ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Health Psychology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1498560

Factors Associated with the Mask-Wearing Behavior of University Students in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study of the Post-Mask-Mandate Period

Provisionally accepted
Yuko O.  HiranoYuko O. Hirano1*Rin  IwashitaRin Iwashita2Yuina  MutaYuina Muta2Minori  IshidaMinori Ishida2
  • 1Nagasaki University Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
  • 2Nagasaki University School of Health Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has required people to adapt to a new lifestyle, which includes wearing masks. In Japan, mask-wearing mandates were prolonged for nearly three years, leading to the habitual use of masks by many people. This habit persisted even after the relaxation of the mandates. Excessive mask wearing, such as wearing masks in low-risk settings, can lead to dehydration, especially during the summer. However, studies on Japanese people's maskwearing behavior in the post-mask-mandate period are lacking. Therefore, the reasons that people excessively wear masks should be investigated. This study aimed to identify factors, including perceptions of mask wearing, that influence the frequency and habit of wearing masks in the postmandate period. An online questionnaire was distributed to 471 university students in Japan between June 12 and 24, 2023. The results indicated that the frequency of mask wearing exhibited a dichotomous trend. According to the multiple regression analysis, the strongest predictor of both the frequency and habit of mask wearing was a sense of unease from not wearing a mask rather than anxiety related to COVID-19. This study provides the government with basic data to develop guidelines for the proper wearing of masks to prevent heatstroke.

Keywords: COVID-19, habit, Health Behavior, mask, Japan, university students

Received: 19 Sep 2024; Accepted: 04 Jun 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Hirano, Iwashita, Muta and Ishida. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Yuko O. Hirano, Nagasaki University Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan

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