Predictors of Health Behaviors Among Undergraduate Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Predictive Study

• Main Authors: Suksatan W, Choompunuch B, Koontalay A, Posai V, Abusafia AH
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2021-03-01
• Series: Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare
• Subjects: covid-19 pandemic; thai students; stress; adversity quotient; health behaviors
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/predictors-of-health-behaviors-among-undergraduate-students-during-the-peer-reviewed-article-JMDH

Wanich Suksatan,1,2 Bovornpot Choompunuch,3 Apinya Koontalay,4 Vachira Posai,5 Ali H Abusafia6 1Faculty of Nursing, HRH Princess Chulabhorn College of Medical Science, Chulabhorn Royal Academy, Bangkok, Thailand; 2Trudy Busch-Valentine School of Nursing, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA; 3Faculty of Education, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham, Thailand; 4Faculty of Nursing, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand; 5Nursing Department, Sunpasithiprasong Hospital, Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand; 6Nursing Program, USM Health Campus, Kelantan, MalaysiaCorrespondence: Bovornpot ChoompunuchFaculty of Education, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham, ThailandTel [phone]Email [e-mail]: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the health behaviors of university students. Thus, factors influencing students’ health behaviors during the COVID-19 outbreak should be examined.Purpose: To our knowledge, little is known about stress, adversity quotient, and health behaviors of university students in Thailand. Therefore, the aims of this study were to determine the relationships among socioeconomic factors, stress, and adversity quotient influencing university students’ health behavior during the COVID-19 crisis.Patients and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional predictive study; it was included 416 undergraduate students ≥ 18 years of age at a university in Thailand. We used descriptive statistics, chi-squared test, and stepwise multiple linear regression for data analysis.Results: The results indicated that most participants were women (71.90%), and the highest proportion of students were enrolled in College of Politics and Governance (25.24%). Most of the students had a high stress level (M = 3.54, SD = 0.53), high adversity quotient (M = 3.77, SD = 0.63), and good health behavior (M = 3.06, SD = 0.53). Adversity quotient, stress, and current faculty/college were significant predictors of health behaviors of undergrad students (total variance: 37.2%).Conclusion: Total adversity quotient was the strongest predictor of health behavior, followed by stress and current faculty/colleges. On the basis of our results, we suggested that faculty members, caretakers, and interdisciplinary care teams should consider adversity quotient and stress in developing activities to encourage and promote students’ physical and mental health behaviors, particularly during the COVID-19.Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Thai students, stress, adversity quotient, health behaviors