Stress represents a significant risk factor for several psychophysical diseases among college students, such as depression and anxiety, which may undermine their academic functioning, resulting in high drop rates from college. Nevertheless, university services for mental health promotion are typically underutilized. As a result, professionals and authorities strive to find new ways to address students' mental health needs. In this view, mobile apps seem appropriate for well-being promotion interventions. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which is the most widely used theory on users' intention to use technologies, we assumed that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) would be positively related to intention to use (INT), and PEOU would be positively related to PU among both Italian and German university students. To test our hypotheses, we replicated the same cross-sectional study in Italy (n = 255) and Germany (n = 228) with university students. Although we found partial scalar invariance of the TAM dimensions across the two nations, our predictions were only partially confirmed: PEOU was positively related to PU in the Italian sample only. Overall, this study is one of the first empirical attempts to compare TAM cross-nationally within the European context and it contributes to the small but increasing body of research investigating students’ acceptance of smartphone-based interventions for stress management and well-being promotion. Understanding mobile health acceptance could help universities increase students’ chances of adopting the proposed services, considering the factors influencing this choice.
Paganin G., Apolinario-Hagen J., Simbula S. (2023). Introducing mobile apps to promote the well-being of German and Italian university students. A cross-national application of the Technology Acceptance Model. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY, 42(31), 27562-27573 [10.1007/s12144-022-03856-8].
Introducing mobile apps to promote the well-being of German and Italian university students. A cross-national application of the Technology Acceptance Model
Paganin G.;
2023
Abstract
Stress represents a significant risk factor for several psychophysical diseases among college students, such as depression and anxiety, which may undermine their academic functioning, resulting in high drop rates from college. Nevertheless, university services for mental health promotion are typically underutilized. As a result, professionals and authorities strive to find new ways to address students' mental health needs. In this view, mobile apps seem appropriate for well-being promotion interventions. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which is the most widely used theory on users' intention to use technologies, we assumed that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) would be positively related to intention to use (INT), and PEOU would be positively related to PU among both Italian and German university students. To test our hypotheses, we replicated the same cross-sectional study in Italy (n = 255) and Germany (n = 228) with university students. Although we found partial scalar invariance of the TAM dimensions across the two nations, our predictions were only partially confirmed: PEOU was positively related to PU in the Italian sample only. Overall, this study is one of the first empirical attempts to compare TAM cross-nationally within the European context and it contributes to the small but increasing body of research investigating students’ acceptance of smartphone-based interventions for stress management and well-being promotion. Understanding mobile health acceptance could help universities increase students’ chances of adopting the proposed services, considering the factors influencing this choice.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
Pubblicazione 9.pdf
accesso aperto
Tipo:
Versione (PDF) editoriale
Licenza:
Licenza per Accesso Aperto. Creative Commons Attribuzione (CCBY)
Dimensione
746.14 kB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
746.14 kB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.