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“Young people are not invincible”: What drives young people’s health behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic in greece?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

L.E. Peppou ,
T. Giannouchos ,
M. Samara ,
I. Nimatoudis ,
C. Papageorgiou ,
M. Economou  and
K. Souliotis
L.E. Peppou*
Affiliation:
Unit Of Social Psychiatry & Psychosocial Care, University Mental Health, Neurosciences and Precision Medicine Research Institute “Costas Stefanis” (UMHRI), Athens, Greece First Department Of Psychiatry, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
T. Giannouchos
Affiliation:
Pharmacotherapy Outcomes Research Center, College Of Pharmacy, University of Utah, Utah, United States of America
M. Samara
Affiliation:
Third Department Of Psychiatry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
I. Nimatoudis
Affiliation:
Third Department Of Psychiatry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
C. Papageorgiou
Affiliation:
First Department Of Psychiatry, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
M. Economou
Affiliation:
Unit Of Social Psychiatry & Psychosocial Care, University Mental Health, Neurosciences and Precision Medicine Research Institute “Costas Stefanis” (UMHRI), Athens, Greece First Department Of Psychiatry, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
K. Souliotis
Affiliation:
Faculty Of Social & Educational Sciences, University of Peloponnese, Corinth, Greece
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

The illusion of invulnerability has been linked to lower perceived risk and increased engagement in risky behaviors among youth. Therefore, it has been purported to influence young people’s poor adherence to public health measures aiming to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Concomitantly, beliefs about the virus and mental health may also shape public health behaviours.

Objectives

To investigate the role of beliefs, perceived invincibility and mental health status in explaining frequency of hand-washing and hours outside the house among youth in Greece

Methods

A total of 1.899 students, aged between 18-29 years old, were recruited from the main universities of the country. An online questionnaire entailing: (i) popular beliefs about COVID-19, (ii) the DASS-21, (iii) the Adolescent Invincibility Tool and (iv) queries about health behaviours, was distributed during the lockdown period.

Results

Most participants reported washing their hands rarely/never within a day (78.6%) and spending 2-6 hours outside the house (68.1%). Handwashing was largely influenced by mental health [OR = 0.94, 95%CI= 0.91 – 0.98 for stress; OR = 0.96, 95%CI = 0.93-0.99 for anxiety and OR = 1.05, 95%CI= 1.02-1.08 for depression]; while hours outside the house by perceptions that the virus is out of control [OR=0.76, 95%CI = 0.61-0.95], manufactured [OR=1.21, 95%CI = 1.53, 95%CI =1.21 – 1.93] and airborne [OR= 0.78, 95%CI = 0.64-0.95].

Conclusions

Addressing stress and anxiety as well as health education interventions should be prioritized to foster young people’s adherence to public health measures amid the pandemic.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

health behaviourscommon mental disordershealth educationcoronavirus
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S93 - S94
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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