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The Relation Between Official WhatsApp-Distributed COVID-19 News Exposure and Psychological Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Survey Study

BACKGROUND: In a global pandemic, digital technology offers innovative methods to disseminate public health messages. As an example, the messenger app WhatsApp was adopted by both the World Health Organization and government agencies to provide updates on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). During a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Liu, Jean C J, Tong, Eddie M W
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7527032/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32877349
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/22142
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author Liu, Jean C J
Tong, Eddie M W
author_facet Liu, Jean C J
Tong, Eddie M W
author_sort Liu, Jean C J
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: In a global pandemic, digital technology offers innovative methods to disseminate public health messages. As an example, the messenger app WhatsApp was adopted by both the World Health Organization and government agencies to provide updates on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). During a time when rumors 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 accomplish the following: (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 (March 7 to April 21, 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 the following: (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 time spent receiving COVID-19 updates, whereas use of the official WhatsApp channel emerged as a protective factor (b=–0.07, t[863]=–2.04, P=.04). Similarly, increased anxiety scores were associated with increased exposure to both updates and rumors, but this risk was mitigated by trust in the government’s WhatsApp messages (b=–0.05, t[863]=–2.13, P=.03). Finally, although stress symptoms increased with the amount of time spent receiving updates, these symptoms were not significantly related to WhatsApp use. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that messenger apps may be an effective medium for disseminating pandemic-related information, allowing official agencies to reach a broad sector of the population rapidly. In turn, this use may promote public well-being amid an “infodemic.” TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04305574; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04305574
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spelling pubmed-75270322020-10-15 The Relation Between Official WhatsApp-Distributed COVID-19 News Exposure and Psychological Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Survey Study Liu, Jean C J Tong, Eddie M W J Med Internet Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: In a global pandemic, digital technology offers innovative methods to disseminate public health messages. As an example, the messenger app WhatsApp was adopted by both the World Health Organization and government agencies to provide updates on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). During a time when rumors 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 accomplish the following: (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 (March 7 to April 21, 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 the following: (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 time spent receiving COVID-19 updates, whereas use of the official WhatsApp channel emerged as a protective factor (b=–0.07, t[863]=–2.04, P=.04). Similarly, increased anxiety scores were associated with increased exposure to both updates and rumors, but this risk was mitigated by trust in the government’s WhatsApp messages (b=–0.05, t[863]=–2.13, P=.03). Finally, although stress symptoms increased with the amount of time spent receiving updates, these symptoms were not significantly related to WhatsApp use. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that messenger apps may be an effective medium for disseminating pandemic-related information, allowing official agencies to reach a broad sector of the population rapidly. In turn, this use may promote public well-being amid an “infodemic.” TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04305574; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04305574 JMIR Publications 2020-09-25 /pmc/articles/PMC7527032/ /pubmed/32877349 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/22142 Text en ©Jean C J Liu, Eddie M W Tong. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 25.09.2020. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Liu, Jean C J
Tong, Eddie M W
The Relation Between Official WhatsApp-Distributed COVID-19 News Exposure and Psychological Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
title The Relation Between Official WhatsApp-Distributed COVID-19 News Exposure and Psychological Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
title_full The Relation Between Official WhatsApp-Distributed COVID-19 News Exposure and Psychological Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
title_fullStr The Relation Between Official WhatsApp-Distributed COVID-19 News Exposure and Psychological Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
title_full_unstemmed The Relation Between Official WhatsApp-Distributed COVID-19 News Exposure and Psychological Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
title_short The Relation Between Official WhatsApp-Distributed COVID-19 News Exposure and Psychological Symptoms: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
title_sort relation between official whatsapp-distributed covid-19 news exposure and psychological symptoms: cross-sectional survey study
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7527032/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32877349
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/22142
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