The COVID-19 pandemic has witnessed the proliferation of a plethora of (mis)information on various media platforms and inconsistent crisis instructions from different sources. People consume crisis information from multiple channels and sources to better understand the situation and fact-check COVID-19 information. This study elucidates how Americans determine their preventive behaviours based on their information seeking and verifying behaviours during the pandemic. Our results were based on a US nationally representative sample (N = 856), and showed that proactive preventive behaviours (e.g., washing hands frequently) were positively affected by information-seeking through interpersonal channels, news media, and the government, whereas avoidance preventive behaviours (e.g., avoiding social gatherings) were only positively affected by information-seeking through news media. Crisis information verifying had positive effects on all types of preventive behaviours. Crisis managers are recommended to reach out to the public using appropriate channels and sources and facilitate individual's ability and motivation in verifying pandemic information.

中文翻译：

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通过事实核查进行自我保护：流行病信息的查找和验证如何影响预防行为

COVID-19 大流行见证了各种媒体平台上大量（错误）信息的扩散，以及来自不同来源的不一致的危机指示。人们从多个渠道和来源获取危机信息，以更好地了解情况并核实 COVID-19 信息。这项研究阐明了美国人如何根据他们在大流行期间寻求信息和验证行为来确定他们的预防行为。我们的结果基于美国具有全国代表性的样本（N = 856），并表明主动预防行为（例如，经常洗手）受到通过人际渠道、新闻媒体和政府寻求信息的积极影响，而回避预防行为（例如，避免社交聚会）仅受到积极影响通过新闻媒体寻求信息。危机信息核实对各类预防行为都有积极影响。建议危机管理人员使用适当的渠道和来源与公众接触，并提高个人核实大流行信息的能力和动机。