Influence Of Mindfulness On Public’s Behavior Intention To Vaccinate Against COVID-19:Mediating Role Of Risk Perception

[Objective] COVID-19 has a serious impact on people’s lives and work,and COVID-19 vaccination has become the focus of attention of the government and the public.In the related research on vaccination behavior intention,there are few quantitative studies on personal psychological perspective(such as mindfulness)and the mechanism of influence with risk perception as a mediating variable,but the related topics have great practical needs and academic value.The aim of this study was to understand the public’s behavior intention to vaccinate against COVID-19(referred to as “vaccination behavior intention”),mindfulness and risk perception level,and to explore the relationship between the three,especially the mediating effect of risk perception,to provide an evidence-based basis for relevant departments and personnel decision-making.[Methods] This study was a cross-sectional survey with respondents being the adult population,and 291 valid questionnaires were obtained using convenience sampling method.A revised questionnaire based on the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale,etc.,was used to investigate the public’s mindfulness,COVID-19 risk perception(referred to as“COVID-19 risk perception”),COVID-19 vaccine risk perception(referred to as “vaccine risk perception”)and vaccination behavior intention.The questionnaire was modified and perfected by the thematic group discussion method,exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to test the questionnaire’s credibility.Univariate analysis was used to clarify the relationship between mindfulness,risk perception,and vaccination behavior intention,linear regression was used to confirm the validity of the influence mechanism model,and Bootstrap method of PROCESS was used to verify whether the mediation model of mindfulness affecting intention to vaccinate behavior was established.[Results] The mean scores and standard deviations of mindfulness,COVID-19 risk perception,vaccine risk perception,and vaccination behavior intention were 62.220 ±12.174,3.665±0.607,2.624±0.683,and 4.302±0.724,respectively(mindfulness scores range from 15 to 90 points,with 1 to 5 points for the other three variables).Mindfulness,COVID-19 risk perception,and vaccination behavior intention were all positively correlated with each other(P<0.01),while vaccine risk perception was negatively correlated with all three above(P<0.01).Among demographic factors,gender affected mindfulness(t=-2.504,P<0.05)and COVID-19 risk perception(t=-2.604,P<0.05),and monthly household income affected mindfulness(F=4.278,P<0.01),vaccine risk perception(F=3.431,P<0.01),and vaccination behavior intention(F=2.722,P<0.05).Linear regression analysis showed that F=66.474(P<0.001),the regression model was significant;the adjusted R-square was 0.475,and mindfulness,COVID-19 risk perception,and vaccine risk perception explained vaccination behavior intention better.Meanwhile,mindfulness,COVID-19 risk perception,and vaccine risk perception had significant effects on vaccination behavior intention(P<0.001),and the VIF of the three was less than 2 without multicollinearity problems.Mediation effect analysis showed that mindfulness affected vaccination behavior intention,with a total effect of 0.037(95%CI=0.031 to 0.043);in the mediation model with COVID-19 risk perception and vaccine risk perception as mediating variables,the direct effect of mindfulness on vaccination behavior intention was 0.029(95%CI=0.022 to0.036)and 0.027(95%CI=0.020 to 0.035),respectively;mindfulness produced a indirect effect of 0.008(95%CI=0.005 to 0.012)on vaccination behavior intention through COVID-19 risk perception and 0.010(95%CI=0.006 to 0.014)on vaccination behavior intention through vaccine risk perception.Including both COVID-19 risk perception and vaccine risk perception into the mediation model,the indirect effect exerted by risk perception was 0.017(95%CI=0.012 to 0.022),accounting for 45.95% of the total effect.[Conclusion] In this study,we found that public’s mindfulness COVID-19 risk perception,and vaccination behavior intention were all at a high level,while vaccine risk perception was at a low level.Mindfulness has a direct positive effect on public’s behavior intention to vaccinate against COVID-19,and has an indirect effect on vaccination behavior intention under the mediation of risk perception.Mindfulness has a positive impact on COVID-19 risk perception,thereby further improving vaccination behavior intention;and increased mindfulness level will reduce public’s vaccine risk perception and also promote the generation of vaccination behavior intention.In the future health management,the government and relevant departments should pay attention to the important role of psychological factors in vaccination,actively carry out education,popularize the correct concept,and take appropriate intervention means to effectively improve the public’s behavior intention to vaccinate.