Effects of COVID-19 Vaccination Intention and Related Anxiety on COVID-19 Prevention Performance of High School Students

Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine the effect on the performance of COVID-19 prevention performance in high school students. Methods A descriptive research study was conducted on 395 high school students located in D city to confirm the effect on the performance of COVID-19 prevention performance. The collected data were analyzed by frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression using the SPSS/WIN 25.0 program. Results The average score of COVID-19 vaccination intention was 3.68±.81 points, the average score of COVID-19-related anxiety was 4.13±.56 points, and the average score of COVID-19 prevention behavior performance was 3.83±.57. In addition, COVID-19 vaccination intention and COVID-19-related anxiety were identified as factors affecting COVID-19 prevention behavior performance, and the total explanatory power was 29%. Conclusions This study presented results that significantly affected the performance of infectious disease prevention actions according to vaccination intention and anxiety. Accordingly, the government and health authorities suggest the importance of actively implementing strategies to increase trust in preventive vaccines and alleviate anxiety in order to prevent the spread of new infectious diseases in the future.