Dataset Information

COVID-19 Increases Online Searches for Emotional and Health-Related Terms.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has powerfully shaped people's lives. The current work investigated the emotional and behavioral reactions people experience in response to COVID-19 through their internet searches. We hypothesised that when the prevalence rates of COVID-19 increase, people would experience more fear, which in turn would predict more searches for protective behaviors, health-related knowledge, and panic buying.

Methods

Prevalence rates of COVID-19 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia were used as predictors. Fear-related emotions, protective behaviors, seeking health-related knowledge, and panic buying were measured using internet search volumes in Google Trends.

Results

We found that increased prevalence rates of COVID-19 were associated with more searches for protective behaviors, health knowledge, and panic buying. This pattern was consistent across four countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Fear-related emotions explained the associations between COVID-19 and the content of their internet searches.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that exposure to COVID-19 prevalence and fear-related emotions may motivate people to search for relevant health-related information so as to protect themselves from the pandemic.

SUBMITTER: Du H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7675240 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

COVID-19 Increases Online Searches for Emotional and Health-Related Terms.

Du Hongfei H Yang Jing J King Ronnel B RB Yang Lei L Chi Peilian P

Applied psychology. Health and well-being 20201014 4

<h4>Background</h4>The COVID-19 pandemic has powerfully shaped people's lives. The current work investigated the emotional and behavioral reactions people experience in response to COVID-19 through their internet searches. We hypothesised that when the prevalence rates of COVID-19 increase, people would experience more fear, which in turn would predict more searches for protective behaviors, health-related knowledge, and panic buying.<h4>Methods</h4>Prevalence rates of COVID-19 in the United Sta ...[more]

PMID: 33052612

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Project description:Objectives COVID-19 vaccination misinformation on YouTube can have negative effects on users. Some, after being exposed to such misinformation, may search online for information that either debunks or confirms it. This study's objective is to examine the impact of YouTube videos spreading misinformation about COVID-19 vaccination and the influencing variables, as well as subsequent information seeking and its effect on attitudes toward vaccination. Methods In this observational and survey study, we used a three-group pre-test and post-tests design (N = 106 participants). We examined the effects of YouTube videos containing misinformation about COVID-19 vaccination on attitudes toward vaccination via surveys, employed screen recordings with integrated eye tracks to examine subsequent online information searches, and again surveyed participants to examine the effects of the individual searches on their attitudes. Results Receiving misinformation via video tended to have negative effects, mostly on unvaccinated participants. After watching the video, they believed and trusted less in the effectiveness of the vaccines. Internet searches led to more positive attitudes toward vaccination, regardless of vaccination status or prior beliefs. The valences of search words entered and search duration were independent of the participants’ prior attitudes. Misinforming content was rarely selected and perceived (read). In general, participants were more likely to perceive supportive and mostly neutral information about vaccination. Conclusion Misinformation about COVID-19 vaccination on YouTube can have a negative impact on recipients. Unvaccinated citizens in particular are a vulnerable group to online misinformation; therefore, it is important to take action against misinformation on YouTube. One approach could be to motivate users to verify online content by doing their own information search on the internet, which led to positive results in the study.

Project description:BackgroundIt is unclear whether heavy alcohol use and associated hangover symptoms changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to a lack of available accurate and nonretrospective self-reported data, it is difficult to directly assess hangover symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine whether alcohol-induced hangover-related internet searches (eg, "how to cure a hangover?") increased, decreased, or remained the same in England before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) and during periods of national lockdown. Secondary aims were to examine if hangover-related internet searches in England differed compared to a country that did not impose similar COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.MethodsUsing historical data from Google Trends for England, we compared the relative search volume (RSV) of hangover-related searches in the years before (2016-2019) versus during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021), as well as in periods of national lockdown versus the same periods in 2016-2019. We also compared the RSV of hangover-related searches during the same time frames in a European country that did not introduce national COVID-19 lockdowns at the beginning of the pandemic (Sweden). Hangover-related search terms were identified through consultation with a panel of alcohol researchers and a sample from the general public. Statistical analyses were preregistered prior to data collection.ResultsThere was no overall significant difference in the RSV of hangover-related terms in England during 2016-2019 versus 2020-2021 (P=.10; robust d=0.02, 95% CI 0.00-0.03). However, during national lockdowns, searches for hangover-related terms were lower, particularly during the first national lockdown in England (P<.001; d=.19, 95% CI 0.16-0.24; a 44% relative decrease). In a comparison country that did not introduce a national lockdown in the early stages of the pandemic (Sweden), there was no significant decrease in hangover-related searches during the same time period (P=.06). However, across both England and Sweden, during later periods of COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021, the RSV of hangover-related terms was lower than that in the same periods during 2016-2019. Exploratory analyses revealed that national monthly variation in alcohol sales both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were positively correlated with the frequency of hangover-related searches, suggesting that changes in hangover-related searches may act as a proxy for changes in alcohol consumption.ConclusionsHangover-related internet searches did not differ before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic in England but did reduce during periods of national lockdown. Further research is required to confirm how changes in hangover-related search volume relate to heavy episodic alcohol use.Trial registrationOpen Science Framework 2Y86E; https://osf.io/2Y86E.

Dataset Information

COVID-19 Increases Online Searches for Emotional and Health-Related Terms.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

COVID-19 Increases Online Searches for Emotional and Health-Related Terms.

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