COVID-19 coverage from six network and cable news sources in the United States: Representation of misinformation, correction, and portrayals of severity.

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is marked by divisions in perceptions of disease severity as well as misperceptions about the virus and vaccine that vary along ideological and political party lines. Perceptual differences may be due to differences in the information about the virus that individuals are exposed to within their own identity-affirming ideological news bubbles. This content analysis of six different national network transcripts highlights differences in coverage of severity, and the prevalence of misinformation and its correction that are consistent with previously established preferred news channels of conservatives/Republicans and liberals/Democrats and their perceptions and misperceptions about the pandemic. Results contribute to the growing body of country-specific COVID-19 media studies that allow for comparisons across nations with different cultures and media systems, as these factors play a pivotal role in national responses and experiences.

How Sexual Information Sources are Related to Emerging Adults' Sex-Positive Scripts and Sexual Communication.

Prior research suggests that parents, peers, and media are popular sources of sexual information and beliefs among emerging adults. Sex-positivity is an orientation toward sex that emphasizes open-minded beliefs and communication about varying sexual behaviors, preferences, and orientations. The current study investigated whether these sexual information sources were associated with emerging adults' endorsement of sex-positive and sexual orientation-related sexual scripts, and if these sources and scripts were associated with sexual communication among a sample of college students ages 18-22 (n = 341). Results indicate that learning from television was positively related to sex-positive sexual script endorsement, and that sex-positive scripts were associated with more positive sexual communication. An interaction also emerged between gender and learning from television on sex-positive script endorsement, and between gender and learning from social media on sexual orientation-related script endorsement. The implications of these findings are contextualized within emerging adults' sexual agency and behavior. Future directions of research are also discussed.

Support marshaling strategies among college students with anxiety and depression.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify ways in which college students use support-seeking strategies to improve mental health-related goals. Participants: Participants included college students from a Mid-Atlantic university who identified as having experienced anxiety or depression in their lifetime. Method: Using a support marshaling framework and thematic analysis, this paper analyzed qualitative responses (n = 330) that detailed individuals' experiences with network members when trying to gain support or avoid barriers surrounding their mental health. Results: This analysis revealed new support marshaling strategies specific to a mental health context. Participants frequently employed indirect avoidance strategies (e.g., decreased interaction time; 12.66%) and direct approach strategies (e.g., soliciting mental health support; 43.33%). Conclusions: College students equally experience opposition and support when trying to achieve mental health-related goals. Future research might consider which network members express support and opposition, and how these newly identified strategies apply in support marshaling contexts outside mental health.

Factors associated with COVID-19 masking behavior: an application of the Health Belief Model.

Wearing a face mask is effective in minimizing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among unvaccinated individuals and preventing severe illness among the vaccinated. Country, state and local guidelines promote, and at times mandate, mask-wearing despite it being publicly perceived as an individual's choice. Guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM), structural equation modeling was used to analyze longitudinal data in a sample of US adults aged 18-49 years to identify constructs that contribute to face mask-wearing. Results indicated that perceived COVID-19 severity, perceived masking benefits and self-efficacy were positively associated with masking behavior, and masking barriers were negatively associated with masking behavior. Perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 and cues to action were nonsignificant correlates of masking behavior. These results' theoretical and practical implications contribute to the literature on the HBM and the COVID-19 pandemic. Future directions and limitations are discussed.

How Stay-at-Home Orders Interact with COVID-19 Misperceptions and Individuals' Social Distancing Intentions.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a health emergency in which public health policy, such as state-mandated stay-at-home orders, has the potential to reduce the speed of disease transmission and prevent the overwhelming of hospital infrastructure and unnecessary deaths. Using the Ideological Health Spirals Model (IHSM), this analysis examines how state-mandated stay-at-home orders affect the relationships among individuals' overall COVID-19 knowledge and beliefs in misinformation, as well as their attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy regarding social distancing and stay-at-home behaviors. Data were collected from a sample of 1000 adults living in the U.S. in Spring 2020. Path analyses showed that the stay-at-home orders moderated the relationship between knowledge and self-efficacy in the context of performing social distancing behaviors. Results also indicate that intention to socially distance was associated with attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy. These results demonstrate that stay-at-home orders have the capacity to bolster the effect of knowledge and beliefs on key determinants of intention.

Student intentions to engage instructors in mental health-related conversations: An application of the theory of planned behavior.

OBJECTIVE: Considering that college students experience mental health issues and college counseling centers are overwhelmed, this study identifies instructors as a potential mental health resource for students. This study utilizes the theory of planned behavior to investigate the relationship between students' attitudes, injunctive and descriptive norms, perceived behavioral control, and their intentions to engage their instructors in mental health conversations. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 311 undergraduate students at a small, private university in Southern California. METHODS: Participants were recruited through a Communication subject pool and completed an online survey about engaging instructors in these conversations. RESULTS: Results of a regression analysis indicate that all theoretical constructs positively predict students' intentions to discuss mental health with an instructor. CONCLUSIONS: By providing insight into students' intentions to utilize instructors as mental health resources on campus, these findings yield practical implications for better preparing universities and their faculty to engage in students' mental health.