Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34664000›Full record

ArticleComputers in human behavior2022

COVID-19 concerns in cyberspace predict human reduced dispersal in the real world: Meta-regression analysis of time series relationships across American states and 115 countries/territories.

Mac Zewei Ma

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Computers in human behavior, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 31% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Mac Zewei MaDepartment of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
City University of Hong Kong · HK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

On the basis of parasite-stress theory of sociality and behavioral immune system theory, this research examined how concerns regarding the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in cyberspace (i.e., online search volume for coronavirus-related keywords) would predict human reduced dispersal in the real world (i.e., human mobility trends throughout the pandemic) between January 05, 2020 and May 22, 2021. Multiple regression analyses controlling for COVID-19 cases per million, case fatality rate, death-thought accessibility, government stringency index, yearly trends, season, religious holidays, and reduced dispersal in the preceding week were conducted. Meta-regression analysis of the multiple regression results showed that when there were high levels of COVID-19 concerns in cyberspace in a given week, the amount of time people spent at home increased from the previous week across American states (Study 1) and 115 countries/territories (Study 2). Across studies, the associations between COVID-19 concerns and reduced dispersal were stronger in areas of higher historical risks of infectious-disease contagion. Compared with actual coronavirus threat, COVID-19 concerns in cyberspace had significantly larger effects on predicting human reduced dispersal in the real world. Thus, online query data have invaluable implications for predicting large-scale behavioral changes in response to life-threatening events in the real world and are indispensable for COVID-19 surveillance.

Indexed as

Behavioral immune system theoryCOVID-19Google trendsParasite-stress theory of socialityReduced dispersalTime series data

Identifiers

PMID34664000
PMCPMC8514451
OpenAlexW3206039881

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.