Ramdawor Shilpa, Putteeraj Manish, Moty Numrata, Somanah Jhoti
School of Health Sciences (SHS), University of Technology, Mauritius, Pointe aux Sables, La Tour Koenig, Mauritius.
Discov Psychol. 2022;2(1):32. doi: 10.1007/s44202-022-00044-4. Epub 2022 Jul 1.
The unprecedented outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) resulted in numerous psychological consequences among young Mauritians. Prominently, an increase in Facebook usage during the pandemic was observed which could influenced the mental well-being of Facebook users.
The current study sought to explore how the pattern of use, as well as the purpose of Facebook usage, could impact the mental well-being of young Mauritian adults, before, during and after the pandemic-mediated confinement.
A cross-sectional approach using a sample of 378 young adults was chosen with a self-administered questionnaire shared through online mediums. The instrument consisted of a combination of validated scales and self-developed items.
The findings revealed a radical proliferation of social media (91%) through a self-perceived dependency for its informative purpose and related addiction; as well as an evolution of adverse psychological effects characterized by a spectrum of feelings such as restlessness and lowered self-esteem. Higher scores of depressive symptoms were observed during the confinement period (10.05 ± 0.13) as opposed to pre- (0.31 ± 0.79) and post- (0.38 ± 0.09) temporal zones. The lowest scores of mental well-being were noted during the confinement period (0.77 ± 1.8) as compared to pre-confinement (6.56 ± 1.42) and a remarkable recovery was observed post the confinement phase (6.68 ± 1.32). Changes in emotional states were also identified as important predictors of Facebook addiction (χ(1) = 94.54, < 0.001) with 48.8% of the variation in the reported addiction behavior matched with 92.6% of perceived addictive characteristics.
Facebook dependency during the lockdown period was paired with a number of adverse psychological effects among young Mauritians; effects which were likely associated with the frequency and purpose of Facebook use during the pandemic.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44202-022-00044-4.
新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的空前爆发给毛里求斯年轻人带来了诸多心理影响。其中，疫情期间脸书使用量的增加尤为显著，这可能会影响脸书用户的心理健康。
本研究旨在探讨在疫情导致的封锁之前、期间和之后，使用模式以及脸书使用目的如何影响毛里求斯年轻成年人的心理健康。
采用横断面研究方法，选取378名年轻成年人作为样本，通过在线方式发放自填式问卷。该问卷由经过验证的量表和自行编制的项目组成。
研究结果显示，社交媒体（91%）出现了急剧增长，原因是人们自认为对其信息功能存在依赖以及相关成瘾现象；同时，不良心理影响也有所演变，表现为一系列如烦躁不安和自尊降低等情绪。与封锁前（0.31±0.79）和封锁后（0.38±0.09）相比，封锁期间观察到的抑郁症状得分更高（10.05±0.13）。与封锁前（6.56±1.42）相比，封锁期间的心理健康得分最低（0.77±1.8），而在封锁阶段之后观察到显著恢复（6.68±1.32）。情绪状态的变化也被确定为脸书成瘾的重要预测因素（χ(1)=94.54，<0.001），报告的成瘾行为中有48.8%的变化与92.6%的感知成瘾特征相匹配。
封锁期间对脸书的依赖与毛里求斯年轻人的一些不良心理影响相关；这些影响可能与疫情期间脸书使用的频率和目的有关。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s44202-022-00044-4获取的补充材料。
