Katharina U. Siebenhaar|Anja K. Köther|Georg W. Alpers
Dealing With the COVID-19 Infodemic: Distress by Information, Information Avoidance, and Compliance With Preventive Measures
University of Mannheim|University of Mannheim|University of Mannheim
ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 covid19 pandemic media reports caused anxiety distress many individuals feeling distressed information may lead avoidance information shown undermine compliance preventive health behaviors many health domains eg cancer screenings set examine whether feeling distressed information predicts higher avoidance information covid19 avoidance hypothesis whether turn predicts worse compliance measures intended prevent spread covid19 compliance hypothesis thus conducted online survey convenience sample n 1059 794 female assessed distress information information avoidance compliance preventive measures furthermore inquired participants information seeking behavior media usage trust information sources level ehealth literacy well generalized anxiety conducted multiple linear regression analyses predict distress information information avoidance compliance preventive measures overall distress information associated better compliance however distress also linked increased tendency avoid information avoidance hypothesis reduced compliance preventive measures compliance hypothesis thus distress may generally induce adaptive behavior support crisis management unless individuals respond avoiding information findings provide insights consequences distress information avoidance information global health crisis results underscore avoiding information maladaptive response distress information may ultimately interfere effective crisis management consequently emphasize need develop measures counteract information avoidance