@Article{info:doi/10.2196/21490,
author="Singh, Parvati
and Cumberland, William G
and Ugarte, Dominic
and Bruckner, Tim-Allen
and Young, Sean D",
title="Association Between Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scores and Online Activity Among US Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Analysis",
journal="J Med Internet Res",
year="2020",
month="Sep",
day="10",
volume="22",
number="9",
pages="e21490",
keywords="online activity; COVID-19; anxiety; generalized anxiety disorder; GAD; scores; stress; internet; survey; cross-sectional",
abstract="Background: Evidence from past pandemics suggests that fear, uncertainty, and loss of control during large-scale public health crises may lead to increased pandemic-related information seeking, particularly among persons predisposed to high anxiety. In such groups, a greater consumption of information pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic may increase anxiety. Objective: In this study, we examine the association between online activity and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) scores in the United States. Methods: We recruited participants for an online survey through advertisements on various platforms such as Google, Facebook, and Reddit. A total of 406 adult US participants with moderate to severe (≥10) GAD-7 scores met the inclusion criteria and completed the survey. Anxiety levels measured using the GAD-7 scale formed our primary outcome. Our key independent variables were average daily time spent online and average daily time spent online searching about COVID-19 within the past 14 days. We used as controls potential confounders of the relation between our key independent variables and GAD-7 scores, namely, sleep quality, the COVID-19 Fear Inventory scale, binge drinking, substance use, prescription drug abuse, and sociodemographic attributes. Results: Linear multivariate regression analyses showed that GAD-7 scores were higher among those who spent >4 hours online (per day) searching for information about COVID-19 (coefficient 1.29, P=.002), controlling for all other covariates. The total time spent online was not statistically associated with GAD-7 scores. Conclusions: Results from this study indicate that limiting pandemic-related online information seeking may aid anxiety management in our study population. ",
issn="1438-8871",
doi="10.2196/21490",
url="http://www.jmir.org/2020/9/e21490/",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/21490",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32841152"
}