Attitudes towards vaccines and intention to vaccinate against COVID-19: Implications for public health communications in Australia

ObjectiveTo examine SARS-CoV-2 vaccine confidence, attitudes and intentions in Australian adults.MethodsNationwide survey in February-March 2021 of adults representative across sex, age and location. Vaccine uptake and a range of putative drivers of uptake, including vaccine confidence, socioeconomic status, and sources of trust, were examined using logistic and Bayesian regressions for vaccines generally and for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.ResultsOverall 1,166 surveys were collected from participants aged 18-90 years (mean 52, SD of 19). Seventy-eight percent reported being likely to receive a vaccine against COVID-19. Higher SARS-CoV-2 vaccine intentions were associated with: increasing age (OR: 1.04 95%CI [1.03-1.044]), being male (OR: 1.37, 95% CI [1.08 – 1.72]), residing in the least disadvantaged area quintile (OR: 2.27 95%CI [1.53 – 3.37]) and a self-perceived high risk of getting COVID-19 (OR: 1.52 95% CI [1.08 – 2.14]). However, 72% of participants did not believe that they were at a high risk of getting COVID-19. Findings regarding vaccines in general were similar except there were no sex differences. For both the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and vaccines in general, there were no differences in intentions to vaccinate as a function of education level, perceived income level, and rurality. Knowing that the vaccine is safe and effective, and that getting vaccinated will protect others, trusting the company that made it and getting vaccination recommended by a doctor were reported to influence a large proportion of the study cohort to uptake the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Seventy-eight percent reported the intent to continue engaging in virus-protecting behaviours (mask wearing, social distancing etc.) post-vaccine.ConclusionsSeventy-eight percent of Australians are likely to receive a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Key influencing factors identified in this study (e.g. knowing that the vaccine is safe and effective, getting a doctor’s recommendation to get vaccinated) can be used to inform public health messaging to enhance vaccination rates.Strengths and limitations of this studyThis research captured a large, representative sample of the adult Australian population across age, sex, location, and socioeconomic status.We have self-reported Australian uptake intentions and attitudes on general vaccines and COVID-19 vaccine, and intent to continue engaging in virus-protecting behaviours (mask wearing, social distancing etc.) post SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.We examine a range of drivers and factors that may influence intent to get the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine uptake, including vaccine confidence, demographics and socioeconomic status.The survey is based on established behavioural theories, and is the Australian arm of the international iCARE survey which to date has collected global comparative information from over 90,000 respondents in 140 countries.Our survey was only available in English, which may have led to an underrepresentation of ethnic groups, and participation was voluntary, so our sample may be prone to selection bias from those with more interest or engagement in COVID-19.

Coaching style, sport enjoyment, and intent to continue participation among artistic swimmers

Using situational leadership models, the current study examined direct and indirect relationships between coaching styles (i.e., democratic and autocratic) and athletes’ intent to continue participation via enjoyment in the sport of artistic swimming. Data were collected using an online survey with a snowball sampling method. A total of 202 artistic swimmers at the elite level from 22 countries participated in this study. The findings showed that participants who trained with democratic-style coaches reported higher levels of athletic enjoyment and intent to continue their athletic careers. There was no mediating effect of athletic enjoyment between coaching styles and intent to continue via athletic enjoyment; instead, the results revealed that the direct path between athletic enjoyment and intent to continue was not significant. However, the results supported the direct relationships between both coaching styles and athletic enjoyment and between autocratic coaching style and intent to continue an athletic career.

The impact of public-health measures to limit the spread of Coronavirus on training behaviours of individuals previously participating in resistance training: A cross-sectional survey study

Objectives: To determine how the onset of COVID-19, and the associated ‘lockdown’, affected RT behaviours, in addition to motivation, perceived effectiveness, enjoyment, and intent to continue, in those who regularly performed resistance training RT prior to the pandemic. Design: Observational, cross-sectional. Setting: Online surveys in multiple languages (English, Danish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Slovakian, Swedish, and Japanese) distributed across social media platforms and through authors professional and personal networks. Participants: Adults (n = 5389 after data cleaning; median age = 31 years [IQR = 25, 38]), who were previously engaged in RT prior to lockdown (median prior RT experience = 7 years [IQR = 4, 12]). Main outcomes: Self-reported RT behaviours including: continuation of RT during lockdown, location of RT, purchase of specific equipment for RT, method of training (e.g. alone, supervision etc.), full-body or split routine, types of training, repetition ranges, exercise number, set volumes (per exercise and muscle group), weekly frequency of training, perception of effort, whether training was planned/recorded, time of day, and training goals. Secondary outcomes included motivation, perceived effectiveness, enjoyment, and intent to continue RT. Results: A majority of individuals (82.8%) maintained participation in some form of RT during- lockdown. Marginal probabilities from generalised linear models and generalised estimating equations of engaging in certain RT behaviours were largely similar from pre- to during- lockdown (particularly numbers of exercises, sets per exercise or muscle group, and weekly frequencies). There was reduced probability of training in privately owned gyms and increased probability of training at home; greater probability of training using a full-body routine; reduced probability of resistance machines use and increased probability of free weight and bodyweight training; reduced probability of moderate repetition ranges and greater probability of higher repetition ranges; and reduction in the perception of effort experienced during- training. Further, individuals were slightly less likely to plan or record training during- lockdown and many changed their training goals as a result of lockdown. Conclusions: Those engaged in RT prior to lockdown appeared mostly able to maintain these behaviours with only slight adaptations in both the location and types of training performed. However, people employed less effort, and motivation, perceived effectiveness, enjoyment, and likelihood of continuing current training all appeared lower during- lockdown. These results have implications for strategies to maintain engagement in positive health behaviours such as RT during- restrictive pandemic-related public health measures.

Changes in the Type of Sports Activity Due to COVID-19: Hypochondriasis and the Intention of Continuous Participation in Sports

This study focused on empirically analyzing sport activity participants’ perceptions of hypochondriasis caused by fear of infection and changes in continuous participatory behavior patterns. To this end, a comparative analysis was conducted with a focus on the forms of participation and age of sport activity participants. For the final comparative analysis, a 2 × 3 factorial multivariate analysis of variance was conducted after confirming the validity and reliability of data based on 229 questionnaires collected from healthy respondents who have never been infected with COVID-19. The results showed statistically significant differences between worry about illness, which is a subscale of hypochondriasis, disease phobia, thanatophobia, and intent to continue according to age. Statistically significant differences were also found when considering the type of sport for worry about illness, which is a subscale of hypochondriasis, disease phobia, symptom preoccupation, and intent to continue. Furthermore, interaction effects between the two independent variables, i.e., age and type of sport, were found for disease phobia, a subscale of hypochondriasis, and thanatophobia. In summary, age and type of sport, which are important factors for the COVID-19 infection and symptoms, were found to affect the sport activity patterns. These results proved that COVID-19 may have caused the participants to have different perceptions depending on their characteristics and change their form of continuous participation. These findings will provide useful data for predicting the perception and behavioral patterns of sports participants if diseases like COVID-19 occur in the future. They also show how to live a healthy life through exercise.

Secondary trauma and compassion fatigue in foster carers

Background: With the number of children being placed in the care of local authorities increasing, the need to recruit and retain foster carers is essential. Compassion fatigue is recognised as a negative effect for professionals working with adults and children who have experienced trauma. This study aims to confirm the proof of concept within foster carers and to explore the potential risks associated with intent to continue fostering, overall job satisfaction and psychological factors (avoidant coping) that could be targets for interventions. Methods: In total, 131 foster carers completed an online survey including self-report measures of compassion fatigue and associated risk factors. Results: Results confirm the existence of compassion fatigue among foster carers with rates in line with previous studies on other professionals working with children. High compassion fatigue was associated with lower intent to continue fostering and lower job satisfaction. Avoidant cognitive styles of psychological inflexibility and thought suppression were associated with compassion fatigue. Conclusion: The confirmation of compassion fatigue among foster carers and the potential risks to job retention are important findings for social care. The associations with avoidant cognitive styles have clinical implications for potential interventions. Recommendations for further research and the limitations of this study are also discussed.