Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Constructs of COVID-19 Health Beliefs: A Comparison Between Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Individuals in Taiwan

Abstract

This online survey study aimed to compare the cognitive, affective, and behavioral constructs of health beliefs related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) between sexual minority and heterosexual individuals in Taiwan. In total, 533 sexual minority and 1421 heterosexual participants were recruited through a Facebook advertisement. The constructs pertaining to cognition (perceived relative susceptibility to COVID-19, perceived COVID-19 severity, having sufficient knowledge and information on COVID-19, and confidence in coping with COVID-19), affect (worry toward COVID-19), and behavior (adoption of health-protective behaviors) in relation to health beliefs about COVID-19 were compared between sexual minority and heterosexual participants. The results indicated that sexual minority participants had lower perceived susceptibility to COVID-19, greater self-confidence in coping with COVID-19, and lower worry about COVID-19 and were less likely to maintain good indoor ventilation and disinfect their household than heterosexual individuals. Sexual orientation is the modifying factor for the Health Belief Model in the COVID-19 pandemic and should be taken into consideration when medical professionals establish prevention programs for COVID-19.

A systematic review on sex- and gender-sensitive research in public mental health during the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis

“…This study also happened to be the only study where COVID-19 related anxiety was highest in men (Balkhi et al, 2020). In the studies assessing physical activity Systematic Review: Sex-and gender-sensitive research on mental health during COVID-19 (Pillay et al, 2020;Vanni et al, 2020), hospitalization (Lassale et al, 2020), and belief in having sufficient knowledge about COVID-19 (Ko et al, 2020), men showed higher scores (in the sense of having more confidence) than women. A few other studies assessing physical activity and belief showed no sex or gender differences.…”

“…A few other studies assessing physical activity and belief showed no sex or gender differences. Perceived high susceptibility to COVID-19 was mostly more prevalent in women or no sex-or gender differences were observed; only in one case did men report higher scores (Ko et al, 2020). Time spent with COVID-19 news was assessed three times (in two studies, women reported higher scores, one study found no difference).…”

“…- Table 2 here -- Table 3 here -Additional outcomes: Many studies investigated COVID-19 guideline adherence/preventive measures (Abdelrahman, 2020;Balkhi et al, 2020;Bogg & Milad, 2020;Capraro & Barcelo, 2020;Chan et al, 2020;Gouin et al, 2020;Jang, Jang, & Lee, 2020;Ko et al, 2020;Olcaysoy Okten et al, 2020;Park et al, 2020;van der Velden et al, 2020), confidence in use of coping strategy, belief in having sufficient knowledge and information, time spent with following news about COVID-19, and perceived high susceptibility to Systematic Review: Sex-and gender-sensitive research on mental health during COVID-19 Smith et al, 2020;Thomaier et al, 2020;Tzur Bitan et al, 2020;Varshney et al, 2020) with more than binary operationalization of sex, four studies reported higher scores for other groups beyond binary at descriptive level: Varshney and colleagues (Varshney et al, 2020) found "others" together with female participants to show the highest mental health burden;…”

Factors associated with preventive behaviors of COVID-19 among adolescents: Applying the health belief model

“…Following an extensive review of the literature, the leading research team developed the first draft of the questionnaire. Several sources were used to generate a pool of questions considered to be relevant to the study objectives 11 , 18 , 19 , 20 . A panel of eight experts, including four health education specialists, two specialist physicians in infectious diseases, an epidemiologist, and a psychologist evaluated the content validity of the questionnaire in the next step.…”

LGBTQ care at the time of COVID-19

“…In many cases their palliative/end-of-life care may be compromised amidst systemic inequality, health disparity and marginalization [ 8 ]. Moreover, it has been observed that sexual minority group possesses lower perceived susceptibility to COVID-19, lesser worry about the pandemic and are less likely to undertake hygienic measures than heterosexuals [ 9 ]. Thus, proactive awareness campaign for COVID-19 to specifically highlight the health needs of LGBTQ community is necessary from the healthcare providers and social workers [ 10 ].…”