Ruggieri Stefano, Ingoglia Sonia, Bonfanti Rubinia Celeste, Lo Coco Gianluca
Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Kore University of Enna, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Italy.
Pers Individ Dif. 2021 Mar;171:110486. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110486. Epub 2020 Nov 4.
During the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the experience of quarantine has been an undesirable condition for people and it can have a negative impact on mental health and psychological wellbeing. Social isolation has led to an increase in time spent on social network sites, with people interacting more frequently with each other, and comparing online the way in which they are experiencing the same state of home confinement. Our study aimed to investigate the role of online social comparison on individuals' psychological distress and life satisfaction during the COVID-19-related quarantine. Specifically, a cross-lagged panel study at three-waves was conducted in Italy in order to examine the change in psychosocial distress levels (e.g. depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, low life-satisfaction) from before the quarantine for a period of one month, as well as the predictive role of online social comparison to ameliorate individual distress. An online survey was distributed through a social media platform three times after the initial lockdown and at the epidemic's peak two and five weeks later. A total of 113 participants participated in an online survey between the 7th of March and 14th of April 2020. The results showed an increase in the levels of loneliness, depression, stress, anxiety and a decrease in the level of life satisfaction in the pre/post quarantine comparison. Our cross-lagged results also showed that online social comparison at T1 and T2 predicted the individual's improvement in levels of anxiety, stress, loneliness and life satisfaction over time. Overall, the results of the current study underline the positive effects of online social comparison on the reduction of psychological distress during the COVID-19 quarantine.
在新冠疫情危机期间，隔离经历对人们来说是一种不理想的状况，它会对心理健康和幸福感产生负面影响。社交隔离导致人们在社交网站上花费的时间增加，人们之间的互动更加频繁，并在网上比较他们在居家隔离状态下的经历方式。我们的研究旨在调查在与新冠疫情相关的隔离期间，在线社会比较对个体心理困扰和生活满意度的作用。具体而言，在意大利进行了一项三波次的交叉滞后面板研究，以考察从隔离前到为期一个月的隔离期间心理社会困扰水平（如抑郁、焦虑、压力、孤独感、低生活满意度）的变化，以及在线社会比较对缓解个体困扰的预测作用。在首次封锁后以及疫情高峰时的两周和五周后，通过一个社交媒体平台进行了三次在线调查。共有113名参与者在2020年3月7日至4月14日期间参与了在线调查。结果显示，在隔离前后的比较中，孤独感、抑郁、压力、焦虑水平有所上升，生活满意度水平有所下降。我们的交叉滞后结果还表明，T1和T2时的在线社会比较预测了个体随着时间推移在焦虑、压力、孤独感和生活满意度水平上的改善。总体而言，当前研究结果强调了在线社会比较在新冠疫情隔离期间减轻心理困扰方面的积极作用。
