Frontiers in Public Health (May 2022)

The Relationships Between Family Characteristics and Undergraduate Students' COVID-19 Responses: A Cross-Sectional Study in China

  • Teng Zhao,
  • Qiang Su,
  • Qiang Su,
  • Xinye Hu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.873696
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically threatened the post-secondary education setting. It is crucial to understand the factors that potentially affect college students' COVID-19 responses, such as risk awareness, knowledge of the disease, and pandemic preparedness. However, there is insufficient literature on whether family characteristics contribute to students' COVID-19 responses. Leveraging the data from self-administrated survey – titled College Students' Epidemic Preparedness in the Post-COVID-19 Era (CSEPPCE), we find that students from high-income families were more likely to have a greater awareness of risk and better knowledge of COVID-19. Additionally, students whose parents were employed by the government had a higher probability of knowing COVID-19 symptoms and wearing masks. However, the relationships among risk awareness, knowledge, and family income did not meaningfully vary by sex or ethnicity. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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