Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought about great uncertainty and significant
changes in our people's everyday lives. In times of such crises, it is natural to
seek explanations to overcome our fears and uncertainties, contributing to an increase
to believe in conspiracy theories which, by yielding explanations, decrease uncertainty
and ambiguity and may thus have an effect on mental well-being. In spite of this,
the majority of research on conspiracy theories focused on their social effects with
little attention to psychological effects. Thus, the aim of our present study was
to examine the association between belief in conspiracy theories and different aspects
of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in a general population sample. Methods:
Our analyses included data from the Hungarian leg of the COMET-G (COVID-19 MEntal
health international for the General population) study. The Hungarian sample included
participants who completed a detailed questionnaire assessing belief in seven conspiracy
theory items, as well as STAI-S and CES-D to measure state anxiety and depression,
respectively, and answered questions related to their change in depression, anxiety
and suicidal thoughts during the pandemic. Association between the individual beliefs
as well as a composite Conspiracy Theory Belief Score (CTBS) and mental health measures
was analysed using linear regression models. Results: Overall, belief in conspiracy
theories was relatively moderate in our sample. Sex and age appeared to have a significant
effect on the Overall Conspiracy Theory Belief Score (CTBS), with women having a higher
score and scores increasing with age. Some of the individual beliefs also showed associations
with age and sex. State anxiety and depression was not significantly associated with
CTBS, however in case of depression some individual items were, and symptom clusters
within CES-D also showed a pattern of association with some of the individual items.
As far as changes in mental health during the pandemic is concerned, no association
between overall beliefs and changes in anxiety or depression was found. However, higher
overall belief in conspiracy theories was associated with a decrease in suicidal thoughts.
Discussion: In our study, we explored the association between conspiracy theories
and mental well-being as well as its changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found
a specific pattern of association between belief in distinct theories and some aspects
of depression, as well as lower increase in suicidal ideation in association with
increased belief in conspiracy theories. Understanding the role of belief in theories
can be key to designing mental health interventions when reacting to unforeseen events
in the future. (Neuropsychopharmacol Hung 2022; 24(1): 42-55).
