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Health Psychology and Behaviors during COVID-19

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Behavioral and Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2025 | Viewed by 31412

Special Issue Editors

1. Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
2. Ageing Epidemiology Research Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London W6 8RP, UK
Interests: neuroepidemiology; public health; COVID-19; biostatistics; mental health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2ER, UK
Interests: health psychology; mental health; intervention; behavioral science; COVID-19
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Ageing Epidemiology Research Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London W6 8RP, UK
Interests: stress; sleep; sex differences; risk factors; biomarkers; cognitive impairment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The long-lasting COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed our lives over the past three years. It is not only a threat to people’s physical health but also a challenge to the mental health and psychological wellbeing of both infected and non-infected individuals. The psychological and behavioral influences of this worldwide public health emergency are multifold and warrant multidisciplinary research. The lockdown and social distancing measures introduced for reducing the spread of infections could lead to short-term or long-term emotional distress and mental health issues in the general population. People’s health behaviors, such as physical activity, diet, and sleep, could also be affected by the emotional burden, risk perception, or lockdown restrictions during the pandemic. In addition, it is essential to investigate the influencing factors and psychological determinants of people’s preventive behaviors (e.g., handwashing, mask wearing, vaccination) for COVID-19 to facilitate pandemic control and communications. Emerging studies have also focused on COVID-19 patients and investigated the impact of long COVID or post-COVID-19 sequelae on their mental health and quality of life. Papers addressing these topics are invited for this Special Issue. Original research articles, systematic reviews, and narrative reviews are welcome.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Behavioral Sciences.

Dr. Bang Zheng
Dr. Qing Han
Dr. Chinedu Udeh-Momoh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • lockdown
  • psychological consequences
  • risk perception
  • mental health
  • preventive behaviors
  • vaccination
  • health behaviors
  • healthy lifestyle
  • long COVID

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1183 KiB  
Article
Preventive Behaviors and Influencing Factors among Thai Residents in Endemic Areas during the Highest Epidemic Peak of the COVID-19 Outbreak
by Weerawat Ounsaneha, Orapin Laosee, Thunwadee Tachapattaworakul Suksaroj and Cheerawit Rattanapan
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(3), 2525; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032525 - 31 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1450
Abstract
This research aims to investigate COVID-19 preventive behavior and influencing factors among Thai residents during the highest epidemic peak of COVID-19. Nine hundred and forty-six residents in five districts with high COVID-19 infection cases in Thailand were systematically included in this cross-sectional survey. [...] Read more.
This research aims to investigate COVID-19 preventive behavior and influencing factors among Thai residents during the highest epidemic peak of COVID-19. Nine hundred and forty-six residents in five districts with high COVID-19 infection cases in Thailand were systematically included in this cross-sectional survey. The results showed that 87.2% and 65.2% of the residents had a high level of general knowledge and preventive measures, respectively. As to COVID-19 attitudes, poor levels of attitude among Thai residents were found in risk perception (53.6%) and mistrust issues (70.4%). Moreover, this study presents good preventive behavior (77.0%) among Thai residents. Multiple logistic regression showed that the influence factors of COVID-19 preventive behavior were the young age group (AOR 2.97, 95% CI 1.68–5.25), high income (AOR 1.38, 95% CI 1.03–1.86), and high level of general COVID-19 knowledge (AOR 2.21, 95% CI 1.64–2.96). The conclusion was that providing information on COVID-19 via social media was the key mechanism of policy action for increasing the level of COVID-19 preventive behavior during the highest epidemic peak in Thailand. In addition, the pandemic preparedness and response policy, with resident participation and involvement, could be recommended for the resilience of pandemic preparedness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Psychology and Behaviors during COVID-19)
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18 pages, 974 KiB  
Article
The Role of Economic Stress, Health Concerns, and Institutional Trust in Supporting Public Protests against COVID-19 Lockdown Measures in Denmark
by Jens Fyhn Lykke Sørensen and Maiken Christiansen
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 148; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010148 - 22 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1259
Abstract
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, most governments around the world have adopted strict COVID-19 lockdown measures. In Denmark, mainly from January to March 2021, an anonymous protest group called Men in Black organized demonstrations against the Danish COVID-19 lockdown measures in the three [...] Read more.
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, most governments around the world have adopted strict COVID-19 lockdown measures. In Denmark, mainly from January to March 2021, an anonymous protest group called Men in Black organized demonstrations against the Danish COVID-19 lockdown measures in the three major cities in Denmark. Based on an online survey that we carried out in March 2021 in the Danish population aged 16 years and above (n = 2692), we analyze the individual-level factors behind supporting these demonstrations. Based on ordered logit regressions, the results show that being Muslim and being self-employed (business owner) was positively related to supporting the demonstrations, and that age and living in a city municipality was negatively related to supporting the demonstrations. Based on structural equation modeling (SEM), the results showed that the municipal COVID-19 incidence rate mediates the effect of living in a city municipality, that institutional trust mediates the effect of being Muslim, and that COVID-19 health concerns and institutional trust mediate the effect of age. Overall, economic stress among business owners, health concerns, and institutional trust were found to be the main predictors of supporting the demonstrations against the COVID-19 lockdown measures in Denmark. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Psychology and Behaviors during COVID-19)
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16 pages, 607 KiB  
Article
Understanding, Trusting, and Applying Scientific Insights to Improve Your Health: A Latent Profile Analysis Approach
by Nejc Plohl and Bojan Musil
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(16), 9967; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19169967 - 12 Aug 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 27944
Abstract
Various leading causes of death can be prevented or delayed through informed decision-making and lifestyle changes. Previous work has, to some extent, linked such health-promoting behavior (HPB) with variables capturing individuals’ understanding of science, trust in science, and capacity to apply evidence-based information [...] Read more.
Various leading causes of death can be prevented or delayed through informed decision-making and lifestyle changes. Previous work has, to some extent, linked such health-promoting behavior (HPB) with variables capturing individuals’ understanding of science, trust in science, and capacity to apply evidence-based information in the health context. However, empirical research on the relationship between scientific knowledge, trust in science, health literacy, and HPB is scarce. Additionally, no study has investigated whether these characteristics interact to form homogeneous, high-risk subgroups of the population. The present online study (N = 705) revealed that trust in science and health literacy were positively related to a wide array of HPBs (e.g., healthy nutrition, physical activity, stress management), while scientific knowledge was only positively associated with COVID-19 vaccination intention. Furthermore, the results of latent profile analyses yielded four subgroups (i.e., low, moderate, and high levels of all three variables and a varied profile exhibiting very low trust in science, low health literacy, and moderate scientific knowledge). The identified subgroups differ significantly in HPB and variables determining profile membership (e.g., political conservatism). Hence, the present study offers some guidance on which groups may be targeted with public health campaigns and how they may be designed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Psychology and Behaviors during COVID-19)
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