COVID-19 News and Misinformation: Do They Matter for Public Health Prevention?

Abstract

An infodemic caused by a rampant spread of a mixture of correct and incorrect information in a connected world creates uncertainty about and dismissal of proven public health measures. Two key factors that can influence COVID-19 preventive behaviors are information and self-efficacy. Misinformation (inaccurate or misleading information) can modify people’s attitudes and behaviors and deter them from following preventive behaviors. Self-efficacy, on the other hand, has been linked to the likelihood to engaging in preventive behaviors. This cross-sectional study used a nationally representative survey of Americans from 2020 to determine the associations between (1) COVID-19 news sources and COVID-19 misinformation and (2) COVID-19 misinformation and COVID-19 prevention self-efficacy, using multivariable logistic regression. Results indicate that reliance on conservative sources for COVID-19 news is significantly associated with endorsing COVID-19 misinformation. In contrast, reliance on liberal sources, mainstream print, or social media for COVID-19 news are significantly negatively associated with endorsing COVID-19 misinformation. Furthermore, endorsing COVID-19 misinformation is related to low COVID-19 prevention self-efficacy, which, in turn, can modify COVID-19 preventive behaviors. These findings suggest that customizing health messages to debunk misinformation and increase self-efficacy for preventive behaviors can motivate individuals to comply with preventive behaviors and protect themselves from COVID-19.

Authors’ contributions

DD and KV conceived and designed the study. MB, RP and RM contributed to the design of the study. DD analyzed and interpreted the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. DD, MB, RP, RM and KV contributed to the interpretation of the data and revised the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors provided critical feedback on the manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Availability of Data and Materials

The datasets used during and/or analyzed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

We thank the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the Dana- Farber Cancer Institute for providing the funding for the data collection. Dr. Viswanath’s effort was also funded by grant from National Cancer Institute (Grant 5 U54 CA156732, Grant 5 P30 CA06516, Grant R01 CA230355-01A1) and by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.