Relationship between digital media use and anxiety in college students during the COVID-19 outbreak / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To describe digital media use in college students during the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) outbreak.@*Methods@#A structured self-administered electronic questionnaire was designed and admin istered during February 4 to 12, 2020, collecting information on the use time of digital media and anxiety symptoms of college students in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. Data was analyzed by Chi-square test, univariate and multivariate Logistic regression models.@*Results@#A total of 11 787 university students were recruited. The detection rate of anxiety symptoms was 17.8%. The percentages of screen time ≤2, >2-4 and >4 h/d were 21.3%, 31.4% and 47.3%. The proportions of mobile phone use time ≤2, >2-4 and >4 h/d were 14.6%, 33.2% and 52.3%. The proportion of browsing information regarding COVID-19 ≤1, 1-2 and >2 h/d were 66.6%, 19.4% and 13.9%. The results of Logistic regression analysis revealed that the detection rate of anxiety symptoms was lower among the students having 2-4 h/d of screen time(OR=0.70, 95%CI=0.61-0.81), but higher among the students having more than 4 h/d of screen time(OR=1.13, 95%CI=1.00-1.28) compared with those having ≤2 h/d of video usage time. Compared with the mobile phone usage ≤2 h/d group, the detection rate was lower among >2-4 h/d group(OR=0.78, 95%CI=0.66-0.91). However, anxiety symptoms were more likely to occur in the group of > 4 h/d(OR=1.20, 95%CI=1.04-1.39). The detection of anxiety symptoms was higher in the group with more browsing time. The OR for anxiety symptoms detection rate was 1.55(1.38-1.75) among the students with >1-2 h/d of browsing information regarding COVID-19 and 2.15(1.89-2.44) among the students with >2 h/d of browsing information regarding COVID-19 compared with those with ≤1 h/d of browsing information regarding COVID-19.@*Conclusion@#During the epidemic period, the use of >2-4 h/d digital media helps to reduce the occurrence of anxiety symptoms. But the use of computers and mobile phones for more than 4 h/d is associated with higher level of anxiety symptoms among college students. Less screen time spent on fact-checking on COVID-19 might help reduce anxiety sympotoms among college students.