Different impacts of COVID-19-related information sources on public worry: An online survey through social media.

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.