Gender, ethnicity differences in mental health status and COVID-19 vaccine intention among U.S. College students during COVID-19 pandemic.

CROSS-sectional method; FEAR; T-test (Statistics); AFRICAN Americans; SEX distribution; VACCINATION; PUBLIC sector; UNIVERSITIES & colleges; HISPANIC Americans; VACCINE effectiveness; STATISTICAL sampling; UNDERGRADUATES; COVID-19 vaccines; CHI-squared test; ANXIETY; PSYCHOLOGICAL adaptation; ATTITUDE (Psychology); INTENTION; ONE-way analysis of variance; TRUST; PSYCHOLOGY of college students; STUDENT attitudes; PSYCHOSOCIAL factors; COVID-19 pandemic

NORTH Carolina; UNITED States

Objective: To examine mental health status, COVID-19 vaccine intention and barriers among college students in the U.S. Participants: Students (n = 337) registered at a large public university in 2021. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were collected online and analyzed using independent samples t test, chi-square test, and one-way ANOVA. Results: Compared to male students, females reported greater anxiety (p <.05) and fear (p <.01). Hispanic participants reported increased anxiety level and the least positive pandemic coping strategies (both p <.05) across the ethnic groups. Black students were the racial group with the lowest trust in the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine (p <.05). Vaccine intention was positively correlated with factors such as vaccine safety measures, and perceptions toward vaccination (both p <.001). Conclusions: These gender- and ethnicity- based mental health struggles should be addressed immediately for better health and vaccine promotion outcomes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of American College Health is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)