Table 3.
Multivariable truncated linear regression of strength of agreement with misinformation beliefs at Round 1a. Higher values of the outcome indicate greater support for misinformation.
| Explanatory variables |
Value | Estimated marginal mean differences (95% CIs) | P value | |||||
| Sociodemographic variables | ||||||||
|
|
Age in years, mean (SD) | 42.5 (17.4) | −0.023 (−0.028, −0.018) | <.001 | ||||
|
|
Female gender (vs male)b, n (%) | 2568 (59.9) | −0.384 (−0.541, −0.226) | <.001 | ||||
|
|
Education (vs high school or less), n (%) | <.001 | ||||||
|
|
|
Certificate I-IVc | 609 (14.2) | 0.114 (−0.133, 0.360) | .37 | |||
|
|
|
University education | 2760 (64.4) | −0.270 (−0.459, −0.080) | .005 | |||
|
|
Language other than English spoken at home, n (%) | 270 (6.3) | 0.847 (0.569, 1.126) | <.001 | ||||
|
|
Socioeconomic status quintile, mean (SD) | 3.60 (1.40) | −0.050 (−0.105, 0.005) | .08 | ||||
| Additional explanatory variables | ||||||||
|
|
Digital health literacyd, mean (SD) | 4.04 (0.74) | −0.250 (−0.356, −0.144) | <.001 | ||||
|
|
Perceived public threat of COVID-19e, mean (SD) | 7.64 (2.17) | −0.336 (−0.372, −0.300) | <.001 | ||||
|
|
Not likely to get sick, n (%) | 1091 (25.5) | 0.649 (0.475, 0.823) | <.001 | ||||
|
|
Confidence in governmentf, mean (SD) | 5.15 (1.06) | −0.143 (−0.222, −0.063) | <.001 | ||||
|
|
Institutional trustg, mean (SD) | 5.95 (1.06) | −0.663 (−0.738, −0.587) | <.001 | ||||
|
|
Social media used as a top-3 information source, n (%) | 1923 (44.9) | 0.151 (−0.001, 0.307) | .06 | ||||
aSample for analysis comprised 4286 complete records; occasional instances of missing data for explanatory variables were not imputed due to the small proportion of missingness (76/4362, 1.8%).
bMarginal mean differences are not reported for gender reported as “not specified” or “other” due to small sample size, but this data was included in the regression model.
cCertificates I-IV are tertiary qualifications; see Australian Qualifications Framework [25].
dMean of 8 items, range: 1-5.
eLikert scale, range: 1-10.
fMean of 4 items, range: 1-7.
gMean of 3 items, range: 1-7.