Current status and influencing factors of medication behavior among children and adolescents: a cross-sectional study in China.

Background: Children face higher medication risks than adults, making safe and rational drug use a societal concern. For children aged 8 and older, early intervention is key to fostering responsible medication habits. This study, grounded in Temporal Self-Regulation Theory (TST), suggests that temporal valuations, behavioral prepotency, and self-regulatory capacity influence medication behaviors, with weaker self-regulation potentially linked to stronger behavioral prepotency.

Aims: This study examined medication behavior patterns among Chinese children and adolescents, identified the factors influencing these behaviors, and evaluated the applicability of the TST in elucidating medication behavior.

Methods: This study surveyed 4,288 children and adolescents aged 8-18 from October 2023 to May 2024, recruited from children's hospitals in 18 cities across mainland China. Data on demographics, health literacy, medication self-efficacy, perceived stress, and medication behavior were collected via questionnaires. Single-factor and multiple linear regression analyses identified significant factors and their contributions to the outcome.

Results: A total of 4,044 questionnaires were collected. The sample included 53.07% males and 46.93% females, with a mean age of 13.60 ± 2.85 years. The mean scores of medication behavior, medication literacy, perceived stress, and medication self-efficacy were 109.49 ± 17.57, 36.00 ± 9.86, 6.55 ± 2.82, 9.24 ± 4.12, respectively. Medication behavior correlated positively with medication literacy ( = 0.420,  < 0.001) and negatively with perceived stress ( = -0.299,  < 0.001) and medication self-efficacy ( = -0.403,  < 0.001). Self-efficacy was measured using reverse-scored items, with lower scores corresponded to higher levels of self-efficacy. Multiple linear regression analysis identified age ( = 0.093,  < 0.001), gender ( = -0.058,  < 0.001), residence within the past 3 months ( = 0.043,  = 0.004), having a separate room ( = 0.027,  = 0.039), medication literacy ( = 0.259,  < 0.001), perceived stress ( = -0.214,  < 0.001), and medication self-efficacy ( = -0.238,  < 0.001) as significant predictors of medication behavior.

Conclusion: The study emphasizes that perceived stress, medication literacy, and self-efficacy significantly influence medication behavior in children and adolescents. Targeted interventions in stress management, literacy improvement, and self-efficacy enhancement could foster safer medication use, warranting further research for development and testing.