Dienlin Tobias
Department of Communication, University of Vienna, Vienna, 1090, Austria.
Sci Rep. 2025 Feb 27;15(1):7048. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-91385-2.
In times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens need to stay informed about recent political events. To this end, people increasingly use social media. However, because social media are particularly engaging, many find it hard to disconnect, especially during times of crisis. In this preregistered study, I investigate whether using social media for COVID-19 related reasons affects psychological well-being. Using data from the Austrian Corona Panel Project consisting of 3,485 participants from 34 waves, this research question was analyzed using random effects within between models, controlling for several stable and varying confounders. The results showed that COVID-19 related social media use did not meaningfully reduce well-being. Other factors such as health, income, exercise, or internal locus of control showed larger and meaningful effects.
在诸如新冠疫情这样的危机时期，公民需要及时了解近期的政治事件。为此，人们越来越多地使用社交媒体。然而，由于社交媒体特别吸引人，许多人发现很难断开连接，尤其是在危机时期。在这项预先注册的研究中，我调查了出于与新冠疫情相关的原因使用社交媒体是否会影响心理健康。利用来自奥地利新冠疫情面板项目的数据，该项目由来自34个波次的3485名参与者组成，使用组内组间模型中的随机效应分析了这个研究问题，并控制了几个稳定和变化的混杂因素。结果表明，与新冠疫情相关的社交媒体使用并没有显著降低幸福感。其他因素，如健康、收入、锻炼或内控点，显示出更大且显著的影响。
