Background: Holding conspiracy beliefs regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has been associated with reductions in both actions to prevent the spread of the infection (eg, mask wearing) and intentions to accept a vaccine when one becomes available. Patterns of media use have also been associated with acceptance of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs. Here we ask whether the type of media on which a person relies increased, decreased, or had no additional effect on that person’s COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs over a 4-month period. Objective: We used panel data to explore whether use of conservative and social media in the United States, which were previously found to be positively related to holding conspiracy beliefs about the origins and prevention of COVID-19, were associated with a net increase in the strength of those beliefs from March to July of 2020. We also asked whether mainstream news sources, which were previously found to be negatively related to belief in pandemic-related conspiracies, were associated with a net decrease in the strength of such beliefs over the study period. Additionally, we asked whether subsequent changes in pandemic conspiracy beliefs related to the use of media were also related to subsequent mask wearing and vaccination intentions. Methods: A survey that we conducted with a national US probability sample in March of 2020 and again in July with the same 840 respondents assessed belief in pandemic-related conspiracies, use of various types of media information sources, actions taken to prevent the spread of the disease and intentions to vaccinate, and various demographic characteristics. Change across the two waves was analyzed using path analytic techniques. Results: We found that conservative media use predicted an increase in conspiracy beliefs (β=.17, 99% CI .10-.25) and that reliance on mainstream print predicted a decrease in their belief (β=–.08, 99% CI –.14 to –.02). Although many social media platforms reported downgrading or removing false or misleading content, ongoing use of such platforms by respondents predicted growth in conspiracy beliefs as well (β=.072, 99% CI .018-.123). Importantly, conspiracy belief changes related to media use between the two waves of the study were associated with the uptake of mask wearing and changes in vaccination intentions in July. Unlike other media, use of mainstream broadcast television predicted greater mask wearing (β=.17, 99% CI .09-.26) and vaccination intention (β=.08, 95% CI .02-.14), independent of conspiracy beliefs. Conclusions: The findings point to the need for greater efforts on the part of commentators, reporters, and guests on conservative media to report verifiable information about the pandemic. The results also suggest that social media platforms need to be more aggressive in downgrading, blocking, and counteracting claims about COVID-19 vaccines, claims about mask wearing, and conspiracy beliefs that have been judged problematic by public health authorities.

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中文翻译：

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2020年3月至7月在美国的媒体使用模式，对COVID-19阴谋论的信念强度以及对COVID-19的预防：调查研究

背景：在美国，对于COVID-19大流行抱有阴谋信念，与减少感染传播的行动（例如，戴口罩）和减少疫苗接种意愿的减少有关。媒体的使用方式也与接受COVID-19阴谋信仰有关。在这里，我们询问一个人所依赖的媒体类型在四个月内对这个人的COVID-19阴谋信念是否增加，减少或没有其他影响。目的：我们使用面板数据来研究在美国是否使用保守和社交媒体，这些媒体先前被发现与持有关于COVID-19的起源和预防的阴谋信仰正相关，与2020年3月至7月间这些信念的强度净增加有关。我们还询问以前被发现与大流行相关阴谋的信念负相关的主流新闻来源是否与艾滋病毒的净减少有关？在研究期间这种信念的强度。此外，我们询问随后与使用媒介有关的大流行性阴谋信念的改变是否也与随后戴口罩和接种疫苗的意图有关。方法：我们于2020年3月对美国进行了一次全国抽样调查，然后在7月再次与840名受访者进行了一次调查，评估了人们对与大流行有关的阴谋的信念，使用各种媒体信息源，采取了哪些措施来预防艾滋病的传播。疾病和接种疫苗的意图，以及各种人口特征。使用路径分析技术分析了两次波动之间的变化。结果：我们发现保守的媒体使用预测了阴谋信念的增加（β= .17，99％CI .10-.25），对主流印刷品的依赖预测了他们的信念的下降（β= –。08，99％ CI –.14至–.02）。尽管许多社交媒体平台报告降级或删除了虚假或误导性内容，但受访者对此类平台的持续使用也预示了阴谋信仰的增长（β= .072，99％CI .018-.123）。重要的是，在两次研究之间，与媒体使用有关的阴谋信念改变与戴口罩的摄取和7月份的疫苗接种意向有关。与其他媒体不同，主流广播电视的使用预示了更大的口罩佩戴率（β= .17，99％CI .09-。26）和疫苗接种意向（β= .08，95％CI .02-.14），与阴谋信念无关。结论：研究结果表明保守派媒体的评论员，记者和来宾有必要加大努力，以报告有关大流行的可核实信息。结果还表明，社交媒体平台在降低，阻止和抵制有关COVID-19疫苗的主张，有关戴口罩的主张以及被公共卫生当局判定为有问题的阴谋信仰方面需要更具侵略性。

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