Information seeking, mental health and loneliness: Longitudinal analyses of adults in the UK COVID-19 mental health and wellbeing study

•Women, older and higher socioeconomic group individuals reported higher levels of information seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic.•The majority of participants reported that they sought information on Covid 1-5 times per day during the early stages of the pandemic.•Higher levels of information seeking were associated with poorer mental health outcomes, particularly clinically significant levels of anxiety.•Reducing or managing information seeking behaviour may be one method to reduce anxiety during pandemics and other public health crises.