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Article: Social capital–accrual, escape-from-self, and time-displacement effects of internet use during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period: Prospective, quantitative survey study

TitleSocial capital–accrual, escape-from-self, and time-displacement effects of internet use during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period: Prospective, quantitative survey study
Authors
Keywordscoping
coronavirus
COVID-19
cyberaggression
cybervictimization
Issue Date2020
PublisherJournal of Medical Internet Research. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.jmir.org/
Citation
Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2020, v. 22 n. 12, p. article no. e22740 How to Cite?
AbstractBackground: COVID-19 has spread like wildfire across the globe, prompting many governments to impose unprecedented stay-at-home orders to limit its transmission. During an extended stay-at-home period, individuals may engage in more online leisure activities. Internet use is a double-edged sword that may have both desirable and undesirable effects on psychological well-being, and this study sought to disentangle adaptive from maladaptive internet use amidst this unusual health crisis. Objective: The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of probable depression during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period and to test three hypothesized risk reduction or risk elevation mechanisms, namely social capital–accrual, escape-from-self, and time-displacement effects. Methods: This study took place from March to May 2020 at the early stage of the pandemic. The study adopted a prospective design, with an online survey administered to 573 UK and 474 US adult residents at two assessment points 2 months apart. Results: The prevalence of moderate to severe depression was 36% (bootstrap bias-corrected and accelerated [BCa] 95% CI 33%-39%) at Time 1 (ie, initial time point) and 27% (bootstrap BCa 95% CI 25%-30%) at Time 2 (ie, follow-up time point). The results supported the social capital–accrual hypothesis by showing that the approach coping style was inversely associated with Time 2 depression through its positive associations with both social networking and perceived family support. The results also supported the escape-from-self hypothesis by revealing that the avoidant coping style was positively associated with Time 2 depression through its positive associations with both gaming and cyberbullying victimization, but the serial mediation model was no longer significant after Time 1 depression and some demographic risk factors had been controlled for. Finally, the results supported the time-displacement hypothesis by showing that gaming was positively associated with Time 2 depression through its inverse associations with social networking and perceived family support. Conclusions: During the extended stay-at-home period in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of probable depression during the 2-month study period was high among the UK and US residents. Individuals with distinct coping styles may engage in different types of online leisure activities and perceive varying levels of social support, which are associated with risks of probable depression
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/304204
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 5.8
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 2.020
PubMed Central ID
ISI Accession Number ID

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorCheng, YC-
dc.contributor.authorLau, Y-
dc.contributor.authorLuk, JW-
dc.date.accessioned2021-09-23T08:56:42Z-
dc.date.available2021-09-23T08:56:42Z-
dc.date.issued2020-
dc.identifier.citationJournal of Medical Internet Research, 2020, v. 22 n. 12, p. article no. e22740-
dc.identifier.issn1438-8871-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/304204-
dc.description.abstractBackground: COVID-19 has spread like wildfire across the globe, prompting many governments to impose unprecedented stay-at-home orders to limit its transmission. During an extended stay-at-home period, individuals may engage in more online leisure activities. Internet use is a double-edged sword that may have both desirable and undesirable effects on psychological well-being, and this study sought to disentangle adaptive from maladaptive internet use amidst this unusual health crisis. Objective: The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of probable depression during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period and to test three hypothesized risk reduction or risk elevation mechanisms, namely social capital–accrual, escape-from-self, and time-displacement effects. Methods: This study took place from March to May 2020 at the early stage of the pandemic. The study adopted a prospective design, with an online survey administered to 573 UK and 474 US adult residents at two assessment points 2 months apart. Results: The prevalence of moderate to severe depression was 36% (bootstrap bias-corrected and accelerated [BCa] 95% CI 33%-39%) at Time 1 (ie, initial time point) and 27% (bootstrap BCa 95% CI 25%-30%) at Time 2 (ie, follow-up time point). The results supported the social capital–accrual hypothesis by showing that the approach coping style was inversely associated with Time 2 depression through its positive associations with both social networking and perceived family support. The results also supported the escape-from-self hypothesis by revealing that the avoidant coping style was positively associated with Time 2 depression through its positive associations with both gaming and cyberbullying victimization, but the serial mediation model was no longer significant after Time 1 depression and some demographic risk factors had been controlled for. Finally, the results supported the time-displacement hypothesis by showing that gaming was positively associated with Time 2 depression through its inverse associations with social networking and perceived family support. Conclusions: During the extended stay-at-home period in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of probable depression during the 2-month study period was high among the UK and US residents. Individuals with distinct coping styles may engage in different types of online leisure activities and perceive varying levels of social support, which are associated with risks of probable depression-
dc.languageeng-
dc.publisherJournal of Medical Internet Research. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.jmir.org/-
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of Medical Internet Research-
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.-
dc.subjectcoping-
dc.subjectcoronavirus-
dc.subjectCOVID-19-
dc.subjectcyberaggression-
dc.subjectcybervictimization-
dc.titleSocial capital–accrual, escape-from-self, and time-displacement effects of internet use during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period: Prospective, quantitative survey study-
dc.typeArticle-
dc.identifier.emailCheng, YC: ceccheng@hku.hk-
dc.identifier.authorityCheng, YC=rp00588-
dc.description.naturepublished_or_final_version-
dc.identifier.doi10.2196/22740-
dc.identifier.pmid33320824-
dc.identifier.pmcidPMC33320824-
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-85098579266-
dc.identifier.hkuros325702-
dc.identifier.volume22-
dc.identifier.issue12-
dc.identifier.spagearticle no. e22740-
dc.identifier.epagearticle no. e22740-
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000602417800001-
dc.publisher.placeCanada-

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