The importance of trust in the relation between COVID-19 information from social media and well-being among adolescents and young adults
A Cornell University-led team of researchers studied the emotional impact of COVID-19 pandemic coverage and the level of trust adolescent consumers have toward media outlets.
RESEARCHERS
Adam Hoffman, lead author, Cornell University
Luke McGuire, University of Exeter, U.K.
Channing J. Mathews, University of Virginia
Angelina Joy, North Carolina State University
Fidelia Law, University of Exeter
Marc Drews, EdVenture, South Carolina
Adam Rutland, University of Exeter
Adam Hartstone-Rose, North Carolina State University
Mark Winterbottom, University of Cambridge, U.K.
Kelly Lynn Mulvey, North Carolina State University
ABSTRACT
During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people have been exposed to distressing content about COVID-19 without knowing whether they can trust such content. This indicates a need to examine the effects of social media use on mental health and well-being. Existing research provides an inconsistent impression of such effects. Thus, we examined the relation between exposure to COVID-19 information on social media and well-being and assessed if trust in COVID-19 information on social media moderated this relationship. The sample consisted of 168 adolescents and young adults from the U.K. and U.S. (Mage = 17.4 years). Participants completed measures of exposure to, and trust in, COVID-19 information on social media platforms, and measures of emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Results revealed a null to positive relation between exposure to COVID-19 information on social media and well-being across measures.
However, when trust was added to the models as a moderator, results indicated that, for adolescents with higher levels of trust in COVID-19 information found on social media, the relation between information encountered on social media and well-being was positive. In contrast, for adolescents with lower levels of trust, the association between information encountered on social media and well-being was null or sometimes negative. Given the lack of consensus about the impact of social media use on well-being, these results point to the importance of trust when assessing the relationship between exposure to COVID-19 information and well-being.