Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA.
Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 Donostia, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 26;19(7):3952. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19073952.
This study examines Spanish adults' social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic using mixed-methods to assess and understand frequency, context, and changes in social media use during two critical time points in Spain. We conducted semi-structured interviews in April 2020, and two waves of surveys (April 2020, April 2021) among Spanish adults. We coded and analyzed qualitative data related to social media use during the first lockdown period in Spain using Dedoose software; and ran descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to assess changes in social media use over the two survey waves related to perceived social support and loneliness. Participants ranged in age from 18-92 and were representative of the Spanish population's sociodemographics. Interview data show that WhatsApp was most commonly used, and that social media allowed for social support and engaging in healthy behaviors. Survey data show that women and individuals aged 18-34 had the greatest increases in social media use. Statistically significant associations were found between social support and loneliness with social media use. Our results show that promoting social media use as an emotional resource for social support in times of crisis or isolation can minimize loneliness and can be a beneficial tool for general worldwide crises.
本研究采用混合方法考察了西班牙成年人在 COVID-19 大流行期间使用社交媒体的情况，评估和了解在西班牙两个关键时间点使用社交媒体的频率、背景和变化。我们于 2020 年 4 月进行了半结构化访谈，并于 2020 年 4 月和 2021 年 4 月对西班牙成年人进行了两轮调查。我们使用 Dedoose 软件对西班牙首次封锁期间与社交媒体使用相关的定性数据进行了编码和分析；并运行描述性统计和卡方检验，以评估与感知社会支持和孤独感相关的两个调查波次中社交媒体使用的变化。参与者年龄在 18-92 岁之间，代表了西班牙人口的社会人口统计学特征。访谈数据显示，WhatsApp 是最常用的社交媒体，它允许人们获得社会支持并参与健康行为。调查数据显示，女性和 18-34 岁的人使用社交媒体的增长最大。社会支持和孤独感与社交媒体使用之间存在统计学上显著的关联。我们的研究结果表明，在危机或隔离期间，将社交媒体作为情感资源来促进社会支持，可以最大限度地减少孤独感，并且可以成为全球普遍危机的有益工具。
