JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

COVID-19 has presented a significant threat to public health around the world due to its high risk of contagion and lack of effective treatment. Quarantine measures are useful for containing the spread of the virus, but these measures could undermine individuals’ mental health.

Objective:

This study examined individuals’ mental well-being in the context of quarantine and assessed the relationship between five genres of music (pop music, rock, rap, jazz, and quyi) and people’s mental outcomes through the mediating factors of perceived social connectedness and sense of security.

Methods:

An online cross-sectional study was conducted among people with quarantine experience in September 2022, in mainland China. A total of 712 valid questionnaires were returned and 623 samples were finally included in our study. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was used to assess mental well-being.

Results:

The results based on an online survey (N = 623) showed that around 80% of the respondents had experienced symptoms of mental illness during the COVID-19 quarantine. Moreover, online consumption of pop music and quyi improved perceived social connectedness and sense of security and, in turn, elevated mental well-being. Conversely, rock music, rap, and jazz could decrease the social connectedness perceived by an individual, which led to increased mental problems.

Conclusions:

This paper has a significant research contribution toward the advances in the literature on reaction to environmental stimuli. Our findings that mental well-being is not directly influenced by online music consumption during the COVID-19 quarantine enrich previous literature on mental health and music intervention. The potential reasons for these relationships and the practical implications are discussed.