COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs: Relations with anxiety, quality of life, and schemas

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced a worldwide mental health crisis. Conspiracy beliefs regarding the origin of COVID-19 are prevalent, however, mental health consequences and factors associated with the likelihood of endorsing COVID-19 conspiracy theories have not yet been examined. The current study examined predictors and mental health consequences of conspiracy beliefs. Participants in Canada and the United States were surveyed via Amazon Mechanical Turk in April 2020 (N = 797), approximately one month after the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and again in May 2020 (N = 395). Approximately half of the sample (49.7%) believed at least one conspiracy theory. Greater Covid-19 conspiracy beliefs were associated with more anxiety at follow up but not quality of life. Religiosity/spirituality, not knowing someone at high-risk for COVID-19, and non-white ethnicity were associated with greater conspiracy beliefs. Lower positive other-schemas were associated with greater conspiracy beliefs, only at low and moderate levels of positive self-schemas. There is substantial conspiracy belief endorsement during the COVID-19 pandemic and conspiracy beliefs are associated with anxiety, but not quality of life. Positive self-schemas protect against believing conspiracy theories and interventions to increase positive self-schemas may be effective to reduce the negative effects of conspiracy beliefs.