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Observational Study
. 2021 Mar;271(2):283-291.
doi: 10.1007/s00406-020-01171-6. Epub 2020 Jul 20.

Associations between COVID-19 related media consumption and symptoms of anxiety, depression and COVID-19 related fear in the general population in Germany

Antonia Bendau #  1 , Moritz Bruno Petzold #  1 , Lena Pyrkosch  1 , Lea Mascarell Maricic  1 , Felix Betzler  1 , Janina Rogoll  1 , Julia Große  1 , Andreas Ströhle #  1 , Jens Plag #  2
Affiliations
Observational Study

Associations between COVID-19 related media consumption and symptoms of anxiety, depression and COVID-19 related fear in the general population in Germany

Antonia Bendau et al. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2021 Mar.

Erratum in

Abstract

In context of the current COVID-19 pandemic the consumption of pandemic-related media coverage may be an important factor that is associated with anxiety and psychological distress. Aim of the study was to examine those associations in the general population in Germany. 6233 participants took part in an online-survey (March 27th-April 6th, 2020), which included demographic information and media exploitation in terms of duration, frequency and types of media. Symptoms of depression, unspecific anxiety and COVID-19 related anxiety were ascertained with standardized questionnaires. Frequency, duration and diversity of media exposure were positively associated with more symptoms of depression and unspecific and COVID-19 specific anxiety. We obtained the critical threshold of seven times per day and 2.5 h of media exposure to mark the difference between mild and moderate symptoms of (un)specific anxiety and depression. Particularly the usage of social media was associated with more pronounced psychological strain. Participants with pre-existing fears seem to be particularly vulnerable for mental distress related to more immoderate media consumption. Our findings provide some evidence for problematical associations of COVID-19 related media exposure with psychological strain and could serve as an orientation for recommendations-especially with regard to the thresholds of critical media usage.

Keywords: Corona; Media coverage; Mental health; Pandemic; Psychological distress; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The situation in Germany regarding COVID-19 during recruitment in terms of infected cases, number of deaths and number of recovered persons
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Primarily used types of media to obtain information about the COVID-19 pandemic (multiple answers were possible). Data based on N = 6233 participants
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Severity of unspecific anxiety and depressive symptoms (PHQ-4) and COVID-19-related anxiety and the average amount of media consumption to ascertain information about COVID-19
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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