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

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

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

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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.

Original language	English
Article number	daad143
Number of pages	11
Journal	HEALTH PROMOTION INTERNATIONAL
Volume	38
Issue number	6
Early online date	7 Nov 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daad143
Publication status	Published - 2023
Publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

COVID-19
higher education students
internet
mental well-being
online health information-seeking

Publication forum classification

Publication forum level 1

UN SDGs

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

Access to Document

10.1093/heapro/daad143Licence: CC BY

daad143Final published version, 378 KBLicence: CC BY

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2023120110409Licence: 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{\textquoteright}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{\textquoteright} self-perceived abilities to determine the relevance of online information on COVID-19 were associated with mental well-being.",

keywords = "COVID-19, higher education students, internet, mental well-being, online health information-seeking",

author = "Hanna Rouvinen and Hannele Turunen and Pirjo Lindfors and Jaana Kinnunen and Arja Rimpel{\"a} and Leena Koivusilta and Markus Kulmala and Kevin Dadaczynski and Orkan Okan and Marjorita Sormunen",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.1093/heapro/daad143",

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T1 - Online health information-seeking behaviour and mental well-being among Finnish higher education students during COVID-19

AU - Rouvinen, Hanna

AU - Turunen, Hannele

AU - Lindfors, Pirjo

AU - Kinnunen, Jaana

AU - Rimpelä, Arja

AU - Koivusilta, Leena

AU - Kulmala, Markus

AU - Dadaczynski, Kevin

AU - Okan, Orkan

AU - Sormunen, Marjorita

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

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.

KW - COVID-19

KW - higher education students

KW - internet

KW - mental well-being

KW - online health information-seeking

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DO - 10.1093/heapro/daad143

M3 - Article

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M1 - daad143

ER -

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

Abstract

Keywords

Publication forum classification

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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Cite this