Dataset on social media use during COVID-19: Associations with self-efficacy, perceived threat, and preventive behavior

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is the most significant public health crisis of this century, and the world has been facing multiple challenges for the last two years, including a high death toll, the imposition of various forms of lockdown and the unavailability of vaccines. Globally, people have faced fearful situations and sought information from social media in order to understand the severity of the situation as well as to protect themselves and others. In comparison to traditional media (electronic and print), social media provides quick and easy access to information, making its impact timely and powerful. The cross-sectional data reflects social media use and its associations with self-efficacy, perceived threat, and preventive behavior in the time of COVID-19 among the people of Pakistan. An online-based cross-sectional survey has been conducted to obtain data from the respondents. These respondents were reached out by sharing a hyperlink through various social media platforms. A total number of 310 respondents furnished their responses. The survey was completed in April 2020. This data may be of great interest to researchers, policymakers, research organizations, and social and mental health practitioners who wish to explore other dimensions of mental health issues caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.