Importance of Digital Literacy in the Process of Confronting the Stress During COVID-19 Pandemic.

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic is a global problem that raised the perception of stress to a completely new level, unseen so far in peace conditions. To reduce the level of stress and deal with its accumulated consequences, people enforce different strategies and coping mechanisms. In the vast amount of information available, imposed by the media, and often filled with falsehoods and catastrophizing related topics, it can be very challenging to distinguish the truth from falsehoods. The existence of an adequate level of digital literacy and e-Health literacy can help society to deal with that problem. Digital and e-Health literacy enables society to search for information efficiently, while remaining critical and open-minded, and use the newly adopted knowledge to improve our mental health. The aim of the paper was to present the frequency of news searches and trusting the COVID-19 related information in the group of medical professionals in Croatia. The survey was conducted using an online questionnaire, containing psychological questionnaires and relevant questions about everyday functioning. Based on the results that show a significant correlation between the frequency of information search and the lack of trust in the search results, we discuss the importance of digital and e-Health literacy, primarily within medical professionals.