Media Literacy and Its Potential Influence on Mpox-Related Perceptions and Prevention Intentions in China During the 2022 Multi-Country Outbreak of Mpox

Bibliographic Data

ID21616556
AuthorsSiwen Huang (0009-0009-2909-1624, Tsinghua University), Jingtao Zhou (0009-0002-0982-4818, Tsinghua University), Qingyu Li (0000-0003-1067-1222, Tsinghua University), Yuhang Zhang (0009-0007-3725-2243, Tsinghua University), Yutong Xu (0009-0000-4728-3405, Tsinghua University), Yan Li (0000-0001-6650-7726, Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention), Yongkang Xiao (0009-0009-2383-4298, Anhui Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention), Wei Ma (0000-0002-1727-4206, Shandong University), Lin He (0000-0001-9295-2217, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention), Xianlong Ren (0000-0002-8617-8859, Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control), Zhen Dai (0009-0004-3162-9212, Chengdu Center for Disease Control and Prevention), Jiaruo Sun (0009-0004-1235-783X, Tsinghua University), Kedi Jiao (0000-0002-1774-8889, Tsinghua University), Feng Cheng (0000-0001-9563-1734, Tsinghua University), Wannian Liang (0000-0003-1764-5502, Tsinghua University), Meiqi Xin (0000-0002-8636-4918, Hong Kong Polytechnic University), Sitong Luo (0000-0002-7450-5613, Tsinghua University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume40
Issue7
Pages1341-1351
Publication date2025-06-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1041-0236 • E-ISSN: 1532-7027
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10410236.2024.2400391
PMID39263849
OpenAlexW4402487650
LanguageEN
References cited53

Media literacy plays an increasingly important role in health communication during public health emergencies. The present study aimed to investigate the level of media literacy and its association with disease perceptions and behavioral intentions of receiving vaccination services among young men who have sex with men (YMSM) in China during the 2022 multi-country mpox outbreak. The data were from a large-scale cross-sectional survey conducted among 2,493 YMSM aged 18–29 years in six provincial regions in China in September 2022. A total of 2,079 YMSM who had obtained mpox information from social media platforms were included in this study. Correlation analysis and path analysis were conducted. The mean age of the sample was 24.7. After controlling for background variables, significant positive correlations were found in several pairs between media literacy, mpox-related perceptions (including perceived susceptibility to mpox, perceived severity of mpox, perceived benefits of mpox vaccination, and self-efficacy of receiving mpox vaccination), and the behavioral intention of receiving mpox vaccination. The mpox-related perceptions played a significant mediation role in the association between media literacy and intention of receiving mpox vaccination (indirect effect = 0.165, p < .001, effect size = 82.1%). Media literacy is crucial for developing disease perceptions during public health emergencies and may further influence the adoption of preventive measures. As social media platforms have become the main battle field of health communication during disease outbreaks, improvement of media literacy is urgently warranted

China · Environmental health · Health care · Health literacy · Literacy · Media literacy · Outbreak · Pedagogy · Perception · Political science · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Poxvirus research and outbreaks · Psychology · Social Psychology · Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy · Virology