Network analysis of the relationships between conspiracy beliefs towards COVID-19 vaccine and symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of latin american countries

Abstract

The present study examined how conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines specifically relate to symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of four South American countries. A total of 1785 people from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru participated, responding to a sociodemographic survey, the Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S) and the Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale-COVID-19 (VCBS-COVID-19). Network analysis identified the most important symptoms of fear and conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines (nodes) and the associations between them (edges). In addition, the robustness of the network of these indicators of centrality and the possible differences in the structure and connectivity of the networks between the four countries were evaluated. The results suggest that the nodes with the highest centrality were items 2 and 5 of the FCV-19 S and item 2 of the VCBS-COVID-19. Likewise, item 6 is the belief that most predicts conspiracy beliefs about vaccines against COVID-19; while item 6 was the symptom that most predicts fear of COVID-19. The findings strongly support cross-cultural similarities in the networks across the four countries rather than differences. Although it was expected that a higher presence of symptoms of fear of COVID-19 may lead people to compensate for their fear by believing in conspiratorial ideas about vaccines and, consequently, rejecting the COVID-19 vaccine, the results do not clearly show this relationship. This could lead other researchers to generate evidence to explain the differences between Latin American countries and countries in other contexts in terms of vaccination rates. This evidence could be useful to develop policies favoring vaccination against COVID-19 that are more contextualized to the Latin American region, characterized by social instability and economic recession during the pandemic.

Relationship Between Fear of COVID-19, Conspiracy Beliefs About Vaccines and Intention to Vaccinate Against COVID-19: A Cross-National Indirect Effect Model in 13 Latin American Countries

“…Likewise, the relationship between both variables is explained by the fact that fear is an emotional determinant of conspiracy theories (van Prooijen & Douglas, 2018). Nevertheless, it should be noted that another study indicated that the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines is not entirely clear (Caycho-Rodríguez et al, 2022b). This would lead to further research for more and better information on the relationship between the study variables.…”

“…At the Latin American level, the results on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and conspiracy beliefs are inconclusive. One study with Latin American sample suggested a relationship between fear of COVID-19 and conspiracy beliefs (Jovančević & Milićević, 2020), while another, with the participation of four South American countries, and using the network analysis method, indicated that there is no clear relationship between conspiracy ideas about COVID-19 vaccines and symptoms of fear of the disease (Caycho-Rodríguez et al, 2022b).…”

Relationship Between Fear of Monkeypox and Intention to be Vaccinated Against Monkeypox in a Peruvian Sample. The Mediating Role of Conspiracy Beliefs About Monkeypox

“…However, this relationship is not entirely conclusive. A previous study reported that there is no clear relationship between fear of an infectious disease and conspiracy beliefs (Caycho-Rodríguez et al, 2022b).…”

Stability of network models linking personality to conspiracy mentality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Hitherto, the network approach was rarely adopted when examining conspiracy beliefs (Caycho-Rodríguez et al, 2022). However, the network approach can help identify the central aspects (Costantini et al, 2015) linking conspiracy mentality and personality.…”