Exploring the impact of digital health literacy on COVID-19 behaviors in New York state college students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Early in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic became a global public health concern. College students became dependent on the online environment for learning, but also to receive COVID-19 information. Understanding digital health literacy and subsequent prevention behaviors in a digitally connected population during a public health crisis is crucial to prepare for future pandemics. This study focused on college students in the United States and explored whether digital health literacy predicted their main source of pandemic information, adherence to public health guidelines, and intentions to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. During the summer of 2020, 254 New York State college students completed the survey. Digital health literacy was found to predict using ‘Government agencies websites’ as a main source of information and adherence to public health guidelines. It was not found to predict vaccine intentions. The findings confirm the importance of digital health literacy interventions in younger populations, especially with the rise of health misinformation available on the Internet.

Keywords

• Digital health literacy
• COVID-19 behaviors
• COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
• Health information seeking
• COVID-19 pandemic
• University students