The early COVID-19 pandemic and democratic attitudes.

How does a public health crisis like a global pandemic affect political opinions in fragile democratic contexts? Research in political science suggests several possible public reactions to crisis, from retrospective anti-incumbency to rally 'round the flag effects to democratic erosion and authoritarianism. Which of these obtains depends on the nature of the crisis. We examine whether and how the onset of the global pandemic shifted public opinion toward the president, elections, and democracy in Haiti. We embedded two experiments in a phone survey administered to a nationally representative sample of Haitians in April-June 2020. We find that the early pandemic boosted presidential approval and intentions to vote for the incumbent president, consistent with a rally effect. These results show that a rally effect occurs even in the most unlikely of places-an unstable context in which the incumbent president is struggling to maintain order and support. At the same time, we find scant evidence that the onset of the pandemic eroded democratic attitudes, even in a context in which democracy rests on uncertain grounds.

Reducing mask resistance among White evangelical Christians with value-consistent messages.

Public health experts have advocated for wearing protective face masks to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, yet some populations are resistant. Can certain messages shift attitudes toward masks? We investigate the effect of value-consistent messages within a mask-skeptical population: White evangelicals in the United States. An experiment within a national survey of White evangelicals (n = 1,212) assigned respondents to one of three conditions: One group was given a religious message equating mask use with loving your neighbor, another was given a message by Donald Trump saying mask use is patriotic, and a control group received no message. Those exposed to the religious message were more likely to see mask use as important and were more supportive of mask mandates. Republican evangelicals exposed to the patriotism message had similar responses. These findings show that messages that align with individuals' core values-in this case, religious tenets and patriotism-can shift certain views on mask use and government mask policies to combat COVID-19, even among a comparatively mask-resistant group.

Knowledge and stigma of latent tuberculosis infection in Brazil: implications for tuberculosis prevention strategies.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) elimination requires treatment of millions of persons with latent M. tuberculosis infection (LTBI). LTBI treatment acceptance depends on population-wide TB knowledge and low stigma, but limited data are available on the relationship between stigma and knowledge. We assessed knowledge of TB disease and LTBI throughout Brazil and examined their association with TB stigma and incidence. METHODS: We performed a nationwide survey with multi-stage probability design through AmericasBarometer from April-May 2017; the sample was representative of Brazil at regional and national levels. Knowledge of and stigma toward TB were assessed by validated survey questions. RESULTS: Survey-weighted responses of 1532 individuals suggest that 57% of the population knew LTBI can occur, and 90% would seek treatment for it. Regarding active TB, 85% knew TB symptoms, 70% reported they should avoid contact with someone with active TB, and 24% had stigma toward persons with TB (i.e., thought persons with tuberculosis should feel ashamed, or deserved their illness). In regression models adjusting for clinical and demographic variables, knowledge of LTBI was associated with increased stigma toward persons with TB (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.13, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1·25-3.63, for "should feel ashamed"; OR = 1·82, 95% CI: 1·15-2·89, for "deserve illness"). Adjusting for regional TB incidence did not affect this association. CONCLUSIONS: High proportions of this representative Brazilian population had knowledge of LTBI and were willing to seek treatment for it. However, such knowledge was associated with TB-specific stigma. Strategies to educate and implement treatment of latent tuberculosis must include efforts to decrease TB stigma.