JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

A great deal of work has been devoted to examining the mental health of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 or medical staff who cared and treated patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. But few insights are produced concerning how the pandemic may take a toll on mental health in the general public who were not contracted with the virus.

Objective:

This study aims to investigate the links between social media use and mental health conditions in the general population based on a national sample (N = 2,185) collected in China’s peak of COVID-19 outbreak.

Methods:

This study reveals the public’s mental health conditions by analyzing social media use among those who first experienced the COVID-19 outbreak. A national sample was collected across China’s 30 provinces concerning the participants’ social media use, health information support, and psychiatric disorders, such as secondary traumatic stress and vicarious trauma.

Results:

COVID-19 had taken a severe toll on people’s mental health, even for those without history of psychiatric disorders or not being contracted with coronavirus. Social media use did not cause mental health issues but it can mediate the levels of traumatic emotions. While people gained health information support in using social media, the excessive use of social media was related to elevated level of stress and psychiatric disorders. Geo-location and lockdown situations also contributed to traumatic disorders.

Conclusions:

This research contributes to the literature by establishing the causal association between social media use and mental health conditions. This and other findings based on what Chinese people went through can help global citizens and health policymakers to mitigate psychiatric disorders in this and other public health crises, which should be a key component of general pandemic health care.