The Effects of Adolescents' Perceived Handwashing Attitudes, Health Beliefs, and Internal Control on Handwashing Practices in the COVID-19 Pandemic Situation

Abstract

This study aims to provide basic data for developing a hand washing education program to prevent infection by identifying the factors that affect hand washing practice for high school students who need to establish healthy lifestyles in the  COVID-19 outbreak situation. Data collection was conducted from December 10 to 31, 2020 for 149 in high school students. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS 20.0 program.  As a result, internal control(p<.05) and hand washing attitude(p<.05) had a significant effect on dependent variables. the result of this study indicates that the internal control means a tendency to attribute the cause or effect of an action to internal factors, such as ability, attitude, and effort of one’s own, educational plans that can increase the hand washing practice rate by cultivating a positive hand washing attitude and improving internal control through education on the importance of personal quarantine should be prepared.