TY  - JOUR
AU  - Singh, Parvati
AU  - Cumberland, William G
AU  - Ugarte, Dominic
AU  - Bruckner, Tim-Allen
AU  - Young, Sean D
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/9/10
TI  - Association Between Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scores and Online Activity Among US Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Analysis
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e21490
VL  - 22
IS  - 9
KW  - online activity
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - anxiety
KW  - generalized anxiety disorder
KW  - GAD
KW  - scores
KW  - stress
KW  - internet
KW  - survey
KW  - cross-sectional
AB  - 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. 
SN  - 1438-8871
UR  - http://www.jmir.org/2020/9/e21490/
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/21490
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32841152
DO  - 10.2196/21490
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/21490
ER  -