{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T16:52:04Z","timestamp":1790009524127,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]],"date-time":"2023-01-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1673395200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>The COVID-19 pandemic has generated an avalanche of information, which, if not properly addressed, generates uncertainty and limits healthy decision-making. On the other hand, the pandemic has exacerbated mental health problems among young people and adolescents, causing a worsening of their wellbeing. Previous studies have found that digital health literacy has a positive impact on people's attitudes toward the disease. This study aimed to analyze the association between digital health literacy on COVID-19 with subjective wellbeing in university students.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A cross-sectional study was developed in 917 students from Ecuador. Subjective wellbeing was measured with the World Health Organization WellBeing Scale. Digital health literacy was assessed using the Spanish-translated version of the Digital Health Literacy Instrument adapted to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bivariate and multivariate linear regressions were performed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Digital health literacy and subjective wellbeing proofed to be significantly higher among males and among students with higher social status. The association between digital health literacy and subjective wellbeing was significant; for each increase of one point in the digital health literacy scale, an average increase of 9.64 points could be observed on the subjective wellbeing scale (IC 95% 5.61 \u2013 13.67, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>-value &amp;lt;0.001). This correlation persisted after adjust by demographic and socioeconomic variables.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Improving digital health literacy in health would improve the subjective wellbeing of university students. It is suggested strengthen the digital health literacy through public and university policies that promote access, search skills and discernment of digital information. Socioeconomic and gender inequalities related to digital health literacy need to be further investigated.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2022.1052423","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]],"date-time":"2023-01-11T05:56:56Z","timestamp":1673416616000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":27,"title":["Digital health literacy and subjective wellbeing in the context of COVID-19: A cross-sectional study among university students in Ecuador"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Mar\u00eda F.","family":"Rivadeneira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carmen","family":"Salvador","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lorena","family":"Araujo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9 D.","family":"Caicedo-Gallardo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9","family":"C\u00f3ndor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ana Luc\u00eda","family":"Torres-Castillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mar\u00eda J.","family":"Miranda-Velasco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kevin","family":"Dadaczynski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Orkan","family":"Okan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,1,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1111\/jnu.12616","article-title":"Are people with chronic diseases satisfied with the online health information related to COVID-19 during the pandemic?","volume":"53","author":"Kor","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Nurs Scholarsh."},{"key":"B2","unstructured":"GhebreyesusTA\n          Munich Security Conference.2020"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"942","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30600-0","article-title":"COVID-19: the medium is the message","volume":"395","author":"Garrett","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet March."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"169","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjebm-2021-111710","article-title":"Characteristics, quality and volume of the first 5 months of the COVID-19 evidence synthesis infodemic: a meta-research study","volume":"27","author":"Abbott","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMJ Evid Based Med June."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gaceta.2017.07.005","article-title":"Alfabetizaci\u00f3n para la salud, m\u00e1s que informaci\u00f3n","volume":"32","author":"Juviny\u00e0-Canal","year":"2018","journal-title":"Gac Sanit February."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e125","DOI":"10.2196\/jmir.2035","article-title":"eHealth literacy 2.0: problems and opportunities with an evolving concept","volume":"13","author":"Norman","year":"2011","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e9","DOI":"10.2196\/jmir.8.2.e9","article-title":"eHealth literacy: essential skills for consumer health in a networked world","volume":"8","author":"Norman","year":"2006","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res."},{"key":"B8","first-page":"21","article-title":"Defining Internet Skills","volume-title":"Digital Skills: Unlocking the Information Society","author":"van Dijk","year":"2014"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.3390\/healthcare10010002","article-title":"How does health literacy modify indicators of health behaviour and of health? a longitudinal study with trainees in north Germany","volume":"10","author":"Koch","year":"2021","journal-title":"Healthcare"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3301","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18063301","article-title":"Health literacy, digital health literacy, and COVID-19 pandemic attitudes and behaviors in U. 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