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Is Social Media a New Type of Social Support? Social Media Use in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study

This study examines Spanish adults’ social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic using mixed-methods to assess and understand frequency, context, and changes in social media use during two critical time points in Spain. We conducted semi-structured interviews in April 2020, and two waves of surveys...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Rosen, Aviana O., Holmes, Ashley L., Balluerka, Nekane, Hidalgo, Maria Dolores, Gorostiaga, Arantxa, Gómez-Benito, Juana, Huedo-Medina, Tania B.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8997662/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35409634
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073952
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author Rosen, Aviana O.
Holmes, Ashley L.
Balluerka, Nekane
Hidalgo, Maria Dolores
Gorostiaga, Arantxa
Gómez-Benito, Juana
Huedo-Medina, Tania B.
author_facet Rosen, Aviana O.
Holmes, Ashley L.
Balluerka, Nekane
Hidalgo, Maria Dolores
Gorostiaga, Arantxa
Gómez-Benito, Juana
Huedo-Medina, Tania B.
author_sort Rosen, Aviana O.
collection PubMed
description This study examines Spanish adults’ social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic using mixed-methods to assess and understand frequency, context, and changes in social media use during two critical time points in Spain. We conducted semi-structured interviews in April 2020, and two waves of surveys (April 2020, April 2021) among Spanish adults. We coded and analyzed qualitative data related to social media use during the first lockdown period in Spain using Dedoose software; and ran descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to assess changes in social media use over the two survey waves related to perceived social support and loneliness. Participants ranged in age from 18–92 and were representative of the Spanish population’s sociodemographics. Interview data show that WhatsApp was most commonly used, and that social media allowed for social support and engaging in healthy behaviors. Survey data show that women and individuals aged 18–34 had the greatest increases in social media use. Statistically significant associations were found between social support and loneliness with social media use. Our results show that promoting social media use as an emotional resource for social support in times of crisis or isolation can minimize loneliness and can be a beneficial tool for general worldwide crises.
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spelling pubmed-89976622022-04-12 Is Social Media a New Type of Social Support? Social Media Use in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study Rosen, Aviana O. Holmes, Ashley L. Balluerka, Nekane Hidalgo, Maria Dolores Gorostiaga, Arantxa Gómez-Benito, Juana Huedo-Medina, Tania B. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article This study examines Spanish adults’ social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic using mixed-methods to assess and understand frequency, context, and changes in social media use during two critical time points in Spain. We conducted semi-structured interviews in April 2020, and two waves of surveys (April 2020, April 2021) among Spanish adults. We coded and analyzed qualitative data related to social media use during the first lockdown period in Spain using Dedoose software; and ran descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to assess changes in social media use over the two survey waves related to perceived social support and loneliness. Participants ranged in age from 18–92 and were representative of the Spanish population’s sociodemographics. Interview data show that WhatsApp was most commonly used, and that social media allowed for social support and engaging in healthy behaviors. Survey data show that women and individuals aged 18–34 had the greatest increases in social media use. Statistically significant associations were found between social support and loneliness with social media use. Our results show that promoting social media use as an emotional resource for social support in times of crisis or isolation can minimize loneliness and can be a beneficial tool for general worldwide crises. MDPI 2022-03-26 /pmc/articles/PMC8997662/ /pubmed/35409634 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073952 Text en © 2022 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
Rosen, Aviana O.
Holmes, Ashley L.
Balluerka, Nekane
Hidalgo, Maria Dolores
Gorostiaga, Arantxa
Gómez-Benito, Juana
Huedo-Medina, Tania B.
Is Social Media a New Type of Social Support? Social Media Use in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study
title Is Social Media a New Type of Social Support? Social Media Use in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study
title_full Is Social Media a New Type of Social Support? Social Media Use in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study
title_fullStr Is Social Media a New Type of Social Support? Social Media Use in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study
title_full_unstemmed Is Social Media a New Type of Social Support? Social Media Use in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study
title_short Is Social Media a New Type of Social Support? Social Media Use in Spain during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study
title_sort is social media a new type of social support? social media use in spain during the covid-19 pandemic: a mixed methods study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8997662/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35409634
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073952
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