Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322.
Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA, 30322.
J Sch Health. 2021 Jul;91(7):526-534. doi: 10.1111/josh.13029. Epub 2021 May 16.
Many schools transitioned online to reduce viral spread and promote social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote learning may impact health behaviors and coping strategies among adolescents, including reduced physical activity and increased screen time. Social media and peers provide information about the pandemic to adolescents and may influence prevention behaviors. This study aims to assess adolescent knowledge and information about COVID-19, determine students' behavior change, and identify sources students turn to for information on the pandemic.
Students from 2 high schools in semi-rural Georgia participated in a cross-sectional online survey in March 2020 (N = 761).
Common sources for COVID-19 news were peers (80%) and social media (58%). Few adolescents (3%) indicated that teenagers were at higher risk of severe illness due to COVID-19. Responses reveal adolescents understand social distancing and many are participating in prevention behaviors, including handwashing (87%) and staying at home as much as possible (87%). Most respondents reported increases in screen time outside of class (82%).
Findings suggest adolescents are obtaining COVID-19 knowledge from various sources, including social media, with varying degrees of implementation of prevention practices. Increases in screen time and reduced physical activity may impact long-term health among adolescents.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，许多学校为了减少病毒传播和促进社交距离，已经过渡到线上教学。远程学习可能会影响青少年的健康行为和应对策略，包括减少体育活动和增加屏幕时间。社交媒体和同龄人向青少年提供有关大流行的信息，并可能影响预防行为。本研究旨在评估青少年对 COVID-19 的了解程度和信息来源，确定学生的行为变化，并确定学生获取大流行病信息的来源。
2020 年 3 月，佐治亚州半农村地区的 2 所高中的学生参加了一项横断面在线调查（N=761）。
青少年获取 COVID-19 新闻的常见来源是同龄人（80%）和社交媒体（58%）。很少有青少年（3%）表示青少年因 COVID-19 而患重病的风险更高。调查结果显示，青少年了解保持社交距离，许多人正在采取预防措施，包括勤洗手（87%）和尽可能待在家里（87%）。大多数受访者报告课外屏幕时间增加（82%）。
研究结果表明，青少年从各种来源获取 COVID-19 知识，包括社交媒体，而预防措施的实施程度则各不相同。屏幕时间的增加和体育活动的减少可能会影响青少年的长期健康。
