Online health information-seeking behaviour and mental well-being among Finnish higher education students during COVID-19

Hanna Rouvinen; Hannele Turunen; Pirjo Lindfors; Jaana M. Kinnunen; Arja Rimpelä; Leena Koivusilta; Markus Kulmala; Kevin Dadaczynski; Orkan Okan; Marjorita Sormunen

doi:10.1093/heapro/daad143

Online health information-seeking behaviour and mental well-being among Finnish higher education students during COVID-19

Hanna Rouvinen^*
, Hannele Turunen
, Pirjo Lindfors
, Jaana M. Kinnunen
, Arja Rimpelä
, Leena Koivusilta
, Markus Kulmala
, Kevin Dadaczynski
, Orkan Okan
, Marjorita Sormunen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Online health information-seeking behaviour has increased since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020. This study examined whether health-related information on COVID-19 searched on the internet was associated with mental well-being among higher education students. A cross-sectional internet survey was conducted among 18- to 34-year-old students in Finland (N <FOR VERIFICATION>= <FOR VERIFICATION>2976; mean age 24.61 years and median 24) in the spring of 2020. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square tests, Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric H tests, and a two-way ANOVA. The results indicated that most students (86% of females, 82% of males) used the internet to search for information on COVID-19. Students' self-perceived abilities to determine the relevance of online information on COVID-19 were associated with mental well-being.

Original language	English
Article number	daad143
Journal	Health Promotion International
Volume	38
Issue number	6
Number of pages	11
ISSN	0957-4824
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daad143
Publication status	Published - 01.12.2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Tampere University’s Faculty of Social Sciences (SOC) for study’s data collection and data analysis processes, by Juho Vainio Foundation (18 February 2021) and by State Funding of university-level health research, Tampere University Hospital, Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s).

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Research areas and keywords

COVID-19
higher education student
internet
mental well-being
online health information-seeking
Health sciences
Psychology

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Health(social science)

Access to Document

10.1093/heapro/daad143Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Online health information-seeking behaviour and mental well-being among Finnish higher education students during COVID-19",

abstract = "Online health information-seeking behaviour has increased since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020. This study examined whether health-related information on COVID-19 searched on the internet was associated with mental well-being among higher education students. A cross-sectional internet survey was conducted among 18- to 34-year-old students in Finland (N = 2976; mean age 24.61 years and median 24) in the spring of 2020. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square tests, Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric H tests, and a two-way ANOVA. The results indicated that most students (86\% of females, 82\% of males) used the internet to search for information on COVID-19. Students' self-perceived abilities to determine the relevance of online information on COVID-19 were associated with mental well-being.",

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note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Tampere University{\textquoteright}s Faculty of Social Sciences (SOC) for study{\textquoteright}s data collection and data analysis processes, by Juho Vainio Foundation (18 February 2021) and by State Funding of university-level health research, Tampere University Hospital, Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Author(s).",

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AU - Rouvinen, Hanna

AU - Turunen, Hannele

AU - Lindfors, Pirjo

AU - Kinnunen, Jaana M.

AU - Rimpelä, Arja

AU - Koivusilta, Leena

AU - Kulmala, Markus

AU - Dadaczynski, Kevin

AU - Okan, Orkan

AU - Sormunen, Marjorita

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Tampere University’s Faculty of Social Sciences (SOC) for study’s data collection and data analysis processes, by Juho Vainio Foundation (18 February 2021) and by State Funding of university-level health research, Tampere University Hospital, Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s).

PY - 2023/12/1

Y1 - 2023/12/1

N2 - Online health information-seeking behaviour has increased since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020. This study examined whether health-related information on COVID-19 searched on the internet was associated with mental well-being among higher education students. A cross-sectional internet survey was conducted among 18- to 34-year-old students in Finland (N = 2976; mean age 24.61 years and median 24) in the spring of 2020. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square tests, Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric H tests, and a two-way ANOVA. The results indicated that most students (86% of females, 82% of males) used the internet to search for information on COVID-19. Students' self-perceived abilities to determine the relevance of online information on COVID-19 were associated with mental well-being.

AB - Online health information-seeking behaviour has increased since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic in March 2020. This study examined whether health-related information on COVID-19 searched on the internet was associated with mental well-being among higher education students. A cross-sectional internet survey was conducted among 18- to 34-year-old students in Finland (N = 2976; mean age 24.61 years and median 24) in the spring of 2020. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square tests, Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric H tests, and a two-way ANOVA. The results indicated that most students (86% of females, 82% of males) used the internet to search for information on COVID-19. Students' self-perceived abilities to determine the relevance of online information on COVID-19 were associated with mental well-being.

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Online health information-seeking behaviour and mental well-being among Finnish higher education students during COVID-19

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Research areas and keywords

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Access to Document

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Cite this