Association Between Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scores and Online Activity Among US Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Analysis

Author: Singh, P., Cumberland, W. G., Ugarte, D., Bruckner, T.-A., & Young, S. D.

Description: BACKGROUND: Evidence from past pandemics suggests that fear, uncertainty, and loss of control during large-scale public health crises may lead to increased pandemic-related information seeking, particularly among persons predisposed to high anxiety. In such groups, a greater consumption of information pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic may increase anxiety.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we examine the association between online activity and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) scores in the United States.

METHODS: We recruited participants for an online survey through advertisements on various platforms such as Google, Facebook, and Reddit. A total of 406 adult US participants with moderate to severe (=10) GAD-7 scores met the inclusion criteria and completed the survey. Anxiety levels measured using the GAD-7 scale formed our primary outcome. Our key independent variables were average daily time spent online and average daily time spent online searching about COVID-19 within the past 14 days. We used as controls potential confounders of the relation between our key independent variables and GAD-7 scores, namely, sleep quality, the COVID-19 Fear Inventory scale, binge drinking, substance use, prescription drug abuse, and sociodemographic attributes.

RESULTS: Linear multivariate regression analyses showed that GAD-7 scores were higher among those who spent >4 hours online (per day) searching for information about COVID-19 (coefficient 1.29, P=.002), controlling for all other covariates. The total time spent online was not statistically associated with GAD-7 scores.

CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study indicate that limiting pandemic-related online information seeking may aid anxiety management in our study population.

Subject headings: Adult; Anxiety Disorders; Betacoronavirus; Binge Drinking; COVID-19; Coronavirus Infections; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health Surveys; Humans; Internet; Linear Models; Male; Pandemics; Pneumonia; Viral; SARS-CoV-2; Severity of Illness Index; Substance-Related Disorders; United States; COVID-19; GAD; Generalized anxiety disorder; Online activity; Stress

Publication year: 2020

Journal or book title: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Volume: 22

Issue: 9

Pages: e21490

Find the full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7485999/

Find more like this one (cited by):  https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=3701860236068043497&as_sdt=1000005&sciodt=0,16&hl=en

Type: Journal article

Serial number: 3102

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