Background

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spread rapidly, as did COVID-19-related information on diverse media platforms. Excessive COVID-19-related information caused substantial mental distress among the public. Although most studies focused on the impact of information on individuals during the pandemic, they usually focused on information from internet sources, and few studies compared the impacts between different information sources. We examine the sociodemographic profiles of participants receiving different information sources and the impact of various COVID-19-related information sources on public worry.

Methods

A cross-sectional online survey with a total of 2007 participants aged 20 years and above recruited anonymously was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sociodemographic data, frequencies at which participants received COVID-19-related information, the information sources (e.g., traditional media, interpersonal information exchange, and academic courses), and the levels of past, current, and anticipated worry about COVID-19 were assessed.

Results

The most common sources of COVID-19-related information were internet media (80.52%), traditional media (52.62%), family members (24.36%), coworkers (23.57%), friends (21.08%), academic courses (20.18%), and medical staff (19.03%). We found that the COVID-19-related information from traditional media, internet media, and friends was associated with higher current worry (the unstandardized regression coefficient, B, ranged from 0.27 to 0.30), and the information from friends was associated with higher past worry (B was 0.18). In contrast, participants who received information from academic courses had lower past worry and anticipated worry (B ranged from −0.15 to −0.17).

Conclusions

Academic courses may play a protective role in public worry during the pandemic. Therefore, academic courses and the information they provide may help facilitate public education and reduce public worry in cases of infectious disease outbreaks.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 相关信息来源对公众担忧的不同影响：通过社交媒体进行的在线调查

背景

2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 大流行迅速蔓延，各种媒体平台上的 COVID-19 相关信息也是如此。过多的 COVID-19 相关信息在公众中造成了严重的精神困扰。尽管大多数研究都集中在大流行期间信息对个人的影响，但它们通常侧重于来自互联网来源的信息，很少有研究比较不同信息来源之间的影响。我们检查了接收不同信息源的参与者的社会人口概况以及各种与 COVID-19 相关的信息源对公众担忧的影响。

方法

在 COVID-19 大流行期间进行了一项横断面在线调查，共有 2007 名年龄在 20 岁及以上的参与者匿名招募。社会人口学数据、参与者接收 COVID-19 相关信息的频率、信息来源（例如，传统媒体、人际信息交流和学术课程）以及过去、当前和预期对 COVID-19 的担忧程度是评估。

结果

COVID-19 相关信息最常见的来源是互联网媒体（80.52%）、传统媒体（52.62%）、家庭成员（24.36%）、同事（23.57%）、朋友（21.08%）、学术课程（20.18%） ) 和医务人员 (19.03%)。我们发现，来自传统媒体、互联网媒体和朋友的 COVID-19 相关信息与较高的当前担忧相关（非标准化回归系数 B，范围为 0.27 至 0.30），来自朋友的信息与较高的过去相关担心（B 为 0.18）。相比之下，从学术课程中获得信息的参与者过去的担忧和预期的担忧较低（B 范围从 -0.15 到 -0.17）。

结论

在大流行期间，学术课程可能在公众担忧中起到保护作用。因此，学术课程及其提供的信息可能有助于促进公众教育并减少公众对传染病爆发的担忧。