The Role of Pandemic Fatigue in Seeking and Avoiding Information on COVID-19 Among Young Adults

The health information environment surrounding COVID-19 is complex, with varying and competing information. This study uses the risk information seeking and processing model (RISP) to examine COVID-19 information seeking and avoiding among young adults. Pandemic fatigue is also operationalized and tested as a more nuanced measure of negative affective response within the RISP framework. Survey results (N = 527) reveal pandemic fatigue predicts information seeking and avoidance, but may have a weaker influence on these outcome variables than the RISP's original construct of negative affective response. Additionally, the original RISP model achieved slightly more explanatory power in predicting risk information seeking than our revised RISP model, using pandemic fatigue as an alternative measure of negative affective response. These findings indicate that contemporary concepts such as pandemic fatigue may be incorporated into applications of the RISP model, thus allowing researchers to evaluate other types of negative affective responses to risk and further expanding the utility of the model. Theoretical implications and practical recommendations for public health officials and health care workers are discussed.