Table 2.

Association between information about coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and psychological distress during the pandemic (n = 4180).

Variables	M (SD)	Psychological Distress		t	p	Effect Size
		No (N = 1171)	Yes (N = 3009)
Number of consulted sources of information	3.31 (2.00)	3.28 (1.97)	3.33 (2.01)	−0.750	0.453	0.025
Number of hours looking for information related with COVID-19	4.32 (3.14)	3.80 (2.62)	4.53 (3.29)	−7.498	<0.001	0.234
Verification of the veracity of the information with official sources
No	798 (19.10)	18.40	19.30	0.438	0.508	0.010
Yes	3382 (80.90)	81.60	80.70
Assessment of the information about COVID-19 provided by the media in terms of *
Accessibility	4.00 (0.95)	3.95 (0.96)	4.02 (0.94)	−2.007	0.045	0.074
Quantity	4.35 (0.90)	4.32 (0.90)	4.36 (0.90)	−1.060	0.289	0.044
Quality	2.62 (0.89)	2.70 (0.91)	2.60 (0.88)	3.290	0.001	0.113
Usefulness	2.80 (0.87)	2.86 (0.90)	2.77 (0.86)	2.804	0.005	0.103
Assessment of the information about COVID-19 provided by the official means in terms of *
Accessibility	3.39 (0.99)	3.43 (0.99)	3.38 (0.98)	1.400	0.162	0.051
Quantity	3.41 (0.98)	3.46 (0.98)	3.39 (0.98)	2.004	0.045	0.071
Quality	2.89 (1.04)	2.91 (1.05)	2.88 (1.04)	0.951	0.342	0.029
Usefulness	3.00 (1.02)	3.06 (1.05)	2.98 (1.01)	2.261	0.024	0.078
Assessment of the quantity of information about COVID-19 in terms of *
Symptoms	3.80 (1.13)	3.88 (1.14)	3.77 (1.13)	3.025	0.003	0.097
Preventive measures	3.80 (1.18)	3.88 (1.17)	3.77 (1.19)	2.749	0.006	0.093
Infection routes	3.72 (1.17)	3.79 (1.17)	3.69 (1.17)	2.487	0.013	0.085
Prognosis	3.20 (1.17)	3.36 (1.18)	3.14 (1.16)	5.415	<0.001	0.189
Treatment	2.75 (1.21)	2.88 (1.24)	2.70 (1.20)	4.379	<0.001	0.149

* Note: Likert-type scale from 0 (very low) to 5 (very high).