JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The necessity of social and physical distancing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic made Screens more indispensable than ever before. In our previous work, we showed a positive correlation between stress and dependence on social networks and entertainment-related activities.

Objective:

The aim of current study is to examine the probability of a causal relationship between an acute global stressor like COVID-19 and media-specific increase in usage of information and communication technologies.

Methods:

Between March 20 – April 20, 2020, a brief snow-ball survey was distributed via several mailing lists associated with preventive health networks, and social media, to evaluate the relation between subjective stress due to COVID-19 (‘very stressed, ‘slightly worried’, ‘not worried at all’, ‘excited’), and media usage. Using a media-repertoires method, we asked questions about preferences, changes in usage, and personal appraisal of media experiences (approach, avoid, ignore), and investigated interindividual differences in media usage, by factors age, gender and self-reported mental health.

Results:

From N=685 completed responses, 169 respondents were ‘very stressed’, and 452 were ‘slightly worried’ about COVID-19. We observed a causal relation between COVID-19 stress interms of increased use of Facebook (χ2df=3. = 11.76, P=.008), Television (χ2df=3. = 12.40, P=.006), YouTube (χ 2df=3. = 8.577, P=.035) and Netflix (χ2df=3. = 10.71, P=.013). Respondents who considered their mental health “not good” were twice as likely to prefer Netflix as a coping tool for self-isolation. Women were twice more likely to pick Social Media. Individuals <35 years of age were 3 times more likely to pick Computer Games, and individuals older than 55 were three/two times more likely to pick Network Television/Print media. Gender affected the appraisal of media (Men < Others) in terms of Avoid (F(1,637)=5.84, P=.016) and Approach scores(F(1,637)=14.31, P<.001). Subjective Mental Health affected Ignore score (Good < Others) (F(1, 637) = 13.88, P<.001). Differences in appraisal score and usage increase also explained variations in worrying about the risks of physical and mental health stress as a result of increased screen-time. A qualitative network analyses of open-ended questions revealed that respondents’ considered media (especially social networks) to be important for coping, if they provided support and connection through dissemination of factual and positive information, while avoiding the overflow of sensational and false news.

Conclusions:

Entertainment and social media are important resources for coping with stress. We illustrated a complex relationship between appraisal of media’s positive and negative facets that potentially vary with demographic differences in mental health resiliency. Media-repertoires approach is an important tool in studies that focus on assessing the benefits and harms of screen overuse in different populations, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.