Doomscrolling during COVID-19: The negative association between daily social and traditional media consumption and mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic
Price M, Legrand AC, Brier ZMF, van Stolk-Cooke K, Peck K, Dodds PS, Danforth CM, Adams ZW
Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy · 43 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cohort study (classified by our AI screen)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- National Institute of Mental Health
- Government
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- Government
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences
- Government
- NIMH NIH HHS
- Government
- NIGMS NIH HHS
- Company
- Child and Adolescent Psychology Training and Research, Inc.
- Government
- NIDA NIH HHS
- Grants
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P20 GM103644); National Institute of General Medical Sciences (5P20GM103644-06); National Institute of Mental Health (K08MH107661); National Institute on Drug Abuse (K23DA038257)
Based on 7 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2022-02-14 · Psychol Trauma · vol. 14 · issue 8 · pp. 1338–1346
- Publisher
- American Psychological Association
- Cited
- 128 citations · more than 100% of similar papers · 22.8× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 20 works
- Access
- Open access (hybrid journal) · OTHER-OA
- Research areas
- Mental Health via Writing · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Keywords
- doomscrolling, COVID-19 pandemic, social media use, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, child abuse, psychopathology, negative affect, media exposure
- MeSH
- humans, mental health, mental disorders, pandemics, social media, covid-19
8 authors
From US
- Matthew PriceUniversity of Vermont
- Alison C. LegrandUniversity of Vermont
- Zoe M. F. BrierUniversity of Vermont
- Katherine van Stolk‐CookeUniversity of Vermont
- Kelly R. PeckUniversity of Vermont
- Peter Sheridan DoddsUniversity of Vermont
Abstract
Objective
Consumption of traditional and social media markedly increased at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as new information about the virus and safety guidelines evolved. Much of the information concerned restrictions on daily living activities and the risk posed by the virus. The term doomscrolling is used to describe the phenomenon of elevated negative affect after viewing pandemic-related media. The magnitude and duration of this effect, however, is unclear. Furthermore, the effect of doomscrolling likely varies based on prior vulnerabilities for psychopathology, such as a history of childhood maltreatment. It was hypothesized that social and traditional media exposure were related to an increase in depression and PTSD and that this increase was moderated by childhood maltreatment severity.
Method
Participants completed a baseline assessment for psychopathology and 30 days of daily assessments of depression, PTSD, and pandemic-related media use.
Results
Using multilevel modeling, social media exposure was associated with increased depression and PTSD. This association was stronger for those with more severe maltreatment histories. Furthermore, those with more severe baseline psychopathology used more social media during this period. These relations were not observed for traditional media sources.
Conclusions
These results suggest that regular viewing of pandemic-related social media is associated with increases in psychopathology for those with existing vulnerabilities. Those with such vulnerabilities should adopt strategies to limit social media consumption. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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