balanced diet (beta=-.22; P<.001). The interactive effect between monthly expenses and functional eHealth literacy was positively related to balanced diet (beta=.07; P=.03), although the interactive effect between monthly expenses and critical eHealth literacy was negatively related to balanced diet (beta=-.10; P=.047). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that Taiwanese college students with higher functional eHealth literacy were more likely to engage in fewer unhealthy food consumption practices. Those who had higher interactive and critical eHealth literacy were more likely to engage in positive dietary behaviors than those with functional eHealth literacy. Surprisingly, females with high interactive eHealth literacy were more likely to have a poor balanced diet. In contrast, students with higher monthly expenses and higher functional eHealth literacy were more likely to have a balanced diet. However, students with higher monthly expenses and higher critical eHealth literacy were less likely to maintain a balanced diet.

Associations of eHealth Literacy With Health Services Utilization Among College Students: Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Electronic health (eHealth) literacy has become an important topic in health fields. Studies have found that individuals with higher eHealth literacy are more likely to use preventive care services and to have effective interactions with their physicians. In addition, previous studies have revealed a gender difference in the utilization of physician access and outpatient services. Nevertheless, few studies have explored the effect of the three levels of eHealth literacy (functional, interactive, and critical levels) on the four aspects of health services utilization (type, site, purpose, and time interval). It is unclear whether the associations between these three levels of eHealth literacy and the four aspects of health services utilization among college students are positive or negative. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the associations among gender, eHealth literacy, and health services utilization. METHODS: We used the eHealth Literacy Scale, a 12-item instrument designed to measure college students' functional, interactive, and critical eHealth literacy, and the Health Services Utilization Scale, which is a 10-item instrument developed to measure the four aspects of health services utilization by college students. A nationally representative sample of 489 college students in Taiwan was surveyed. We conducted multiple regression analysis to examine the associations among gender, eHealth literacy, and health services utilization. RESULTS: The study found that being female was negatively related to the purpose aspect of health services utilization (t487=-2.85, P<.01). However, the R2 value of gender on the purpose aspect was low enough to be ignored. Critical (t484=2.98-4.23, P<.01) and interactive eHealth literacy (t484=2.43-2.89, P<.05) were related to three aspects of the health services utilization, and functional eHealth literacy was related to the purpose aspect (t484=-4.99, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that Taiwanese college students with interactive eHealth literacy were more likely to have a higher rate of outpatient care use. Moreover, Taiwanese college students with critical eHealth literacy were more likely to make full use of health services than those with functional eHealth literacy. Finally, the educated and age-restricted sample may attenuate gender disparities in health services utilization among Taiwanese college students.

The Associations Among Individual Factors, eHealth Literacy, and Health-Promoting Lifestyles Among College Students.

BACKGROUND: eHealth literacy is gaining importance for maintaining and promoting health. Studies have found that individuals with high eHealth literacy are more likely to adopt healthy eating, exercise, and sleep behaviors. In addition, previous studies have shown that various individual factors (eg, frequency of seeking information on health issues, degree of health concern, frequency of eating organic food, and students' college major) are associated with eHealth literacy and health-promoting lifestyles. Nevertheless, few studies have explored the associations among individual factors, eHealth literacy, and health-promoting lifestyles among college students. Moreover, there is a lack of studies that focus on eHealth literacy as a predictor of psychological health behaviors. OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations among various individual factors, eHealth literacy, and health-promoting lifestyles. METHODS: The eHealth Literacy Scale is a 12-item instrument designed to measure college students' functional, interactive, and critical eHealth literacy. The Health-promoting Lifestyle Scale is a 23-item instrument developed to measure college students' self-actualization, health responsibility, interpersonal support, exercise, nutrition, and stress management. A nationally representative sample of 556 valid college students in Taiwan was surveyed. A questionnaire was administered to gather the respondents' background information, including the frequency of seeking information on health issues, the frequency of eating organic food, the degree of health concern, and the students' major. We then conducted a multiple regression analysis to examine the associations among individual factors, eHealth literacy, and health-promoting lifestyles. RESULTS: The study found that factors such as medical majors (t550=2.47-7.55, P<.05) and greater concern with health (t550=2.15-9.01, P<.05) predicted college students' 4-6 health-promoting lifestyle dimensions and the 3 dimensions of eHealth literacy. Moreover, critical eHealth literacy positively predicted all 6 health-promoting lifestyle dimensions (t547=2.66-7.28, P<.01), functional literacy positively predicted 2 dimensions (t547=2.32-2.98, P<.05), and interactive literacy predicted only the self-actualization dimension (t547=2.81, P<.01). CONCLUSIONS: This study found that participants who majored in medical fields had greater concern with their health and frequently sought health information, exhibited better eHealth literacy, and had a positive health-promoting lifestyle. Moreover, this study showed that college students with a higher critical eHealth literacy engaged better in health-promoting activities than those with functional and interactive literacy.