Background and Aim: This research explored the impact of social networks exposure on preventative, and self-medication Tunisians behaviors while examining the influence of socio-demographic, economic, educational, and cultural determinants.

Methods: In addition to the data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tunisia, we conducted a cross-sectional KABP-type (Knowledge, Attitudes, Behaviors, and Practices) survey with 232 participants in North-West Tunisia.

Elderly people and students (N = 232; 61% female, 39% male) completed a paper and pencil questionnaire and described their fear level, as well as their attitudes, preventive, and/or self-medication behaviors towards COVID-19.

To examine the hypothetical relationships proposed in this work, machine learning methods and statistical correlation techniques were used to select features in order of importance.

Results: The results show that depending on gender and age group, exposure to social media positively influences the level of fear and individual perception of infectious risk.

The results also indicate that the use of social media may increase the adoption of preventive and/or self-medication behaviours in response to the epidemiological and biomedical uncertainty reported by the mass media in general.

Conclusion: The behavioural trends observed in this study were indirectly modulated by fear and the community, national, and international pandemic context.

Consequently, the digital health literacy and emotional literacy concerning eco-health issues and their treatment in the mass media should be a priority for stakeholders and researchers in health promotion and education.

Health literacy and COVID-19

Health literacy and the media