Attitude toward COVID-19 vaccines and its association with depressive symptoms in 386,924 Chinese primary school students during COVID-19 epidemic normalization

AIM: Before Chinese primary school students were generally vaccinated against the COVID-19 vaccine, this study evaluated the willingness of this population and its influencing factors before vaccination, and evaluate its association between attitudes toward the vaccine and depressive symptoms. METHODS: A cross-sectional study involved 386,924 primary school students using a cluster sampling method during May 21–27, 2021. The Chinese version of the Children Depression Inventory (CDI) was used to assess depressive symptoms. Multiple logistic regression analysis models were used to estimate the relationship between attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Among the participants, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was higher in higher grades. The prevalence was higher in fifth and sixth grade students than third and fourth grade students and first and second grades (10.22% vs. 6.07% vs. 3.04%). In addition, 20.79% of students do not know whether the vaccine can protect him from the COVID-19 infection, and 40.60% of students do not know whether the vaccine is safe. Of note, in terms of attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines, students with more positive attitudes have a lower risk of depressive symptoms (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.151; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.140–0.164). CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, it is necessary for the government and schools to promote vaccine safety and reliability information in a timely manner to increase vaccination uptake.