Association Between Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scores and Online Activity Among US Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Analysis
Association Between Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scores and Online Activity Among US Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Analysis
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DOI：
10.2196/21490
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发表时间：
2020-09-10
影响因子：
7.4
通讯作者：
Young, Sean D.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Singh, Parvati;Cumberland, William G.;Young, Sean D.
背景：过去流行病的证据表明，大规模公共卫生危机期间的恐惧、不确定性和失控可能会导致人们对流行病相关信息的寻求增加，特别是在容易高度焦虑的人群中。在这些群体中，更多地消耗与 COVID-19 大流行相关的信息可能会增加焦虑。 目的：在这项研究中，我们研究了美国的在线活动与广泛性焦虑症 7 (GAD-7) 分数之间的关联。方法：我们通过 Google、Facebook 和 Reddit 等各种平台上的广告招募参与者进行在线调查。共有 406 名具有中度至重度 (>= 10) GAD-7 分数的美国成年参与者符合纳入标准并完成了调查。使用 GAD-7 量表测量的焦虑水平构成了我们的主要结果。我们的关键自变量是过去 14 天内平均每天在线花费的时间和平均每天在线搜索有关 COVID-19 的时间。我们使用关键自变量和 GAD-7 分数之间关系的潜在混杂因素作为对照，即睡眠质量、COVID-19 恐惧量表、酗酒、物质使用、处方药滥用和社会人口统计学属性。结果：线性多元回归分析显示，在控制所有其他信息的情况下，线性多元回归分析显示，每天花费超过 4 小时在线搜索有关 COVID-19 信息的人的 GAD-7 分数较高（系数 1.29，P=.002）。协变量。上网总时间与 GAD-7 分数没有统计相关性。结论：这项研究的结果表明，限制与流行病相关的在线信息搜索可能有助于我们研究人群的焦虑管理。
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.