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SINGAPORE – The constant search for news about the Covid-19 pandemic affects mental health, a Singapore study of more than 1,100 participants has shown.
People who spent more time checking the news (for example, more than two hours a day) at the peak of the pandemic in Singapore were at a higher risk of feeling depressed, anxious and stressed.
The study, conducted by Yale-NUS College assistant professor of social sciences (psychology) Jean Liu, was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research in September.
It is the first of five Covid-19-related projects he has been working on since March, to be published in an international academic journal.
Along with her collaborator, Associate Professor Eddie Tong from the Department of Psychology at the National University of Singapore, Professor Liu surveyed about 1,145 participants, most of whom were Singaporean, between March 7 and April 21.
During that period, the Republic recorded its first two deaths from coronavirus, as well as a peak in daily cases, both imported and in the community.
After the start of the circuit breaker on April 7, the use of the mask became mandatory and safe distancing measures were reinforced.
Nine out of 10 of the study participants spent two hours or less consuming news about Covid-19.
But the 10 percent who spent more than two hours a day reading about the pandemic, and particularly those who constantly checked for updates, present a case of concern, Professor Liu said.
These participants reported an increase in symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress in a 21-question online questionnaire widely used by researchers to measure well-being.
Professor Liu said: “It does not mean that we should bury our heads in the sand and not receive any updates, but spending an excessive amount of time to get updates is a problem.”
He added that other studies have found that during crises, like Hong Kong’s social unrest, spending more than two hours a day receiving updates predicted worse mental health.
The Covid-19 pandemic is the first truly international public health crisis since the explosion of social media platforms, he said.
Previous health crises, such as Zika or Ebola, were not as long and widespread, and conversations on social media were nothing compared to those generated by Covid-19, he added.
Professor Liu said: “This pandemic has generated a lot of content, both in terms of information and misinformation. People are exposed to a lot of updates and rumors from global and local sources. Increasingly, they receive updates from traditional sources and social networks.
“Anxiety has a lot to do with worry and fear … So when you come across articles that tell you not to do this or that, it is scary to navigate in a world where everything is suddenly dangerous.”
But Professor Liu’s study also found that accurate and timely information from official sources helps allay those fears.
Participants who subscribed to the Gov.sg channel, which distributes official updates and debunks false information, reported less anxiety and depression symptoms than those who did not.
Professor Liu said: “This shows that institutional trust can help mitigate some of these negative effects, especially when the Government addresses rumors quickly, as it did about the country going into lockdown mode or about someone dying from Covid- 19.
“If there is no trust, people can look to other sources of information.”
Noting that doctors earlier this year also urged governments to adopt technology to spread news, Professor Liu added: “My hope is that public health agencies can … deliver information in a timely manner and consider channels like WhatsApp and Telegram “.
Messages on such platforms are spread very easily, as most people are already using such communication applications and can easily be forwarded to groups, he said.
Professor Liu, who heads the Social Neuro-Endocrinology Research Group, also known as The Synergy Lab at Yale-NUS, is also studying, with members of the lab, how Covid-19 has impacted people in different ways.
One study monitored people’s use of WhatsApp over a one-week period between March and May to see how pervasive the topic of Covid-19 was in their conversations.
The other studies cover topics such as the adoption of TraceTogether, Covid-19 rumors and how often people shared them, as well as behavior changes due to the pandemic.
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