Anxiety and its associations with digital health literacy, self-efficacy and self-care habits among Indian university students

Purpose The study aimed to understand the interconnections of digital health literacy, self-efficacy and self-care habits in the context of anxiety in Indian college-going students. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey was conducted for N = 280 university students of undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programs. Measures included eHealth literacy scale, the generalized self-efficacy and the generalized anxiety disorder −7 scale to measure levels of anxiety and a short self-care checklist across the domains of physical, psychological and social self-care practices. Descriptive and correlational analysis was performed using JASP 0.18.3. Findings The findings highlighted the significance of the associations shared by self-efficacy, self-care habits, digital health literacy and anxiety, respectively. Self-efficacy and self-care habits reported a significant negative association with anxiety. However, digital health literacy did not yield a significant correlation with anxiety. Results indicated a positive significant association among the variables of self-efficacy, self-care habits and digital health literacy at p < 0.001. Research limitations/implications The findings underscore the mutually reinforcing impact of the three variables on anxiety mitigation. Education programs that incorporate training to enhance self-efficacy and build skills for digital health literacy may result in more consistent self-care practices and further aid in decreasing anxiety levels. Interventions embedding simple self-care practices may optimize overall student well-being, especially for students suffering from anxiety. Originality/value According to the authors' best knowledge, this is one of the first research studies to understand the associations of anxiety, digital health literacy, self-efficacy and self-care habits among Indian college students, which aims to explore anxiety and its correlates in order to aid future interventions for young Indian adults.