Data on media use and mental health during the outbreak of COVID-19 in China

Abstract

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread rapidly in China in beginning of 2020. Self-quarantine was suggested by Chinese government to block the spread of the COVID-19. During the self-quarantine, the media played an indispensable role in acquisition of information about the disease. And it could also impact on people's mental health. Therefore, it is necessary to study the psychological outcome resulted from media use during the outbreak of COVID-19. The data in this article could help researchers to explore the mechanism between media use and mental health, and to have a deeper comprehension of the impact of media use on mental health during a public health emergency. The dataset provided in this article included 917 participants recruited from different provinces all over China. Among the participants, there were 304 males and 613 females, with an average age of 28.6 and a standard deviation of 9.5. They took Media Use Questionnaire (MUQ), Empathy-Sympathy Questionnaire (ESQ), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Death Anxiety Questionnaire (DAQ), Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), State boredom Questionnaire (SBQ), and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) to assess their media use and mental health during the outbreak of COVID-19. All these instruments for data collection were Chinese versions. In addition, a .csv file consists of major variables we used are included as a supplementary material. Descriptive statistics and hierarchical regression had been conducted with these data. For a discussion of the findings based on the dataset please see the article: Media use and acute psychological outcomes during COVID-19 outbreak in China [1] and Psychological distress and state boredom during the COVID-19 outbreak in China: the role of meaning in life and media use [2] .

What Explains Natives and Sojourners Preventive Health Behavior in a Pandemic: Role of Media and Scientific Self-Efficacy

“…In the context of COVID-19, several researchers emphasized the role of cues while conceptualizing health-protective behavior ( Walrave et al, 2020 ; Tsai et al, 2021 ). Literature also reported that cues to act in social media can trigger compromising circumstances for social and psychological well-being in society ( Chao et al, 2020 ; Xue et al, 2021 ). Interestingly, in some cases, institutions and regulatory authorities’ cues are also significant to the implementation and practice of health-protective behavior ( Al-Sabbagh et al, 2021 ).…”

Exposure to COVID‐19‐related media content and mental health during the initial outbreak of COVID‐19 in China

“…Each item had five responses, from 1 (almost none) to 5 (extremely much). Its Chinese version was confirmed to be reliable and valid as well (e.g., Liang & Zhu, 2015 ; Xue, Liu, Chen, Liu & Chao, 2021 ). In the present study, the Cronbach's α coefficients for positive and negative affect subscales were 0.84 and 0.90, respectively.…”

Network Analysis of Media Exposure and Psychological Outcomes During the Initial Outbreak of COVID-19 in China

“…One example item is “The conditions of my life are excellent.” Items were rated on a five-point scale, from 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree). And its Chinese version was confirmed to be reliable and valid (e.g., Xue et al, 2021 ). With higher scores on this scale, individuals would be more satisfied with their own life.…”