Psychological Distress and Finding Meaning in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Social Connectedness and Media Use

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to focus on people’s psychological distress, the degree as to how meaningful they consider their lives during a period in which the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Turkey substantially, as well as to examine the relationship between these concepts and certain demographic variables, social ties with local or extended groups, and the use of social and traditional media. The study includes 1023 participants (828 of which are female and 195 are male) between the ages of 18-46. In parallel with the study hypotheses, women (compared to men) scored higher in the variables of finding meaning in life, local social ties, extended social ties and the use of traditional media. Those who have a perception of strong social ties with their local group (family members, friends, co-workers, and neighbors) and extended group (the city and the country they live in) during the pandemic consider life more meaningful. However, the psychological distress claimed by those who have a perception of stronger ties with their local group is stronger. While the perceived psychological distress of those who follow the developments regarding the pandemic on social and/or traditional media more closely are stronger, those who follow traditional media have a higher degree of considering their life more meaningful. Determining the level of psychological distress perceived by the people and how meaningful they consider life during the early stages of the pandemic, and to ascertain the related variables fills a major gap in the pandemic-based literature that is still growing and provides a source of information for the interventional studies to be conducted.

Keywords

• COVID-19 pandemic
• psychological distress
• finding meaning
• social connectedness
• media use

COVID-19 Pandemisinde Algılanan Psikolojik Huzursuzluk ve Anlam Bulma: Sosyal Bağlar ve Medya Kullanımı

Öz

Çalışmanın amacı COVID-19 pandemisinin Türkiye'yi yoğun olarak etkilediği dönemde kişilerin psikolojik huzursuzluk ve hayatı anlamlı bulma düzeylerine odaklanmak ve bu kavramların belirli demografik değişkenler, yerel/geniş gruplara yönelik sosyal bağlar ve sosyal/klasik medya kullanımıyla olan ilişkilerini incelemektedir. Çalışmaya 18-46 yaş aralığında bulunan 1023 kişi (828 kadın, 195 erkek) katılmıştır. Araştırma hipotezleriyle tutarlı olarak, erkeklere kıyasla kadınlar hayatı anlamlı bulma, yerel sosyal bağ, geniş sosyal bağ ve klasik medya kullanımı değişkenlerinde daha yüksek skorlara sahiptir. Pandemi sürecinde yerel gruba (aile bireyleri, arkadaşlar, işyerindeki/okuldaki kişiler ve komşular) ve geniş gruba (yaşanılan şehir ve ülke) yönelik kuvvetli sosyal bağlar algılayan kişiler hayatı daha anlamlı bulmaktadır. Fakat yerel gruba yönelik kuvvetli sosyal bağlar algılayan kişilerin belirttikleri psikolojik huzursuzluk daha kuvvetlidir. Pandemiye ilişkin gelişmeleri sosyal ve/veya klasik medya mecralarından daha fazla takip eden kişilerin algıladıkları psikolojik huzursuzluk daha kuvvetliyken, klasik medya mecralarını takip eden kişilerin hayatı anlamlı bulma düzeyleri daha yüksektir. Pandeminin başladığı dönemde kişilerin ne ölçüde psikolojik huzursuzluk algıladığını ve hayatlarını anlamlı bulduğunu saptamak ve ilişkili değişkenleri belirlemek pandemi-temelli gelişmekte olan alanyazında önemli bir boşluğu doldurmakta ve uygulanacak müdahale çalışmaları için bilgi sağlamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• COVID-19 pandemisi
• psikolojik huzursuzluk
• anlam bulma
• sosyal bağ
• medya kullanımı

References

1. Ahorsu, DK, Lin CY, Imani V, Saffari M, Griffiths MD, Pakpour AH (2020) The fear of COVID-19 scale: Development and initial validation. Int J Ment Health Addict. Advance online publication.
2. Aiena BJ, Buchanan EM, Smith CV, Schulenberg SE (2016) Meaning, resilience, and traumatic stress after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: A study of Mississippi coastal residents seeking mental health services. J Clin Psychol, 72(12):1264-1278.
3. Alauddin M, Son-Ngheim H (2010) Do instructional attributes pose multicollinearity problems? An empirical exploration. Econom Anal Policy, 40(3):351-361.
4. Arslan G, Yıldırım M, Karataş Z, Kabasakal Z, Kılınç M (2020) Meaningful living to promote complete mental health among university students in the Context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Int J Ment Health Addict. Advance online publication.
5. Asibong U, Okafor CJ, Asibong I, Ayi E, Omoronyia O, Owoidoho U (2020) Psychological distress and social media usage: A survey among undergraduates of a university in Calabar, Nigeria. Niger Postgrad Med J, 27(2):115-121.
6. Barkur G, Vibha, Kamath GB (2020) Sentiment analysis of nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 outbreak: Evidence from India. Asian J Psychiatr, 51:Article 102089.
7. Baumeister RF, Leary MR (1995) The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychol Bull, 117(3):497-529.
8. Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N ve ark. (2020) The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: Rapid review of the evidence. Lancet, 395(10227):912-920.

9. Calvo RA, Deterding S, Ryan RM (2020) Health surveillance during Covid-19 pandemic. BMJ, 369:Article m1373.
10. CBS (2018) More and more young adults addicted to social media. https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2018/20/more-and-more-young-adults-addicted-to-social-media Erişim tarihi: 15.03.2021
11. Chao M, Chen X, Liu T, Yang H, Hall BJ (2020) Psychological distress and state boredom during the COVID-19 outbreak in China: The role of meaning in life and media use. Eur J Psychotraumatol, 11(1):1769379.
12. Coie JD, Watt NF, West SG, Hawkins JD, Asarnow JR, Markman HJ ve ark. (1993) The science of prevention. A conceptual framework and some directions for a national research program. Am Psychol, 48(10):1013-1022.
13. Elo AL, Leppanen A, Jahkola A (2003) Validity of a single-item measure of stress symptoms. Scand J Work Environ Health, 29(6):444-451.
14. Gautam K, Adhikari RP, Gupta AS, Shrestha RK, Koirala P, Koirala S (2020) Self-reported psychological distress during the COVID-19 outbreak in Nepal: Findings from an online survey. BMC Psychol, 8(1):Article 127.
15. Hawryluck L, Gold WL, Robinson S, Pogorski S, Galea S, Styra R (2004) SARS control and psychological effects of quarantine, Toronto, Canada. J Emerg Infect Dis, 10(7):1206-1212.
16. Hicks JA, King LA (2007) Meaning in life and seeing the big picture: Positive affect and global focus. Cogn Emot, 21(7):1577–1584.
17. Hicks JA, King LA (2009) Positive mood and social relatedness as information about meaning in life. J Posit Psychol, 4(6):471-482.
18. Holman EA, Garfin DR, Lubens P, Silver RC (2020) Media exposure to collective trauma, mental health, and functioning: Does it matter what you see? Clin Psychol Sci, 8(1):111–124.
19. Hupkens S, Machielse A, Goumans M, Derks P (2016) Meaning in life of older persons: An integrative literature review. Nurs Ethics, 25(8):973-991.
20. İmamoğlu EO, Günaydın G, Selçuk E (2011) Özgün benliğin yordayıcıları olarak kendileşme ve ilişkisellik: Cinsiyet ve kültürel yönelimlerin ötesinde. J Turk Psychol, 26:27-43.
21. İmamoğlu EO, Karakitapoğlu-Aygün Z (2004) Self-construals and values in different cultural and socioeconomic contexts. Genet Soc Gen Psychol Monogr, 130(4):277-306.
22. Ji D, Ji YJ, Duan XZ, Li WG, Sun ZQ, Song XA ve ark. (2017) Prevalence of psychological symptoms among Ebola survivors and healthcare workers during the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone: A cross-sectional study. Oncotarget, 8(8):12784–12791.
23. King LA, Hicks JA, Krull JL, Del Gaiso A (2006) Positive affect and the experience of meaning in life. J Pers Soc Psychol, 90(1):179–196.
24. Krause N (2007) Longitudinal study of social support and meaning in life. Psychol Aging, 22(3):456-469.
25. Leung GM, Lam TH, Ho LM, Ho SY, Chan BHY, Wong IOL ve ark. (2003) The impact of community psychological responses on outbreak control for severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong. J Epidemiol Community Health, 57(11):857-863.
26. Maccallum F, Bryant RA (2019) A network approach to understanding quality of life impairments in prolonged grief disorder. J Trauma Stress, 33(1):106–115.
27. Maunder R, Hunter J, Vincent L, Bennett J, Peladeau N, Leszcz M ve ark. (2003) The immediate psychological and occupational impact of the 2003 SARS outbreak in a teaching hospital. Cmaj, 168(10):1245-1251.
28. Neill R, Blair C, Best P, McGlinchey E, Armour C (2020) Media consumption and mental health during COVID-19 lockdown: A UK cross-sectional study across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern. PsyArXiv.
29. OECD (2020) SIGI 2020 Regional report for Latin America and the Caribbean, social institutions and gender index. OECD Publishing.
30. Oxford Business Group (2020) How has Covid-19 changed media consumption? https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/news/how-has-covid-19-changed-media-consumption Erişim tarihi: 15.03.2021
31. Özdemir F, Ashokkumar A, Swann WB (2019) May positive and negative group-based values strengthen subjective well-being? Associations with life satisfaction and identity fusion. XVI. Avrupa Psikoloji Kongresi, 2-5 Temmuz 2009 Moskova, Rusya. Kongre Özet Kitabı sayfa:542.
32. Özdin S, Bayrak-Özdin Ş (2020) Levels and predictors of anxiety, depression and health anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic in Turkish society: The importance of gender. Int J Soc Psychiatry, 66(5):504-511.
33. Park CL (2013) The meaning making model: A framework for understanding meaning, spirituality, and stress-related growth in health psychology. Eur Health Psychol, 15(2):40-47.
34. Pasion R, Paiva TO, Fernandes C, Barbosa F (2020) The AGE effect on protective behaviors during the COVID-19 outbreak: Sociodemographic, perceptions and psychological accounts. Front Psychol, 11:Article 2785.
35. Qiu J, Shen B, Zhao M, Wang Z, Xie B, Xu Y (2020) A nationwide survey of psychological distress among Chinese people in the COVID-19 epidemic: Implications and policy recommendations. Gen Psychiatr, 33(2):Article e100213.
36. Reker GT (2005) Meaning in life of young, middle-aged, and older adults: Factorial validity, age, and gender invariance of the personal meaning index. Pers Individ Dif, 38:71-85.
37. Ryan RM, Deci EL (2001) On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annu Rev Psychol, 52(1):141-166.
38. Schnell T, Krampe H (2020) Meaning in life and self-control buffer stress in times of COVID-19: Moderating and mediating effects with regard to mental distress. Front Psychiatr, 11:Article 582352.
39. Sediri S, Zgueb Y, Ouanes S, Ouali U, Bourgou S, Jomli R ve ark. (2020) Women's mental health: Acute impact of COVID-19 pandemic on domestic violence. Arch Womens Ment Health, 23:749–756.
40. Spinella M (2007) Normative data and a short form of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. Int J Neurosci, 117(3):359-368.
41. Thorisdottir I, Sigurvinsdottir R, Kristjansson AL, Allegrante JP, Lilly CL, Sigfusdottir ID (2020) Longitudinal association between social media use and psychological distress among adolescents. Prev Med, 141.
42. Tian F, Li H, Tian S, Yang J, Shao J, Tian C (2020) Psychological symptoms of ordinary Chinese citizens based on SCL-90 during the level emergency response to COVID-19. Psychiatr Res, 288:112992.
43. Tinsley HEA, Tinsley DJ (1987) Uses of factor analysis in counseling psychology research. J Couns Psychol, 34(4):414-424.
44. Vijaya K, Low YY, Chan SP, Foo LL, Lee M, Deurenberg-Yap M (2005) Behaviour of Singaporeans during the SARS outbreak: The impact of anxiety and public satisfaction with media information. Int J Health Promot Educ, 43(1):17-22.
45. Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, Tan Y, Xu L, Ho CS ve ark. (2020) Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 17(5):Article 1729.
46. Wanous JP, Reichers AE, Hudy MJ (1997) Overall job satisfaction: How good are single-item measures? J Appl Psychol, 82(2):247-251.
47. Wenham C, Smith J, Morgan R (2020) COVID-19: The gendered impacts of the outbreak. Lancet, 395(10227):846-848.
48. Worldometer (2021) Coronavirus Pandemic. https://worldometers.info/coronavirus/?%20 Erişim tarihi: 16.03.2021
49. Xiang YT, Yang Y, Li W, Zhang L, Zhang Q, Cheung T ve ark. (2020) Timely mental health care for the 2019 novel Coronavirus outbreak is urgently needed. Lancet, 7(3):228-229.
50. Yeung NCY, Lau JTF, Yu NX, Zhang J, Xu Z, Choi KC ve ark. (2018) Media exposure related to the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake predicted probable PTSD among Chinese adolescents in Kunming, China: A longitudinal study. Psychol Trauma, 10(2):253–262.
51. Yıldırım M, Arslan G, Wong PTP (2021) Meaningful living, resilience, affective balance, and psychological health problems among Turkish young adults during coronavirus pandemic. Curr Psychol, 6.
52. Yu EA, Chang EC, Yu T, Bennett SC, Fowler EE (2017) Examining gender differences in the roles of meaning in life and interpersonal expectancies in depressive symptoms. Gender Issues, 34:203–222.
53. Zhang Y, Mei S, Li L, Chai J, Li J, Du H (2015) The relationship between impulsivity and internet addiction in Chinese college students: A moderated mediation analysis of meaning in life and self-esteem. PloS One, 10(7):Article e0131597.
54. Zhao N, Zhou G (2020) Social media use and mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Moderator role of disaster stressor and mediator role of negative affect. Appl Psychol Health Well Being, 12(4):1019–1038.