%0 Journal Article
%@ 1438-8871
%I JMIR Publications
%V 22
%N 9
%P e21490
%T Association Between Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scores and Online Activity Among US Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Analysis
%A Singh,Parvati
%A Cumberland,William G
%A Ugarte,Dominic
%A Bruckner,Tim-Allen
%A Young,Sean D
%+ University of California Institute for Prediction Technology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States, 1 310 794 8530, parvatis@uci.edu
%K online activity
%K COVID-19
%K anxiety
%K generalized anxiety disorder
%K GAD
%K scores
%K stress
%K anxiety
%K internet
%K survey
%K cross-sectional
%D 2020
%7 10.9.2020
%9 Original Paper
%J J Med Internet Res
%G English
%X 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. 
%M 32841152
%R 10.2196/21490
%U http://www.jmir.org/2020/9/e21490/
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/21490
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32841152