Effective use of online depression information and associated literacies among US college students.
Health Promot Int
; 36(4): 1020-1028, 2021 Aug 30.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33277908
Mental health issues, such as depression, are rising among young people, who may benefit from online depression-related information. However, the competencies required to search for health information on the Internet and evaluate it before use may be poor among this population. This research aimed to investigate how college students use the Internet for solving problems in realistic case scenarios relevant to depression and to understand whether various literature-indicated literacies and factors may predict effective utilization of relevant online resources. We designed a web-based questionnaire survey including four depression-related case scenarios. A total of 218 undergraduate students who were enrolled in a Northeastern public US university were invited to participate in the survey in 2016, with 192 completed responses being included in this analysis (response rate = 88%; the participants' median age = 20; 79% female). Approximately half of the participants (47%) answered the depression-related questions in the case scenarios with 90% or higher accuracy. In a multiple linear regression model, prior depression knowledge and eHealth information literacy significantly predicted the effective use of online depression information. However, medical literacy and critical health literacy were not significant predictors. A few additional demographic and experience related factors were positively associated with the effective Internet use (e.g. female, non-Hispanic, psychology or health science major and prior experience with depression). These findings identify a need for college students to develop domain-specific knowledge and literacies in order to facilitate effective use of online information about depression.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Telemedicina
/
Alfabetización en Salud
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adolescent
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Female
/
Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Health Promot Int
Asunto de la revista:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido