Impact of the global pandemic upon young people's use of technology for emotion regulation

Abstract

Technology plays an increasingly prominent role in emotional lives. Researchers have begun to study how people use devices to cope with and shape emotions: a phenomenon that has been called Digital Emotion Regulation. We report a study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon young people's digital habits and emotion regulation behaviors. We conducted a two-wave longitudinal survey, collecting data from 154 university students both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, participants were subject to increased emotional distress as well as restrictions on movement and social interaction. We present evidence that participants' emotion regulation strategies changed and became more homogeneous during the pandemic, with participants resorting to digital tools when offline strategies were less available, while also becoming more emotionally dependent upon their devices. This study underscores the growing significance of the digital for contemporary emotional experience, and contributes to understanding the potential role for technology in supporting well-being during high-impact events.

Keywords

• Emotion
• Digital emotion regulation
• Well-being
• Field study
• Survey
• Digital technology