Abstract
Vaccination against COVID-19 is regarded as one of the most promising interventions to control the pandemic. This study aimed to examine whether adult attachment affects an individual’s COVID-19 vaccination intention and whether this relationship is mediated by help-seeking style and professional help-seeking behavior. A total of 401 Chinese adults participated in this online cross-sectional survey. The questionnaires for adult attachment (Depend, Close, and Anxiety), help-seeking style (dependency, autonomy, and avoidance), professional help-seeking behavior, and COVID-19 vaccination intention were rated on five-point or seven-point Likert scales, with satisfactory reliability (Cronbach’s α values were all >0.80). Structural equation modelling was used to construct path models based on the above elements. Higher scores in the Depend (Effect = 0.047, SE = 0.018, 95% CI = [0.019, 0.093]) and Close dimensions of attachment (Effect = 0.028, SE = 0.014, 95% CI = [0.007, 0.065]) predicted a stronger dependency-oriented help-seeking style, which thus predicted greater vaccination intention. Higher scores in the Close dimension (Effect = 0.007, SE = 0.004, 95% CI = [0.001, 0.018]) and lower scores in the Anxiety dimension of attachment (Effect = −0.003, SE = 0.002, 95% CI = [−0.008, −0.001]) predicted a stronger autonomy-oriented help-seeking style and further predicted more professional help-seeking behaviors, which promoted greater COVID-19 vaccination intention. The results of this study indicate that help-seeking moderates the relationship between adult attachment and COVID-19 vaccination intention. Guiding help-seeking behavior for individuals with different attachment styles may be an entry point for improving COVID-19 vaccination intention.
Highlights
Introduction published maps and institutional affilCOVID-19 has quickly spread across the globe, infecting more than 197 million and killing more than 4.2 million as of 26 July 2021 [1]
The results of the correlation analysis indicated that the correlation between each pair of variables was significant among adult attachment, help-seeking behavior, professional help-seeking behavior, and COVID-19 vaccination intention
Score in the Depend dimension (r = 0.134, p < 0.01), dependency-oriented, and autonomy-oriented help-seeking style (r = 0.102, p < 0.05; r = 0.227, p < 0.001) were all positively associated with professional help-seeking behavior, and all three of the above were in turn positively correlated with
Summary
COVID-19 has quickly spread across the globe, infecting more than 197 million and killing more than 4.2 million as of 26 July 2021 [1]. Vaccination against COVID-19 has been regarded as one of the most promising health interventions to prevent and control the pandemic, significantly reducing the number of patients with severe cases and the mortality rate [2], and contributing to protecting the population infected with the B.1.617.2. Despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccination services, there has been a delay in public acceptance and refusal of the vaccination, which is known as vaccine hesitancy [4]. Vaccine hesitancy was identified by the World Health Organization (WHO). A global survey of the potential acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine reported that most countries had a high COVID-19 burden [7].
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