Longitudinal study of over 6,500 people from the NORC AmeriSpeak panel, a probability-based nationally representative sample of U.S. households on whom baseline mental and physical health data were collected prior to the start of the COVID-19 threat in the U.S. The study addresses the emotional (fear, worry, distress), cognitive (perceived risk), and behavioral (media use, health protective behaviors) responses to the COVID-19 outbreak and how they shape health outcomes over time. Researchers also examine how direct and indirect exposure through widespread media coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak are associated with acute stress responses, the media's success (or failure) in affording people the information needed to understand the threat, and how cognitive and affective processes shape risk assessments, behavioral responses, and mental health outcomes. Researchers have examined national trends over time in respondents' risk perceptions, fear, media use, health protective behaviors, and distress surrounding the outbreak.
