Pandemic-related anxiety and screen time: A mediation analysis

Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic brought worldwide lockdowns and social distancing, causing feelings of pandemic-related anxiety and consequentially poorer mental health and loneliness. While social isolation and poor mental health have both been previously linked to increased screen time, it is unclear if they can explain the increased screen time during the pandemic.

Objective

This study investigated whether pandemic-related anxiety is associated with increased screen time, and whether this relationship is mediated by an increase in internalizing and externalizing symptoms, as well as loneliness.

Methods

572 Canadian participants (average age 27.60) completed an online survey between June 2020 to November 2021. The survey measured pandemic-related anxiety, emotional and behavioral symptoms, and loneliness. Participants also used a mobile sensing app over two weeks to record their daily objective screen time. A structural equation model assessed the relationship of pandemic-related anxiety with general mental health and loneliness, as well as the relationship between these psychological constructs and objective daily screen time.

Results

Pandemic-related anxiety was associated with greater screen time. Externalizing symptoms and loneliness mediated the association of screen time with worries about the consequences of the pandemic, but not with worries about contracting the disease.

Conclusions

Worrying about contracting the disease is an independent risk factor in developing more concerning patterns of screen use. Additionally, worrying about the consequences of the pandemic is not an independent factor but rather is mediated by externalizing symptoms and loneliness. This has implications for conceptualizing problematic screen use and the development of intervention and prevention efforts.