Health-protective behaviour, social media usage and conspiracy belief during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Psychol Med
; 51(10): 1763-1769, 2021 07.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32513320
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Social media platforms have long been recognised as major disseminators of health misinformation. Many previous studies have found a negative association between health-protective behaviours and belief in the specific form of misinformation popularly known as 'conspiracy theory'. Concerns have arisen regarding the spread of COVID-19 conspiracy theories on social media.METHODS:
Three questionnaire surveys of social media use, conspiracy beliefs and health-protective behaviours with regard to COVID-19 among UK residents were carried out online, one using a self-selecting sample (N = 949) and two using stratified random samples from a recruited panel (N = 2250, N = 2254).RESULTS:
All three studies found a negative relationship between COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and COVID-19 health-protective behaviours, and a positive relationship between COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and use of social media as a source of information about COVID-19. Studies 2 and 3 also found a negative relationship between COVID-19 health-protective behaviours and use of social media as a source of information, and Study 3 found a positive relationship between health-protective behaviours and use of broadcast media as a source of information.CONCLUSIONS:
When used as an information source, unregulated social media may present a health risk that is partly but not wholly reducible to their role as disseminators of health-related conspiracy beliefs.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Conductas Relacionadas con la Salud
/
Conocimientos, Actitudes y Práctica en Salud
/
Información de Salud al Consumidor
/
Conducta en la Búsqueda de Información
/
Medios de Comunicación Sociales
/
Redes Sociales en Línea
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudio:
Qualitative_research
Límite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Psychol Med
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Reino Unido