Department of Family Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
J Adolesc Health. 2021 May;68(5):873-881. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.02.015.
Little is known about the views of U.S. youth on COVID-19 or their use of face coverings. Closing this gap could facilitate messaging to promote COVID-19 risk mitigation behaviors.
In July 2020, a five-question text message survey was sent to 1,087 youth aged 14-24 years. Questions assessed youths' perceptions regarding the likelihood of contracting COVID-19, the potential impact of contracting COVID-19 on their lives, the possibility of spreading COVID-19 to others, and their use of face coverings around others with whom they do not live. Coding was conducted to assign responses to discrete categories and to identify common themes.
Of 1,087 eligible participants, 797 (73.3%) were included in analyses. Of these participants, 27.3% believed they would likely contract COVID-19 in the next few months, 90.3% believed contracting COVID-19 would have a moderate or significant impact on their lives, 86.0% were moderately or very concerned about spreading COVID-19, and 89.2% reported wearing face coverings all or most of the time. Factors affecting face covering use included the desire to avoid contracting and spreading COVID-19, peer influence, and policy mandates.
Youths' perceptions regarding the risk of contracting COVID-19 varied, but most believed their lives would be adversely impacted if this occurred. Most youth were concerned about spreading COVID-19 and wore face coverings, but many made exceptions to face covering use when around close contacts. Public health campaigns may be most effective if they leverage positive peer influence and appeal to youths' desire not to spread COVID-19 to others.
关于美国年轻人对 COVID-19 的看法，或他们对面部遮罩的使用，我们知之甚少。缩小这一差距可以促进信息传递，以促进 COVID-19 风险缓解行为。
2020 年 7 月，向 1087 名 14-24 岁的年轻人发送了一个包含五个问题的短信调查。这些问题评估了年轻人对感染 COVID-19的可能性、感染 COVID-19对他们生活的潜在影响、将 COVID-19传播给他人的可能性，以及他们在与不住在一起的人在一起时对面部遮罩的使用情况。编码用于将回答分配到离散类别，并确定共同主题。
在 1087 名符合条件的参与者中，有 797 名（73.3%）被纳入分析。在这些参与者中，27.3%的人认为他们在接下来的几个月里很可能会感染 COVID-19，90.3%的人认为感染 COVID-19会对他们的生活产生中度或重大影响，86.0%的人对传播 COVID-19中度或非常关注，89.2%的人报告说他们一直或大部分时间都戴着口罩。影响口罩使用的因素包括避免感染和传播 COVID-19的愿望、同伴影响和政策要求。
年轻人对感染 COVID-19 的风险的看法各不相同，但大多数人认为如果发生这种情况，他们的生活会受到不利影响。大多数年轻人都担心传播 COVID-19，并且戴口罩，但许多人在与密切接触者在一起时对面部遮罩的使用有例外。如果公共卫生运动利用积极的同伴影响，并迎合年轻人不想将 COVID-19 传播给他人的愿望，那么这些运动可能会最有效。
