Coronavirus conspiracy beliefs, mistrust, and compliance with government guidelines in England

<p><strong>Background:</strong> An invisible threat has visibly altered the world. Governments and key institutions have had to implement decisive responses to the danger posed by the coronavirus pandemic. Imposed change will increase the likelihood that alternative explanations take hold. In a proportion of the general population there may be strong scepticism, fear of being misled, and false conspiracy theories. Our objectives were to estimate the prevalence of conspiracy thinking about the pandemic and test associations with reduced adherence to government guidelines.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Methods:</strong> A non-probability online survey with 2,501 adults in England,…