Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jul 4, 2020
Date Accepted: Sep 1, 2020
Date Submitted to PubMed: Sep 2, 2020
COVID-19 News Exposure as a Modifiable Risk Factor of Psychological Symptoms: Can an Official WhatsApp Channel Help?
ABSTRACT
Background:
In a global pandemic, digital technology offers innovative methods to disseminate public health messages. As an example, the messenger application WhatsApp was adopted by both the World Health Organization and government agencies to provide updates on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). During a time when rumours and excessive news threaten psychological well-being, these services allow for rapid transmission of information and may boost resilience.
Objective:
In this study, we sought to: (1) assess well-being during the pandemic; (2) replicate prior findings linking exposure to COVID-19 news with psychological distress; and (3) examine whether subscription to an official WhatsApp channel can mitigate this risk.
Methods:
Across 8 weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak (7 March - 21 April 2020), we conducted a survey of 1145 adults in Singapore. As the primary outcome measure, participants completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). As predictor variables, participants also answered questions pertaining to: (1) their exposure to COVID-19 news; (2) their use of the Singapore government’s WhatsApp channel; and (3) their demographics.
Results:
Within the sample, 7.9% of participants had severe or extremely severe symptoms on at least one DASS-21 subscale. Depression scores were associated with increased duration spent receiving COVID-19 updates, whereas use of the official WhatsApp channel emerged as a protective factor (b = -.07, t(863) = -2.04, P = 0.04). Similarly, increased anxiety scores were associated with increased exposure to both updates and rumours, but this risk was mitigated by trust in the government’s WhatsApp messages (b = -.05, t(863) = -2.13, P = 0.03). Finally, although stress symptoms increased with the duration spent receiving updates, these symptoms were not significantly related to WhatsApp use.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that messenger apps may be an effective medium to disseminate pandemic-related information, allowing official agencies to reach a broad sector of the population rapidly. In turn, this use may promote public well-being amidst an ‘infodemic’. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04305574
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