Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-6-2025
Abstract
Introduction: This study examines how vaccination-inclined and vaccination-hesitant U.S. college students acquired and evaluated COVID-19 vaccination information.
Methods: In 2021, we conducted 26 focus group discussions and used thematic analysis to identify patterns in information acquisition behaviors and trust in information sources.
Results: Findings revealed mismatches between frequently used and most trusted sources. Public health agencies were highly trusted but not commonly consulted first. In contrast, social media were frequently used for information scanning despite being the least trusted. Interpersonal sources (e.g., family) were identified as both a most and least trusted source. They were trusted for their good intention but questioned for their expertise and perceived reliance on biased sources like social media.
Discussion: Given the identified gap between information acquisition and trust, public health communication must address how college students weigh convenience, familiarity, and credibility when obtaining and evaluating health information in an environment flooded with misinformation and disinformation.
Recommended Citation
Chen, N. T. N., Kee, K., Villalobos, B. T., Ortiz, M., & Lee, H. (2025). An In-Depth Exploration into College Students' Information Acquisition and Evaluation Behaviors during the COVID-19 Infodemic. Frontiers in Communication, 10, 1529161. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1529161
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
Frontiers in Communication
DOI
10.3389/fcomm.2025.1529161
Comments
© 2025 Chen, Kee, Villalobos, Ortiz and Lee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.