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Information Overload, Wellbeing and COVID-19: A Survey in China

(1) Psychology must play an important role in the prevention and management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the present study was to examine associations between the perceptions of information overload and wellbeing in China during the initial phase of COVID-19. (2) Methods: The present researc...

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Autores principales: Fan, Jialin, Smith, Andrew P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8146850/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33925611
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs11050062
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author Fan, Jialin
Smith, Andrew P.
author_facet Fan, Jialin
Smith, Andrew P.
author_sort Fan, Jialin
collection PubMed
description (1) Psychology must play an important role in the prevention and management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the present study was to examine associations between the perceptions of information overload and wellbeing in China during the initial phase of COVID-19. (2) Methods: The present research involved a cross-sectional online survey, which controlled for established predictors of wellbeing and the perception of general (not COVID-19-specific) information overload. The setting of the research was China, February 2020. A total of 1349 participants completed an online survey, and the results from 1240 members of the general public who stated that they were uninfected are reported here (55.6% female; 49.4% single; age distribution: 17–25 years: 26%; 26–30 years: 24.3%; 31–40 years: 23.9%; 41–50 years: 16.2%; 51 years+: 9.6%; the most frequent occupations were: 21.5% students; 19.5% teachers; 25.9% office workers; 10.8% managers, plus a few in a wide range of jobs). The outcomes were positive wellbeing (positive affect and life satisfaction) and negative wellbeing (stress, negative affect, anxiety and depression). (3) Results: Regressions were carried out, controlling for established predictors of wellbeing (psychological capital, general information overload, positive and negative coping). Spending time getting information about COVID-19 was associated with more positive wellbeing. In contrast, perceptions of COVID-19 information overload and feeling panic due to COVID-19 were associated with more negative wellbeing. (4) Conclusions: These results have implications for the communication of information about COVID-19 to the general public and form the basis for further research on the topic.
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spelling pubmed-81468502021-05-26 Information Overload, Wellbeing and COVID-19: A Survey in China Fan, Jialin Smith, Andrew P. Behav Sci (Basel) Article (1) Psychology must play an important role in the prevention and management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the present study was to examine associations between the perceptions of information overload and wellbeing in China during the initial phase of COVID-19. (2) Methods: The present research involved a cross-sectional online survey, which controlled for established predictors of wellbeing and the perception of general (not COVID-19-specific) information overload. The setting of the research was China, February 2020. A total of 1349 participants completed an online survey, and the results from 1240 members of the general public who stated that they were uninfected are reported here (55.6% female; 49.4% single; age distribution: 17–25 years: 26%; 26–30 years: 24.3%; 31–40 years: 23.9%; 41–50 years: 16.2%; 51 years+: 9.6%; the most frequent occupations were: 21.5% students; 19.5% teachers; 25.9% office workers; 10.8% managers, plus a few in a wide range of jobs). The outcomes were positive wellbeing (positive affect and life satisfaction) and negative wellbeing (stress, negative affect, anxiety and depression). (3) Results: Regressions were carried out, controlling for established predictors of wellbeing (psychological capital, general information overload, positive and negative coping). Spending time getting information about COVID-19 was associated with more positive wellbeing. In contrast, perceptions of COVID-19 information overload and feeling panic due to COVID-19 were associated with more negative wellbeing. (4) Conclusions: These results have implications for the communication of information about COVID-19 to the general public and form the basis for further research on the topic. MDPI 2021-04-27 /pmc/articles/PMC8146850/ /pubmed/33925611 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs11050062 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Fan, Jialin
Smith, Andrew P.
Information Overload, Wellbeing and COVID-19: A Survey in China
title Information Overload, Wellbeing and COVID-19: A Survey in China
title_full Information Overload, Wellbeing and COVID-19: A Survey in China
title_fullStr Information Overload, Wellbeing and COVID-19: A Survey in China
title_full_unstemmed Information Overload, Wellbeing and COVID-19: A Survey in China
title_short Information Overload, Wellbeing and COVID-19: A Survey in China
title_sort information overload, wellbeing and covid-19: a survey in china
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8146850/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33925611
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs11050062
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