The Effect of Engaging Vaccine Misinformation via Social Media on Mental Health

Abstract:

Misinformation can cause an array of physical and mental health problems and is a contributing factor in the decline of global vaccination acceptance. Medical misinformation, which can be defined as a health-related claim of fact that is currently false due to a lack of scientific evidence, is one of the most prominent misinformation topics online. Belief in misinformation may be partly dependent on an individual’s level of anxiety and objective knowledge. Additionally, heightened emotionality was associated with a decreased ability to discern misinformation news from factual news and an increased likelihood of believing misinformation news. As such, the topics of negative emotions and stress, anxiety, and depression have been more relevant than ever due to medical misinformation spreading through social media. This between-group repeated measures manipulation study attempted to investigate whether there is a relationship between vaccine misinformation and positive and negative affect. Through the utilization of an online survey and PowerPoint, participants were shown differing stimuli relating to vaccines and vaccine misinformation along with unrelated control stimuli. The hypothesis was that engagement with vaccine misinformation found on social media led to increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions when controlling for overall stress, anxiety, and depression levels in emerging adults. The results did not present any significant relationships, potentially due to this study’s small effect size, but after examining the graphs, the anticipated changes were in the expected direction. The potential implications of these anticipated changes could inform people of the potential effects of vaccine misinformation and lead them to find more credible sources. This study is ongoing and data is still being collected.