Skip to main content

Covid Stress influencing Media Addiction

 I found a study done in Beijing, China that could greatly support my research into Media Dependency. It surveyed over 200 college students and found a direct correlation between Covid-19 stress and an increase in social media addiction in individuals. 

Below are excerpts I am especially interested in:


"Due to policies to limit the spread of the virus, such as the “shelter-in-place” order (1), people, willing or not, are undergoing a transition from offline to online activities (2). In addition to remote work or remote learning, many people spent increased time on social media (SM), such as Facebook and Twitter, which could satisfy their need for disaster-related information, entertainment as well as interpersonal communication (3, 4)"

"The present study examined the relationship between COVID-19 stress, active use, SM flow, and addictive SMU in a sample of Chinese college students. Consistent with Hypothesis 1a, COVID-19 related stress was associated with a greater tendency of addictive SMU, higher level of active use, and SM flow experience."

"To sum up, the significant results in part confirmed our hypotheses and therefore allow a better understanding of why people who suffer from pandemic-related stress are at enhanced risk to develop addictive SMU."

"In sum, the study showed that COVID-19 stress was positively correlated with addictive SMU. Moreover, the relationship between COVID-19 stress and addictive SMU was significantly mediated by active use and SM flow, both individually and combined. Individuals who experienced higher level of COVID-19 stress were at a higher risk of developing addictive SMU as a result of increased level of active use and SM flow."


Zhao, N., & Zhou, G. (2021). COVID-19 Stress and Addictive Social Media Use (SMU): Mediating Role of Active Use and Social Media Flow. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.635546/full#B42

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Assignment B Claim

For Assignment B, I've decided on the hypothesis that cable news networks use fear-inducing stories to gain more media attraction, but at the cost of their viewer's mental health; especially in women above the age of 30. I worked this into the claim below: Claim :  "Women above the age of 30 have increased mental stress when watching cable news due to its fear-inducing segments. " Media Dependency theory is used by media outlets as a tool to attract and keep high viewership. A key element of Media Dependency theory surrounds the idea that feeling like you are in a state of crisis leads a person to be more reliant on mass media for information.  Prototype :  I am still ideating the prototype I will use however I do know that I will be measuring Fear in this experiment, which I would need to somehow obtain from viewers of cable news.  In addition, I would need to figure out which cable news channels to choose from. I am considering just looking up who has the highest v...
Post a Comment
Read more

Britannica Media Dependency Theory

What I Found: Britannica Lists a summarized and easy to understand definition of how Media Dependency Works and how the spine of the framework functions. Its is basically a relationship in which the fulfillment of a party's needs is reliant on the resources that media provides. A sort of dependency relationship that an audience has with modes of media. Basic Definition: Media dependency theory , a systematic approach to the study of the effects of mass media on audiences and of the interactions between media, audiences, and social systems. It was introduced in outline by the American communications researchers Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin DeFleur in 1976. "Two of the basic propositions put forward by Ball-Rokeach and DeFleur are: (1) the greater the number of social functions performed for an audience by a medium (e.g., informing the electorate, providing entertainment), the greater the audience’s dependency on that medium, and (2) the greater the instability of a society (e...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prototype Final

Link to Colin’s Final Prototype on Construct 3: https://www.construct.net/en/free-online-games/colin-hanrahans-final-42528/play  ______________________________________________________ Here is the link to my final Prototype in Construct 3. It was very informative and exciting to research Media Dependency Theory as a Framework to prove the thesis in how women above the age of 30 have increased mental stress when watching cable news due to its fear-inducing segments. 
Post a Comment
Read more