Political Polarization During Disease Outbreaks: A Meta-Analysis of Archival Survey Data From Polio to COVID-19.
Objectives. To assess how political polarization during COVID-19 compares with that in past disease outbreaks in the United States. Methods. Using random-effects meta-analyses and mixed-effects meta-regressions, we searched the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research and estimated the association b...
| Publicado en: | American Journal of Public Health Vol. 116; no. 1; pp. 124 - 137 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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American Public Health Association
Jan2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=189940323&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 189940323 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00900036 APH jtl: American Journal of Public Health issn: 00900036 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jan2026 vid: 116 iid: 1 pid: 44 pub: American Public Health Association artinfo: ui: 189940323 10.2105/AJPH.2025.308226 ppf: 124 ppct: 13 formats: tig: atl: Political Polarization During Disease Outbreaks: A Meta-Analysis of Archival Survey Data From Polio to COVID-19. aug: au: McMurtry, Caitlin L. Cheu, Rachana affil: Brown School, Washington University, St. Louis, MO. su: United States Disease outbreaks Conflict (Psychology) Vaccination Public opinion Attitude (Psychology) Vaccine hesitancy Polio Practical politics COVID-19 pandemic Meta-analysis Descriptive statistics Confidence intervals Data analysis software COVID-19 Regression analysis sug: subj: Disease outbreaks Conflict (Psychology) Vaccination Public opinion Attitude (Psychology) Vaccine hesitancy Polio Practical politics COVID-19 pandemic United States Administration of Public Health Programs Meta-analysis Descriptive statistics Confidence intervals Data analysis software COVID-19 Regression analysis ab: Objectives. To assess how political polarization during COVID-19 compares with that in past disease outbreaks in the United States. Methods. Using random-effects meta-analyses and mixed-effects meta-regressions, we searched the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research and estimated the association between polarization during COVID-19 and during non–COVID-19 disease outbreaks. Results. The study included 170 polls spanning 13 outbreaks over nearly 70 years. Polarization during COVID-19 was 5 and 12 times greater than in past disease outbreaks in terms of concern about infection and vaccine hesitancy, respectively. After we controlled for survey-level characteristics, COVID-19 was associated with 20.23 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 12.30, 28.17) and 25.89 (95% CI = 6.63, 45.16) additional percentage points of polarization regarding concern about infection and vaccine hesitancy, respectively—far higher than historical trends would predict. Conclusions. In terms of concern about infection and vaccine hesitancy, polarization during COVID-19 was substantially higher than in any other disease outbreak in modern American history for which we have relevant data. Public Health Implications. High levels of polarization do not appear endemic to disease outbreaks, suggesting such division may be preventable in the future. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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