Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40669717›Full record

ArticleJournal of affective disorders2025

Conspiratorial thinking in a 50-state survey of American adults.

Roy H Perlis, Ata Uslu, Sergio A Barroilhet, Paul A Vohringer, Anudeepa K Ramachandiran, Mauricio Santillana, Matthew A Baum, James N Druckman, Katherine Ognyanova, David Lazer

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Roy H PerlisCenter for Quantitative Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, United States. Electronic address: rperlis@mgh.harvard.edu.
Ata UsluNetwork Science Institute, Northeastern University, 177 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.
Sergio A BarroilhetHospital Clinico, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Chile, 8380494 Independencia, Santiago, Chile.
Paul A VohringerHospital Clinico, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Chile, 8380494 Independencia, Santiago, Chile.
Anudeepa K RamachandiranCenter for Quantitative Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Mauricio SantillanaNetwork Science Institute, Northeastern University, 177 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.
Matthew A BaumJohn F. Kennedy School of Government and Department of Government, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.
James N DruckmanDepartment of Political Science, University of Rochester, 333 Hutchinson Road, Rochester, NY 14627, United States.
Katherine OgnyanovaDepartment of Communication, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University, 4 Huntington Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States of America.
David LazerNetwork Science Institute, Northeastern University, 177 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.

Funding

Depression, Isolation, and Social Connectivity Online (DISCO)RF1MH132335 · NIMH · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI PERLIS, ROY H. · 2022 to 2022
$1.9M
NIMH NIH HHS RF1 MH132335
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Conspiratorial thoughts as a cognitive aspect are understudied outside small clinical cohorts. We conducted a 50-state non-probability internet survey of respondents age 18 and older, who completed the American Conspiratorial Thinking Scale (ACTS) and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Across the 6 survey waves, there were 123,781 unique individuals. After reweighting, a total of 78.6 % somewhat or strongly agreed with at least one conspiratorial idea; 19.0 % agreed with all four of them. More conspiratorial thoughts were reported among those age 25-54, males, individuals who finished high school but did not start or complete college, and those with greater levels of depressive symptoms. Endorsing more conspiratorial thoughts was associated with a significantly lower likelihood of being vaccinated against COVID-19. The extent of correlation with non-vaccination suggests the importance of considering such thinking in designing public health strategies.

Indexed as

COVID-19ThinkingAdolescentAdultAgedDepressionFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited StatesVaccinationYoung AdultConspiratorial thoughtsCOVID-19DepressionTrustVaccination

Identifiers

PMID40669717
PMCPMC13577237

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.