Robinson Laura, Schulz Jeremy, Wiborg Øyvind N, Johnston Elisha
Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, USA.
University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Am Behav Sci. 2021 Nov;65(12):1721-1746. doi: 10.1177/00027642211003155.
This article presents logistic models examining how pandemic anxiety and COVID-19 comprehension vary with digital confidence among adults in the United States during the first wave of the pandemic. As we demonstrate statistically with a nationally representative data set, the digitally confident have lower probability of experiencing physical manifestations of pandemic anxiety and higher probability of adequately comprehending critical information on COVID-19. The effects of digital confidence on both pandemic anxiety and COVID-19 comprehension persist, even after a broad range of potentially confounding factors are taken into account, including sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, metropolitan status, and partner status. They also remain discernable after the introduction of general anxiety, as well as income and education. These results offer evidence that the digitally disadvantaged experience greater vulnerability to the secondary effects of the pandemic in the form of increased somatized stress and decreased COVID-19 comprehension. Going forward, future research and policy must make an effort to address digital confidence and digital inequality writ large as crucial factors mediating individuals' responses to the pandemic and future crises.
本文介绍了逻辑模型，该模型研究了在疫情第一波期间，美国成年人的疫情焦虑和对新冠病毒的认知如何随数字信心而变化。正如我们用一个具有全国代表性的数据集进行的统计证明，数字信心较高的人出现疫情焦虑身体表现的概率较低，而充分理解新冠病毒关键信息的概率较高。即使在考虑了一系列潜在的混杂因素之后，包括年龄、性别、种族/族裔、城市地位和伴侣状况等社会人口因素，数字信心对疫情焦虑和对新冠病毒的认知的影响仍然存在。在引入一般焦虑以及收入和教育因素之后，这些影响仍然明显。这些结果表明，数字弱势群体在以躯体化压力增加和对新冠病毒的认知下降为形式的疫情次生影响方面更容易受到伤害。展望未来，未来的研究和政策必须努力解决数字信心和广泛存在的数字不平等问题，因为它们是调节个人对疫情和未来危机反应的关键因素。
