Perception and Mental Health Status Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination Among Taiwanese Adolescents and Their Caregivers

Jade Winjei Hwang; Shao Ju Chien; Chih-Chi Wang; Kuang-Che Kuo; Kuo-Shu Tang; Yu Lee; Yi-Chun Chen; Mao-Hung Lo; Ing-Kit Lee; Seng-Kee Chuah; Chien-Te Lee; Chia-Te Kung; Liang-Jen Wang

doi:10.2147/AHMT.S429238

Perception and Mental Health Status Regarding COVID-19 Vaccination Among Taiwanese Adolescents and Their Caregivers

Adolesc Health Med Ther. 2023 Oct 5:14:195-204. doi: 10.2147/AHMT.S429238. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jade Winjei Hwang¹, Shao Ju Chien², Chih-Chi Wang³, Kuang-Che Kuo⁴, Kuo-Shu Tang⁵, Yu Lee¹, Yi-Chun Chen⁶, Mao-Hung Lo², Ing-Kit Lee⁶, Seng-Kee Chuah⁷, Chien-Te Lee⁸, Chia-Te Kung⁹, Liang-Jen Wang¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, 83301, Taiwan.
² Division of Pediatric Cardiology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Kaohsiung, 83301, Taiwan.
³ Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, 83301, Taiwan.
⁴ Division of Pediatric Infection, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, 83301, Taiwan.
⁵ Division of Pediatric Emergency, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, 83301, Taiwan.
⁶ Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, 83301, Taiwan.
⁷ Division of Hepato-Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, 83301, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Nephrology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, 83301, Taiwan.
⁹ Department of Emergency, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, 83301, Taiwan.
¹⁰ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, 83301, Taiwan.

Abstract

Background: Vaccinating adolescents is a vital strategy to enhance population protection without imposing overly restrictive measures on our daily lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. As teenagers gain more independence, their willingness to get vaccinated may depend on their own understanding of the pandemic, vaccines, and mental well-being, as well as that of their caregivers. Our study aimed to examine how Taiwanese adolescents and their caregivers perceive COVID-19 vaccination and assess their mental health status.

Methods: We invited a total of 138 vaccinated adolescents and their caregivers to complete several questionnaires, including the Drivers of COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance Scale (DrVac-COVID19S), Impact of Event Scale (IES), and Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ).

Results: Among the adolescents, 76.8% considered the BNT162b2 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) as the ideal option for COVID-19 vaccination, while 27.5% of caregivers expressed acceptance of any available vaccine. Adolescents scored higher than caregivers in terms of vaccine value (p<0.001) and autonomy (p<0.001), but lower in knowledge (p<0.001), as assessed by the DrVac-COVID19S subscales. The adolescents' intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 (DrVac-COVID19S total score) showed a positive correlation with their perception of the pandemic's impact (IES scores, r=0.214, p=0.012) and their caregivers' vaccination intention (r=0.371, p<0.001). Furthermore, adolescents' mental health demonstrated a positive association with the mental health of their caregiver (CHQ total scores, r=0.481, p<0.001).

Conclusion: During the COVID-19 outbreak, caregivers have encountered heightened levels of mental stress, and this stress has been found to be positively correlated with the mental stress experienced by adolescents and their intentions regarding vaccination. These findings can serve as crucial references for healthcare providers and governments when formulating vaccination policies for adolescents in the future.

Keywords: SARS-Cov-2; adolescent; autonomy; caregivers; psychosomatic; vaccine.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Research Project (CORPG8M0281).