*2.2. Measures*

Emotional distress. Participants indicated the extent to which they experienced the following feelings since they became aware of the COVID-19 outbreak: (1) "Overwhelmed," (2) "Anxious," and (3) "Afraid about what might happen." Responses options ranged on a 5-point scale from 1 = *not at all* to 5 = *very much* (*M* = 3.45, *SD* = 1.08, Cronbach's α = 0.83).

COVID-19 information seeking. Participants were asked to answer a single-item about how frequently they had sought news updates about COVID-19 on a 5-point scale from 1 = *never* to 5 = *any time I have the chance* (*M* = 3.77, *SD* = 1.12).

General news media usage. General news media usage separated by media type, was assessed by the question "How often do you get news from the following sources?" rated on a 5-point scale from 1 = *never* to 5 = *every day*. Television news media usage was measured with the item, "National network news, such as ABC, NBC, CBS" (*M* = 3.62, *SD* = 1.38). Newspaper news media usage was measured with the item, "newspaper and news magazines" (*M* = 3.00, *SD* = 1.45). Finally, social media news media usage was assessed with the item, "social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube" (*M* = 3.11, *SD* = 1.53).

Control variables. Demographic characteristics were also incorporated into the analysis, including age, gender, ethnicity, and education level. We also included additional variables that may be related to emotional distress during the pandemic, such as (a) the likelihood of getting infected with COVID-19 as measured on a 5-point scale from 1 = *very unlikely* to 5 = *very likely* (*M* = 2.60, *SD* = 1.11), (b) whether participants knew someone likely to suffer serious negative consequences if infected with COVID-19 (*yes* = 1275, 58.1%; *no* = 921, 41.9%), and (c) whether they knew someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 (*yes* = 326, 14.8%; *no* = 1870, 85.2%). In addition, a measure of political ideology, measured on a 5-point scale from 1 = *liberal* to 5 = *conservative* (*M* = 3.06, *SD* = 1.08), was included in the analysis. Table 1 presents descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients among the variables.


**Table 1.** Descriptive statistics and correlations.

*Note. M* denotes mean; *SD* denotes standard deviation. \*\*\* *p* < 0.001.
