中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to construct an e-health literacy scale(EHLS) and to investigate the relationship between e-health literacy and healthy behavior among undergraduate students in Taiwan. Methods: A nationally representative sample of college students was surveyed, and 455 valid responses obtained in formal study. Results: In the pilot study (N=148), items loaded on 3 dimensions in the exploratory factor analysis: functional, interactive, and critical e-health literacy. The Cronbach α was between .70 and .83. The Cronbach α of the EHLS was .84, and total variance was 61.10%. In the formal study (N=455), we used structural equation modeling to examine the measurement model. The reliability of the individual EHLS items ranged from .36 to .74. Standardized factor loading ranged from .60 to .86 (p＜.001). Composite reliability ranged from .75 to .84, and the average variance extracted for each dimension ranged from .50 to .52. The indicators demonstrated a good fit for the measurement model. We identified significant differences for each dimension of e-healthy literacy and healthy behavior. E-health literacy and health behavior were positively correlated. We found that significant differences in e-health literacy or healthy behavior from undergraduate students with different majors, genders, and degree of health concern. Specifically, we found that undergraduate students who demonstrated strong concern for health and had higher critical e-health literacy were more likely to engage in healthy behaviors. Conclusions: The EHLS is a reliable and valid measure of functional, interactive and critical e-health literacy. In addition, those who demonstrated higher critical e-health literacy tended to adopt a healthier lifestyle with respect to diet, exercise, and sleep behaviors.