Information Sources and Anxiety among Refugees in Kenya during COVID-19

TL;DR

This study investigates how different information sources influence anxiety levels among refugees in Kenya during COVID-19 and how these anxieties affect perceptions of community compliance, highlighting the importance of media in health communication.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the relationship between media sources, anxiety, and behavioral expectations among refugees during a pandemic, using survey data and logit models.

Findings

Facebook sources increase anxiety levels

Internet news reduces anxiety

Media influence affects perceptions of community compliance

Abstract

In the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees' access to information has become increasingly important given the rapid change in the scientific and public health knowledge-base. However, this access is complicated by social distancing requirements that disrupt traditional in-person communication. Many refugees must then rely on alternative information sources to stay informed. Differences in media types and information sources in turn may be related to anxieties arising from the virus and perceptions of others' adherence to recommended protective behaviors. We examine these relationships with survey data from 1,000 refugees living in both camps and non-camp settings in Kenya. Using logit models, we test relationships between information source and anxiety and the effect of these variables on refugees' expected behaviors of community members. Our primary contributions include the finding that information sources consistently exacerbate (e.g., Facebook) or ameliorate (e.g., news from the internet) different anxieties, or can have mixed effects (e.g., radio). We also find that anxiety and information have significant impacts on refugees' expectations of compliance by others and that, whether between camps or between camps and non-camp locales, findings vary by location. Our results have implications for refugee media and infectious disease anxiety scholarship as well as for managing infectious disease response.