Negative emotional symptoms during COVID19 confinement: The relationship with reading habits

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease (COVID19) is an ongoing pandemic, which forced governments across the globe to implement confinement measures to limit the spread of the disease. These measures have impacted the daily life and psychological status of people. However, no studies have examined the relationship between changes in psychological status with reading habits during the COVID19 pandemic. OBJECTIVES: The study aims at examining the relationship between changes in reading habits and negative emotional states. METHOD: The psychological status was measured using the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales (DASS). In addition, the participants reported changes in four types of reading experiences during COVID19 confinement. These reading types are specialized, general knowledge, story/novels, and religious material. An internet-based survey was used to collect the data among adults. RESULTS: A total of 1711 individuals participated in the study. About 60.0%, 55.1%, 60.5% and 61.0% reported participating in scientific, religious, general, and novel reading, respectively. Additionally, the ANOVA revealed differences (p < 0.05) in DASS scores according to the changes in scientific, religious, newspaper, and novel/story reading. Subgroup post hoc comparisons showed that DASS scores were associated with a no-change or increase in all types of reading habits indicating a main effect of emotional state on all types of reading. CONCLUSIONS: Current results might suggest that the participants who experienced greater negative emotions, tended to either not change or increase their reading habits. Additionally, individuals with lower negative emotion scores reported a decrease in reading during the COVID19 pandemic.