Disordered Social Media Use during COVID-19 Predicts Perceived Stress and Depression through Indirect Effects via Fear of COVID-19

Abstract

The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global threat that can have an adverse effect on an individuals’ physical and mental health. Here, we investigate if disordered social media use predicts user stress and depression symptoms indirectly via fear of COVID-19. A total of 359 (timepoint 1 = 171, timepoint 2 = 188) participants were recruited via social media and snowball sampling. They completed an online survey that measured disordered social media use, fear of COVID-19, perceived stress, and depression symptomatology at two cross-sectional timepoints. We found that disordered social media use predicts depression indirectly through fear of COVID-19 at both timepoints. We also found that disordered social media use predicts perceived stress indirectly through fear of COVID-19, but only at timepoint 1. Taken together with previous research, our findings indicate that disordered social media use may lead to increased fear of COVID-19, which in turn may lead to poorer psychological wellbeing outcomes. Overall, there is evidence that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the physical, psychological, and emotional health of individuals worldwide. Moreover, this impact may be exacerbated by disordered use of social media.

Keywords

• fear of COVID-19
• disordered social media use
• depression
• stress