ArticleJMIR public health and surveillance2020
Association Between Public Knowledge About COVID-19, Trust in Information Sources, and Adherence to Social Distancing: Cross-Sectional Survey.
Article in JMIR public health and surveillance, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 129 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
129 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 275 citations in OpenAlex.
- Behavioural Sciences Contribution to Suppressing Transmission of Covid-19 in the UK: A Systematic Literature Review.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Cyber-biological convergence: a systematic review and future outlook.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2024Pooled it
- The COVID-19 Pandemic and Daily Steps in the General Population: Meta-analysis of Observational Studies.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2023Pooled it
- Start from the end: Policy exploration to inform effective and consistent interventions applied to COVID-19 in St. Louis.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
- Internet use and COVID-19 vaccination attitudes among older adults in Switzerland during the pandemic.European journal of ageing · 2026Article
- Article
- Association between trusted sources of information and COVID-19 protective behaviors: results from a longitudinal survey of adults living in New York City during the pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Contextual impact of socio-economic inequalities on health: a case study of COVID-19 mortality among populations with and without diabetes in France.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Economic shock and the erosion of COVID-19 precautionary behavior in Canada during the early pandemic.PloS one · 2026Article
- Review
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- Drivers of COVID-19 infections: Perspectives of managers in the Gauteng Department of Health, South Africa.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2025Article
- Article
- Associations Between HIV-Related Stigma, Trust, and Testing Behaviors Among the General U.S. Adult Population.AIDS and behavior · 2025Article
- The Promotion of Preventive Behaviours in Healthcare Services: A Quantitative Study Among Older Adults in Spain.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Article
- Healthcare utilization among Japanese older adults during later stage of prolonged pandemic.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- An individual's trust in government is a major determinant in the decision to voluntarily join a public health initiative.Israel journal of health policy research · 2025Article
- Article
- Adaptive behaviour during epidemics: a social risk appraisal approach to modelling dynamics.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
69 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe success of behavioral interventions and policies designed to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic depends on how well individuals are informed about both the consequences of infection and the steps that should be taken to reduce the impact of the disease.
objectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate associations between public knowledge about COVID-19, adherence to social distancing, and public trust in government information sources (eg, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), private sources (eg, FOX and CNN), and social networks (eg, Facebook and Twitter) to inform future policies related to critical information distribution.
methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey (N=1243) between April 10 and 14, 2020. Data collection was stratified by US region and other demographics to ensure representativeness of the sample.
resultsGovernment information sources were the most trusted among the public. However, we observed trends in the data that suggested variations in trust by age and gender. White and older populations generally expressed higher trust in government sources, while non-White and younger populations expressed higher trust in private sources (eg, CNN) and social networks (eg, Twitter). Trust in government sources was positively associated with accurate knowledge about COVID-19 and adherence to social distancing. However, trust in private sources (eg, FOX and CNN) was negatively associated with knowledge about COVID-19. Similarly, trust in social networks (eg, Facebook and Twitter) was negatively associated with both knowledge and adherence to social distancing.
conclusionsDuring pandemics such as the COVID-19 outbreak, policy makers should carefully consider the quality of information disseminated through private sources and social networks. Furthermore, when disseminating urgent health information, a variety of information sources should be used to ensure that diverse populations have timely access to critical knowledge.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.